benefit to learning basic chords?

[billywestom]

oh, maybe i was wrong sorry....this is how i learned those chords to be...

D

-2-
-3-
-2-
-0-
---
---

F

-1-
-1-
-2-
-3-
---
---

But you are actually correct i guess, because those extra notes do fit in that chord pattern...

[jsgksu]

oh, maybe i was wrong sorry....this is how i learned those chords to be...

D

-2-
-3-
-2-
-0-
---
---

F

-1-
-1-
-2-
-3-
---
---

But you are actually correct i guess, because those extra notes do fit in that chord pattern...

So the D was just a 0 instead of an -, which Im sure you and anyone else play anyways, accidentaly at least. As for the F, thats the way I thought everyone played it, Ive never even seen someone play an F your way. My way is just a barre chord without the low e. Which I think is the most "common" regular F chord. I could be totally wrong though, how does everyone else out there play it?

[jsgksu]

So I just looked in this big thing Ive got of all the chords and both the ways we said to play an F are in their and their both under F or Fmaj, (C F A) : Major Triad. I dont know what the hell that means cuz I dont know shit about theory but I guess their both acceptable ways to play it.

[billywestom]

same here, i dont know anything about it...how about i usually just play a full barre chord F anyway?

[snoopdoug1]

btw, I forgot to say thanks for all the quick replies

[mbgreen]

As far as the two variations of the F maj chord, both are right. Barre it if you want a throatier, deeper F, and do the xx3211 way if you want to focus more on the high end of the chord. I just depends on the sound you want.

As far as the original question, here's my analogy. It may have already been used, but I didnt read all the replies so here goes: Learning songs without learning basic chords is like learning a few sentences in a different language. If you dont learn the individual words and sentence structure, you'll never really be able to speak the language. You'll just be a dumb parrot.

[Pickles]

the chords in #41 are anything but basic.. crash is pretty much the same chord the whole song. try the song that jane likes. thats got some basic chords

[firedancer86]

Certainly learn these...if you are not planning on taking lesson, then all the more...all of your knowledge for the guitar (theory) will stem from it...music will start having a rhyme and reason then as you learn the basics...believe me, I started out on Neil Young and wouldn't do a thing to change it!!! Things will click alot faster and your playing will get better with the more you learn...but the first baby steps are VERY VERY vital to becoming a good guitarist!

[two steps too many]

Here's something to start off with:

Code: Select all

e:--0---x---0---2---0---0---3		e:--3--3--		    e:-----5--
b:--2---3---1---3---0---1---0		b:--3--4--		    b:--5--5--
g:--2---4---0---2---1---2---0		g:--4--5--		    g:--5--5--
d:--2---4---2---0---2---3---0		d:--5--5--		    d:--5--5--
a:--0---2---3---0---2---3---2		a:--5--3--		    a:--5--3--
e:------------------0-------3		e:--3-----		    e:--3-----

    A   B   C   D   E   F   G		Barre Chords		 Power Chords

Barre Chords and Power Chords can be played anywhere on the fretboard as long as you keep the finger spacing the same. Hope that helps, if you need help with the fingerings let me know.

your B is actually a Bminor, change where that 3 is to a 4 and that's a B major.....and as long as you can play a 6string barre chord, you will find that most other chords are built around them, or just parts of them, as that u can still play an F for example with only playing 4 strings

[jsgksu]

Jesus, did I get any chords right, if I could remember who taught me how to play them that way Id go after them but I have no idea where I learned them.

[matthews123]

ok here goes.....i agree with the idea of learning basic chords, major and minor, as well as learning songs THAT have those same chords in there. for example if you were learning the basic chords i would definitely point you in the direction of the chorus to Grey Street since that is all basic chords and Bm..i think. ok now the important stuff. its not just knowing how to play those chords and to be able to play them anywhere you need to know why and how those chords are made up. ill go into further detail.


lets use A/Am. every chord has to have three notes. a first a third and a fifth. and i think thats kinda self explainatory. but here is an example


Am A
1st - A 3rd - C 5th - E 1st - A 3rd - C# 5th - E

do you see the difference in minor and major just sharp the third....look at the difference in the tabs...one note is moved up one fret...u see?

now you can do this for any chord and if you are still confused dont be cuz im probably not a good teacher and will teach more if u want just ask me questions throw AIM or email me if u want.

[KevinGTArch]

Ok, I haven't seen anyone give a real CLEAR answer on the importance to learning basic chord structures. It's like the old, over-used saying goes - you have to be able to crawl before you can run.

I think it's amazing that you sat down and learned Crash Into Me (if you learned from an accurate tab) without any real prior guitar experience. But I'll tell you, if you ever went to progress yourself as a guitarist and more, as a musician, than you are going to need to master the basic chord voicings sooner or later.

>GROAN!<

Stop groaning! It's not as tedious as it sounds! Though I think chord books/charts are excellent resources and a good place to start, I would NEVER recommend someone to simply memorize chords. Where's the fun in that? Why did you pick up the guitar in the first place? Obviously you want to play some songs and I think that's a fine place to start - it's where I started.

First of all - do get a book on chords and do realize you'll only need half of it. Major chords, minor chords, seventh chords, minor seventh chords are all important but the list goes on and on all the way to chords you will almost never see used like Gm7b-11# (ok I made this up but some books have some really odd voicings).

