Electric Guitar Chords: Learning the Basics

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Electric guitar chords are one of the very first things any aspiring guitarist should understand. Chords are created by holding and strumming certain strings and are the main component of any type of music created with a guitar. Whether you are playing folk, rock and roll, jazz, blues or any other type of music, chords are absolutely essential. You might think that learning this skill will be intricate or difficult. It does take practice, but by mastering 15 chords or even less you will be able to play thousands of different songs.

A chord is a combination of three or more notes played at the same time. This means that at least three strings are going to be used for every chord you play. Every chord falls under one of three musical categories -- Seventh, Major or Minor. Each one of these categories has its own distinct tone and sound. Seventh chords are best suited to jazz music, while Minor chords are more reserved. Major chords are known as the most complete, strong type of chord. The sound of these chord groups are difficult to define in words, but you will learn to recognize them when you hear them.

Now let's take a look at the list of basic chords that will get you started. They are A Major, A Minor, C, D, Dm, E, Em, F and G. Any capital letter with the letter m beside it is denoted as a Minor chord while those without the letter m are Major chords. Another thing you'll need to know about are keys. Each chord listed above are grouped into a key family. A Key contains A, D and E. D Key contains D, Em, G and A. G family contains G, Am, C, D and Em. Finally, C Key contains C, Dm, Em, F and G. Once you master all of these chords, you are ready to learn more advanced ones.

When you are learning electric guitar chords, start off with one key family and master it before moving on to the next. Practice is very important for any skill, and guitar is no exception. Start with simple songs with easily played chords and learn them by heart before trying more difficult compositions. Once you master the basic chords, you will be able to learn to play different songs and types of music more quickly and easily than ever. To help you learn, try studying a chord chart and keep it handy while you're practicing.

Copyright 2007-2008 James D. Sterling - All Rights Reserved

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