Free Guitar Chord Progressions Chart

Hey,
you can watch free beginner video lessons with animated tabs and chord charts here: Http://www.theguitarlesson.com/guitar-le...

Lauren,

I started playing by teaching myself many years ago, but there are much easier ways to learn the guitar now because of the many free resources that exist. I'll post some links with a few other suggestions.

1) It will really help you to make friends with guitar players at college. Most are more than happy to share their knowledge with people who are just beginning to learn. That's how many of them learned their first songs, how to strum to different rhythms, and how to pick (finger style playing.)

2) You'll need to start learning basic chords. If you Google "guitar chord charts," you'll be able to print off various versions. To start, don't worry about learning every chord on the chart: just focus on the major chords at first. Learning chords, which isn't very hard, is the best way to jump start your playing and to be able to quickly master a few simple songs. Believe it or not, many popular folk and pop songs can be played after learning just 4-5 chords. Here's a link to some chord charts:

Http://www.guitarchords247.com/

Http://www.chordie.com/chords.php

3) You'll want to take advantage of all the free lessons availible on YouTube. You can search "basic guitar lessons" or the titles of songs that you want to learn and pull up all kinds of instructional videos that won't cost you anything. It's like having your own free instructor on demand.

4) Once you feel comfortable strumming a wide variety of chords (or even before that, if you're feeling adventurous), you'll want to check out this website:

Http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

You can use it to search for almost any classic rock, pop, folk or current hit that you want to learn. And the best thing of all is that it's free. You can print off the lyrics with chord progressions and even have the song's full aray of chords shown at the bottom of the last page to serve as a reminder of where to place your fingers on the frets, in case you forget a chord. Here's an example:

Http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/Tabs/b/beatles/let_it_be_ver4_crd.htm

(In some song versions like this one, you can highlight the any chord used on the song and a pop-up will show you where to put your fingers.)

I hope this helps, and I hope you come to enjoy playing as much as I do. Good luck!

I’m new to the guitar. Where should I start out?
The greatest learning you can get is from a teacher. One on one lessons really allow you to grasp the concepts of learning at a faster rate and allow you to understand more effectively. If you are low on money and can’t afford a teacher then the internet is the next best thing. This, though, is going to mean that you will be learning ‘on your own’.

There are many sites out there today that deal quite well with teaching you how to play:

Some places to start on Guitar Noise include:

Beginner Lessons
Absolute Beginner Part 1: Chords
Guitar Basics
Buying a Guitar
Easy Songs for Beginners
Chords
Theory
Some other sites that can help you get started include:

Cyberfret.com - Your Source For Free Online Guitar Lessons
Guitar Lesson World
About Guitar
This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to Getting started on guitar and select edit to make improvements.

What are the notes on a guitar?
Learning all the notes on your guitar’s fretboard is an important early step for the beginning guitarist. Knowing where all the notes are will help you with forming chords, playing scales, as well as soloing and improvising.

This chart shows all the notes on your guitar’s fretboard up to the twelfth fret. After the twelfth fret the notes repeat in the same order.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to fretboard map and select edit to make improvements.

What are the notes on a bass guitar?
Learning all the notes on your bass fretboard is an important early step for the beginning bassist. Knowing where all the notes are will help you while playing along with others and improvising.

This chart shows all the notes on your bass’ fretboard up to the twelfth fret. After the twelfth fret the notes repeat in the same order.

Here are the bass notes (from the bass clef) and their TAB counterparts.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to reading bass tabs and notes and select edit to make improvements.

Which chords should I begin learning?
For someone starting out, the inability to get a full sounding chord can lead to much frustration which, in turn, can lead to deciding that maybe the guitar is just too much trouble and not worth learning. For younger students, and also for some adults, the confidence gained by playing some single notes on various strings is all they need to make the next “step” into chord playing. I’d like to make a quick point that learning chords is not always the best way to start out, particularly for younger children.

To read the full answer check out Which chords should I begin learning? Also worth a read is the article Absolute Beginners Part 1: Chords.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to Beginner chords and select edit to make improvements.

Is there an easy way to learn barre chords?
Whenever I teach barre chords to a student, I tell them before hand that they are going to be hard to learn. They are like riding a bike, though. Once you get them, you’ll never forget them. No capo in the world can do what the barre chords do for music. If you look at your index finger, it has a slight bend to it. This leaves the center of the barre hard to press down. Now rotate the finger ever so slightly backwards so the knuckle is facing toward the nut of the guitar. This flattens the finger. Sure it still has a bend to it, but it is no longer a factor because the side of the finger, which is now flattened against the fretboard, is holding down the strings.

