Lesson 6 - It All Comes Together When the Chords Come Out to Play

Okay, so it has come down to this one moment, the moment when guitar chords come into play. Guitar chords are what actually make the sound. They basically enable you to make music. Playing chords require the adeptness of your fingers, so get them ready. And put on that learning cap because studying guitar chords may not be a piece of cake.

There are about a hundred guitar chord combinations out there. The best way for you to learn to play and actually feel confident when making music is to start with the simple chords first, and keep playing them until mastery. Play them in loops, play them for the next two weeks, put them together and switch them. Chords and strumming patterns go hand in hand, so put your chords together and just play right on.

Learn your power chords. Your power chords are the G, C, and the D major chords. These are the easiest chords you could learn. They do not stretch your fingers too much, they play in an open key, and they sound excellent. These three chords go together wonderfully, in any sequence you would like --- hence the term power chords. They just give you the “power” to play excellent music with a few chord combinations.

Once you get each chord down, the best thing to do would be just slowly play them in a slow rhythm sequence. Tap your two softly, strum slowly, and just switch from each chord to the next. If you get even more comfortable and want to get bold, I would then suggest playing just a bit faster, and switching the chords the faster. The more you get comfortable with this, the faster you can go. From there, try not looking at your hands while you are playing, or only glance from time to time.

From power major chords, we are going to learn to play come power minor chords. Power minor chords usually only have a one note difference between the power major chords. The easiest power minor chords to learn are the E minor chord and the A minor chord. Try playing these, starting with the same way you started out with the major chords. Try these two chords out and see if you can build up some speed, and switch between the two. From there, try throwing in a major power chord in there as well, and just play around. Get comfortable!

Chords make up songs, so if you are aiming to play songs from other bands, you have got to be able to recognize the chords they play off hand. Learn as many chords you can fit into your brain, and just practice, put them together, get your fingers familiarized, and just play. Once you get your confidence level up, take a stab at a song or two, and work on that.

You can find chords anywhere, but the best place would definitely be the Internet. For free, the Internet can show you the chord, finger placement, the fret, everything you need to know. Print out some chords, find a quiet place to practice, and just sit and strum and learn some more. Believe me, all your hard work will definitely pay off.