So did you learn to read by memorizing a dictionary?? I certainly hope not - you did it the hard way. But I bet you started with some simple books and learned as you went. That is exactly what I recommend here. Go to other tab sites like http://www.tabcrawler.com or http://www.tabseek.com and get chord tabs (not actual tablature, they just post chords names to lyrics) to other songs you want to learn - I recommend songs with very simple sounding rhythym parts (I even used music from the church I played at - all basic chords and rhythyms). Take those tabs and just start playing! When you come across a chord you don't know, look it up and practice the changes. The more you use the chord, the faster you and your fingers will remember it. You'll have fun playing the music without the mundane chore of memorizing finger charts.

Ok so the more and more you play you get tired of the same voicings - it happens to everyone. But there is more than one way to play an A major!

For example:

e:--0---5-------5---
b:--2---5-------5---
g:--2---6---6---6---
d:--2---7---7---7---
a:--0---7---7-------
e:------5---5--------

These are all perfectly acceptable ways to play an A major! My music theory is far from the best in the world but the first voicing is obviously the basic A major voicing. The second voicing is an A barre chord, the third is a "broken" bar chord for more bass (Dave uses these a lot), and the final is an inverted A major for a brighter voicing. There are many other options to play this one chord or any other of the chords for that matter but that gets into another discussion in chord theory altogether.

My point is, learn the basics but have some fun while you're at it. Then you can take it anywhere!

I know this is lengthy but I'm self-taught and helped a few friends get started on the guitar - I know how frustrating it can be. Hope this helps and feel free to keep asking questions!

Kevin

[ryopan]

good answer. good answer.

here's my advice: soak everything up like a sponge. try anything, everything. look for trends. mess around w/ all the notes and see if you can figure out which ones will sound good together and go from there. the main thing is that you have to keep at it. keep moving forward. you may get bored w/ one song...well by golly, start another, however, you have to keep playing things that are challenging. also, look cool while doing it cuz i hear the ladies like guitars (the lady i have had my eye on for awhile even PLAYS the guitar----oh, im in heaven).
have some fun too.
ryan.

[snoopdoug1]

Ok, I haven't seen anyone give a real CLEAR answer on the importance to learning basic chord structures. It's like the old, over-used saying goes - you have to be able to crawl before you can run.

I think it's amazing that you sat down and learned Crash Into Me (if you learned from an accurate tab) without any real prior guitar experience. But I'll tell you, if you ever went to progress yourself as a guitarist and more, as a musician, than you are going to need to master the basic chord voicings sooner or later.

>GROAN!<

Stop groaning! It's not as tedious as it sounds! Though I think chord books/charts are excellent resources and a good place to start, I would NEVER recommend someone to simply memorize chords. Where's the fun in that? Why did you pick up the guitar in the first place? Obviously you want to play some songs and I think that's a fine place to start - it's where I started.

First of all - do get a book on chords and do realize you'll only need half of it. Major chords, minor chords, seventh chords, minor seventh chords are all important but the list goes on and on all the way to chords you will almost never see used like Gm7b-11# (ok I made this up but some books have some really odd voicings).

So did you learn to read by memorizing a dictionary?? I certainly hope not - you did it the hard way. But I bet you started with some simple books and learned as you went. That is exactly what I recommend here. Go to other tab sites like http://www.tabcrawler.com or http://www.tabseek.com and get chord tabs (not actual tablature, they just post chords names to lyrics) to other songs you want to learn - I recommend songs with very simple sounding rhythym parts (I even used music from the church I played at - all basic chords and rhythyms). Take those tabs and just start playing! When you come across a chord you don't know, look it up and practice the changes. The more you use the chord, the faster you and your fingers will remember it. You'll have fun playing the music without the mundane chore of memorizing finger charts.

Ok so the more and more you play you get tired of the same voicings - it happens to everyone. But there is more than one way to play an A major!

For example:

e:--0---5-------5---
b:--2---5-------5---
g:--2---6---6---6---
d:--2---7---7---7---
a:--0---7---7-------
e:------5---5--------

These are all perfectly acceptable ways to play an A major! My music theory is far from the best in the world but the first voicing is obviously the basic A major voicing. The second voicing is an A barre chord, the third is a "broken" bar chord for more bass (Dave uses these a lot), and the final is an inverted A major for a brighter voicing. There are many other options to play this one chord or any other of the chords for that matter but that gets into another discussion in chord theory altogether.

My point is, learn the basics but have some fun while you're at it. Then you can take it anywhere!

I know this is lengthy but I'm self-taught and helped a few friends get started on the guitar - I know how frustrating it can be. Hope this helps and feel free to keep asking questions!

Kevin

Wow, that was very good. So basically just find songs with basic chords and try to learn those...

[snoopdoug1]

Certainly learn these...if you are not planning on taking lesson, then all the more...all of your knowledge for the guitar (theory) will stem from it...music will start having a rhyme and reason then as you learn the basics...believe me, I started out on Neil Young and wouldn't do a thing to change it!!! Things will click alot faster and your playing will get better with the more you learn...but the first baby steps are VERY VERY vital to becoming a good guitarist!

Hmm, I've got to take yer advice... you're one of the best on here!