Beginners can find an abundance of guitar lessons on YouTube; many channels even break them up into smaller segments to cater to both beginner and intermediate players alike.
Guitar chords are indicated on a fretboard using a numbering system that indicates which fingers of the picking hand should be used; this differs from tablature which uses lines.
Basic Chords
Chords are the foundation of music. A chord consists of two or more harmonic notes played simultaneously and organized according to its chord quality. Chords can consist of various strings and notes; the more notes used, the more complex and unique its sound becomes.
Most basic guitar chords consist of only three to four notes; anything more would cause dissonant and unusable sounding chords. G, C and D major chords are one of the most frequently seen chords across various genres such as rock, pop, folk and country music.
Beginners can quickly pick up open chords found in many popular songs. Learning them will familiarize a novice with the fretboard and reading chord diagrams; furthermore, learning open chords may enable a beginner to progress to more complex chords such as barre chords which require multiple fingers pressing down multiple strings at the same time.
Advanced Chords
Once you’ve acquired an in-depth knowledge of basic chords and can read a chord chart, the next step should be learning some advanced progressions to help create your own songs using various combinations of chords.
Advanced chords typically comprise three note triads with an extra note added on. For instance, adding B natural or D flat to a C Major chord creates a major 7th chord.
There are also augmented chords, which can be played using either open or barre chords and contain two extra notes added onto them. Augmented chords often carry an exclamation mark after their names and can be quite challenging to learn without an extensive knowledge of music theory.
Minor seventh chords provide another advanced chord option with its unique sound; often utilized in songs by Marvin Gaye such as his What’s Going On.
Power Chords
Power chords are an easy and accessible way to play guitar, perfect for all styles and instruments. Differing from traditional triads or diads in that only two notes are contained within them, power chords often sound good when played through distortion – making them popular among rock and metal musicians alike.
One of the key components of playing power chords is learning to mute unwanted strings by covering them with your fretting hand and covering up unwanted notes with it. Although this technique takes practice to master, it will make your guitar sound even more powerful!
To successfully learn power chords, the best approach is listening to songs which feature them and practicing fingerings and shapes on your neck until you can move them around without issue. This will familiarize yourself with them and allow you to add them into original songs more easily.