Learning The Basic Chords
There is a challenge that all inspiring guitar players face and that is having to learn the basic guitar chords. One might ask why it's important to learn the guitar chords. Guitar chords are what form the songs, especially when dealing with rock and pop genres. They provide harmony to both the melody and instrumental solos of the songs.
If you think back to some of the older songs like, “Back in Black,” by AC/DC or “Won't Get Fooled Again,” by The Who's, it is the rhythm that makes them memorable. The rhythm is a result of playing guitar chords. The really great thing about learning guitar chords is that once you know between ten and fifteen chords you can play thousands of songs.
First of all it's important to know what a chord is. A chord is three or more different musical notes played together. When referring to playing a guitar, it would be strumming or plucking at least three strings at once. This will sound three or more notes depending on how many strings are used. A guitar normally has six strings so the greatest number of notes you can play in a chord would be six. There are three basic groups that all chords fall into depending on the structure of the chord. These groups are: Major, Minor, and Seventh. All three of these groups has a unique sound. The major chords have a very complete and stable sound. Minor chords give you a feeling of sadness or depressed mood whereas the Seventh chords have a more incomplete sound and are more upbeat.
Now, you might be asking yourself, what are the basic guitar chords that I need to learn. Well, they include four common keys, A, G, C and D and the major and minor chords for each. The chords are played as “open chords,”. An open chord is where at least one string in the chord is not fretted or pressed down using one of your fingers. These chords are easier to learn and play than other chords like Barre chords or more complex chords that require you to go higher up on the neck of the guitar. There is a basic list of major and minor chords and they are as follows:
A Major (A), A Minor (Am), C, D, Dm, E, Em, F and G
The best way to learn these chords is by keys or as a chord family. These can all be put together into what is called chord sequences, which is what you use to create songs. This method is a lot funner and useful than just making a list of guitar chords to learn and memorizing them.
The chords that are grouped by family or key are:
A Family (Key of A): A, D, E
D Family (Key of D): D, Em, G, A
G Family (Key of G): G, Am, C, D, Em
C Family (Key of C): C, Dm, Em, F, G
Here are some tips to help you with learning the basic chords of the guitar:
1. Choose one chord family and stick with it until mastered. By doing this you can actually start playing right away and you get a quicker feeling of accomplishment.
2. Make sure that you have a chord chart with you. This chart will provide you with a diagram so you can make sure your fingers are in the correct positions.
3. Pick an easy song and learn the chords for that song first. Many of the songs out there only use three chords and by doing this you can put your new skills to work immediately.
4. Make sure that your guitar is tuned. Ensure that each string sounds the way that it should and also that you are only hitting the strings that should be played.
5. Practice makes perfect. You need to practice every day. Practice going from one chord to another and try to do it faster every time.
6. Learn the basic chords before going on to the harder ones. Start off slow and work your way up.
7. Once you have the basics done move onto the minor and seventh chords.
8. Don't forget to have fun with the new skills you now have. Use the chords to play several different songs that you know well and show them off to your friends and family.
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/here-are-some-easy-to-learn-guitar-chords-that-you-must-know-1276558.html
