Learn Guitar Online - Your Solution For Learning Chords on the Guitar
I believe learning how each chord is spelt to be the absolute best way to learn guitar chords.
Most guitarists are unaware that every chord contains it's own unique set of notes; once you know how to spell a chord you are free to play that chord anywhere on the fretboard.
A few ways to learn guitar chords are ...
1.
TAB sites - not recommended; these days it's popular to look up a song on a TAB site, there you will find a series on numbers that will tell you where to place your fingers; sounds like a good idea doesn't it? Actually it sounds too good to be true ...
and of course it is! Some problems are: * although TAB will tell you where to place your fingers, you never know what you are placing your fingers on i.
e.
, you don't learn what notes you are placing your fingers on; it's strictly monkey-see-monkey-do stuff! * often there is no chord name, it's just a bunch of strings you strum * as with everything you get "for free" in the long run it turns out way too expensive as the player is always at the mercy of the person submitting the TAB! * many songs are presented in bizarre tunings used only by one particular group or individual.
Which translates to the player having to tune their guitar for song 'A' and then have go through the whole messy business of re-tuning again for the next song.
If you don't know what you are doing why bother doing it? 2.
Chord books - On the surface this seems like a good option ...
but is it? It's definitely a better approach that TAB sites; however, it's wise to be aware of the inherent dangers of trying to learn chords via chord books.
Learning hazard A.
- Generic chord shapes: chord books generally only present standard chord shapes on the first four frets of the guitar.
If the recording you are listening to has guitar chords played higher up the neck of the guitar you could be in trouble.
Learning hazard B.
- Learning random chords: simply learning chord shapes without understanding their application is very much like opening a dictionary and learning random words, the problem being that random words or chords do not communicate.
It's pointless to learn one hundred chords and not know how to sting two of them together to play a song.
Learning hazard C.
- Difficult chord shapes: Whilst most of the time the chord shapes are technically correct they are quite often not the chord shapes that professional guitarists would use.
Why? Because chord book are generally authored by keyboard players who know the correct notes of the chord but unfortunately don't understand the physical difficulties of playing a fretted instrument ...
while a five fret stretch looks quite simple on a computer screen when you try to play it on the guitar it's physically beyond most guitar players.
3.
Learn chord spelling - The best way to go! Once you know how to construct your chords you can design your own chord shapes, forget the difficult stretching and play chords anywhere on the fingerboard.
It will also make life much easier communicating with other musicians.
I invite you to use these tips when you are learning to play guitar.
Most guitarists are unaware that every chord contains it's own unique set of notes; once you know how to spell a chord you are free to play that chord anywhere on the fretboard.
A few ways to learn guitar chords are ...
1.
TAB sites - not recommended; these days it's popular to look up a song on a TAB site, there you will find a series on numbers that will tell you where to place your fingers; sounds like a good idea doesn't it? Actually it sounds too good to be true ...
and of course it is! Some problems are: * although TAB will tell you where to place your fingers, you never know what you are placing your fingers on i.
e.
, you don't learn what notes you are placing your fingers on; it's strictly monkey-see-monkey-do stuff! * often there is no chord name, it's just a bunch of strings you strum * as with everything you get "for free" in the long run it turns out way too expensive as the player is always at the mercy of the person submitting the TAB! * many songs are presented in bizarre tunings used only by one particular group or individual.
Which translates to the player having to tune their guitar for song 'A' and then have go through the whole messy business of re-tuning again for the next song.
If you don't know what you are doing why bother doing it? 2.
Chord books - On the surface this seems like a good option ...
but is it? It's definitely a better approach that TAB sites; however, it's wise to be aware of the inherent dangers of trying to learn chords via chord books.
Learning hazard A.
- Generic chord shapes: chord books generally only present standard chord shapes on the first four frets of the guitar.
If the recording you are listening to has guitar chords played higher up the neck of the guitar you could be in trouble.
Learning hazard B.
- Learning random chords: simply learning chord shapes without understanding their application is very much like opening a dictionary and learning random words, the problem being that random words or chords do not communicate.
It's pointless to learn one hundred chords and not know how to sting two of them together to play a song.
Learning hazard C.
- Difficult chord shapes: Whilst most of the time the chord shapes are technically correct they are quite often not the chord shapes that professional guitarists would use.
Why? Because chord book are generally authored by keyboard players who know the correct notes of the chord but unfortunately don't understand the physical difficulties of playing a fretted instrument ...
while a five fret stretch looks quite simple on a computer screen when you try to play it on the guitar it's physically beyond most guitar players.
3.
Learn chord spelling - The best way to go! Once you know how to construct your chords you can design your own chord shapes, forget the difficult stretching and play chords anywhere on the fingerboard.
It will also make life much easier communicating with other musicians.
I invite you to use these tips when you are learning to play guitar.