I often encounter people wanting to learn playing the guitar, aiming of course, to at least belt out their favorite song, but sadly most don’t get past beyond A, E and D chords. And of course, G, because nobody would miss a single press of the lowest-string(the thinnest string) on the 3rd fret as G. If you're one of those, you'd be lucky if your choice of song only needs a combination of these 4 chords or you find a song that only uses these chords. I don't mean to demean those who knew AEDG only, I want them to realize they could be better, in a very easy way.
The problem as I see it, is they try to memorize right off the Guitar Chord Chart. If you're doing the same, you are on to a real long and tedious process! If you're just about to begin learning guitar chords, find a Guitar Chord Chart and see just how much you can memorize in a day, and how much you can recall the following day, the following week...etcetera. Sadly still, many people I know whose guitar playing are unquestionably better than mine, believe that memorizing from charts is the best way to start learning guitar chords.
One guy I know approached a formally educated guitar player to teach him basic guitar chords. What happened? He was told to go and memorize the basic chords from the chord charts and come back and he would teach him. Three years on to this day, the guy has shifted to keyboards and he did quit just the same. Pity.
When I was just beginning, I started the same way. But I ended up forgetting chords I memorized the previous day once I learned new chords. As I wrote in my profile, I am completely self thought. I grew up in a poor family, I don't have enough to pay for a teacher. So I figured things my own, from the chord charts just the same, and I was able to figure out how to derive guitar chords real time. Read that once again: derive chords realtime.
That, I firmly believe, is what guitar newbies need to know immediately. Derive chords real time, or, figure out the chords as you need them, quickly. Why? So enjoyment is immediate and that will give more inspiration to pursue.
If that does not sound good to you, I don't know what to say next. But if you have read this long, please keep on reading. You won't regret, I promise. Let me also have the pleasure to say that some good guitarists I knew were somehow surprised how simple is my method and how easy to master. Mind you, you may end up not only teaching yourself, but others too. The method I use is not revolutionary at all, but it's interesting and definitely worth your time particularly if you're a real beginner.
Let me tell you also that even thought the method I use will definitely help you playing very quickly, it will not make you an expert of guitar chords. Call it a trade off. There is a better way of learning guitar chords, where you learn deep guitar chord theory like "triads" and the like, but it sure will need a hell lot of your time. But if your time is limited, the method I am writing about is for you. If you're looking for a way to play chords just to jam along with your friends over some beer on the weekends, or simply to have something interesting to do in your free time but you're not willing to invest so much time in it, this is for you.
I'm going to break my tutorial in a series of posts so check out my newer posts.
