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Most people want to be able to play some chords to songs that their friends know well, and are able to sing along with. There are entire books hundreds of pages long complied of nothing but chord diagrams, so where do you start? The best way to start out would be, grouping two or three chords at a time, and then learning strumming patterns of songs.
I’ll be starting on the G major due to the popularity of songs written in the key of G.
G Major Chord
G Major Chord
The key of G, with only one accidental (a sharp) is relatively easy to play for both piano and strings, and it’s an easy key to sing in. It’s connected to gentle emotions like contentment, gratitude, and peace.
C Major Chord
C Major Chord
Why does the C Major chord have the honour of being the first chord most guitarists learn, despite it’s being the third letter in the alphabet and its root the third of the seven basic musical notes?
The short answer: the piano.
D Major Chord
D Major Chord
It’s the third most popular key used in all songs on Spotify, but we’re willing to bet that if you took out all the doom, the gloom, and the my-baby-done-left-me blues, you’d probably find that most popular songs are played in the key of D.
All three chords will have your fingers adjusting to a good amount of new positions, finding many people new to the instrument often struggle with fingerings as much as they struggle with building calluses. Starting with these chords lays the groundwork to playing lots of popular songs.
Johnny Cash – Ring Of Fire
Chords used: G / C / D
Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight
Chords used: G / D / C
The next two chords are: E / A
E Major Chord
E Major Chord
Throughout the history of serious classical music, E Major has been a fairly uncommon key. When you do find it, it’s often as a drama-heightening switch from another key like D minor or E Minor. Bruckner, Haydn, Rachmaninioff, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mendelsohn and Vivaldi each produced one-off works in E.
The rarity of its occurrence in classical pieces may be due to its difficulty for wind instruments. E Major is a little easier for stringed instruments, but by far the instrument that E Major loves best is the guitar.
A Major Chord
A Major Chord
In popular music you naturally find it among bands with an optimist twist but also, ironically, with bluesier performers like Eric Clapton and Adele (its slightly earthy character almost rivals the key of E).
The key of A, with only three accidentals— sharps— is fairly easy to play on the guitar, and it’s an easy key to sing in. emotional connections.
Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart
Chords used: A & E
The Beatles – Love Me Do
Chords used: A & D
With these 5 chords and 4 videos, you should be able to spend a good portion of time learning and playing songs, rather than feeling stuck just learning techniques. Seek out songs that have one or two chords that you don’t know yet, and learn them as you learn the song. This is one of the most enjoyable ways to learn the guitar.
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