The other factor to remember is that we have been used to grabbing things with our hands and curling the fingers inward toward the palm. Now, with barre chords, we have to develop muscles we almost never use to flatten out the finger. As with all muscles, it takes time for strength and size to come about. Even though the technique may be perfect, you may have to keep at it and wait it out for these reasons. But it will come to you.

The last thing I want to say about this is this, look at the barre chord. Are there other fingers doing work in the center of the fretboard? If so then you don’t have to concentrate you barring efforts behind them. Watch what you are doing and what is needed.

How do I play guitar standing up?
The first thing that I would ask is where is the guitar (should I assume it’s an electric?) in relationship to your body? Most people tend to play their guitars really low because that how they see it in videos and I guess it’s really cool but it’s harder than anything to play well like that. Worse, you can develop serious wrist problems by doing that for long periods of time.

If you will watch the really good guitarists (those more interested in playing well rather than showing off) you will notice that they tend to have their guitars strapped higher on their bodies. Ideally you want your hand that’s fretting the neck to be about the same height as your chest.

Secondly, if you’re playing and singing at the same time, don’t be surprised if you find yourself taking a look every now and then to see where your fingers are. EVERYONE does this and if you carefully watch people playing on stage you will catch them doing it. This is especially true the higher up on the fretboard you go.I hope this helps.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to Playing guitar standing up and select edit to make improvements.

How much time should I spend practicing?
Whenever someone asks “how much time,” a teacher is going to respond “as much time as you can.” That’s almost a pure reaction. The reality, however, relies on two separate things: the amount of free time you truly have and the physical condition of your hands.

To read the full answer check out How much time should I spend practicing? Guitar Noise also has an entire section devoted to practice tips where you’ll find all sorts of articles on this subject. A few highly recommended ones are Getting The Most Out Of Your Practice and A Question of Balance.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to Practicing and select edit to make improvements.

How do I get the most out of my practice time?
If you know some chords and where the notes are on the fingerboard, then you have to ask yourself, what you want to do? You already know enough to strum a lot of songs and even play song simple leads and riffs. You also know enough to start writing and playing some of your own songs. So there are a lot of choices and it’s really up to you. When my students reach a point where they have a lot of the basics down, I am often surprised by their next choices. One student of mine has recently decided that the next step is to learn how to read music so she can play classical and Spanish pieces. Another has decided to specifically target in on soloing while yet another is working on incorporating riffs into his rhythm playing.

I know that this may not be the answer that you seek, but without knowing what your purpose for playing is, I truly can’t tell you what to play next. I can tell you that there are TONS of things to learn! Take some time and think about what you want to do.

And then you might want to check out our articles on practice and focusing, such as Jimmy Hudson’s Getting The Most of Your Practice, my own piece, A Question of Balance on the Guitar Columns page and the new article coming out this week by Jamie Andreas, Guitar Practice Organization and Procedure.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to practicing and select edit to make improvements.

Should I bother learning songs?
Something to keep in mind is that songs are pretty much what you’ll find yourself playing as a guitarist. When you perform in front of people, they’re not going to ask, “Would you please play the first two measures of Stairway To Heaven?” or “How about the middle part of Comfortably Numb?” They want to hear a complete song. And even if you just know the strumming part, that’s usually more than fine by them.

To read the full answer check out Should I bother learning songs? Also get a head start on learning songs by reading some of our Easy Songs for Beginners and Songs for Intermediates lessons.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to easy guitar songs and select edit to make improvements.

What are some easy songs for a beginner?
If you already have a grasp of guitar basics (holding your guitar, tuning it) then the next step is to start building a repertoire of songs. Unfortunately most guitar courses or teachers don’t allow you to learn the songs that made you want to play in the first place.

David Hodge has written a very successful series of lessons called Easy Songs for Beginners that will get you playing in a very short amount of time. This series of lessons will teach you a bit of music theory and technique while you learn to play some pretty well known songs. For best results you really should begin with the first lesson and work your way up.

After working your way through these lessons you may be ready to graduate to the next level: Songs for Intermediates. These lessons take the next logical step moving from being a strict beginner to being a well-rounded guitarist.

This answer can be edited and improved by you on the Guitar Noise Wiki. Go to easy guitar songs and select edit to make improvements.

Should I learn to read music?
Basically the decision whether or not to learn to read music has to be in an honest manner by the person making the choice. And the easiest way to do that is to, again honestly, list all the pros and cons about being able to read music. No lie! Get a piece.