Rochester People, Places and Things

When people inquire about learning to play the guitar, one of the first questions they ask is – How do I identify what chords to play in a song? There are several answers to this question, but the main ones are to learn basic music theory, learn where to place your fingers and when they are accustomed to making the appropriate changes, you will be playing your favorite songs in short time.

Guitar is one of the easiest instruments to learn, believe it or not. When first learning to play people get a bit daunted. The trick is to stick with it. Don’t give up, it will come in time. While learning some of your favorite songs is a good way to get efficient on the guitar, 

There are many ways to learn guitar quickly. Guitar magazines feature some great lessons for beginners to advanced players. Tablature is the format used, whereby the proper fingering positions are laid out on a graph representing a guitar neck, showing the appropriate strings and fret numbers for players to follow. What’s great about the guitar magazine lessons is that the articles also explain the music theory related to the exercise or song. This is a great way for new guitar players to learn.

For those who may not have the money to subscribe to guitar magazines there are plenty of free lessons online. Be choosy about what you learn from though as some tablatures are quite inaccurate. Tablature is a great tool, however, your ears and fingers should be your main tools. You will hear whether the tab is accurate or not from the start.

There are several free tablature programs out there which can help you learn, too. PowerTab and GuitarPro, just to name a few. Song tab files can be loaded into these applications and the song is played back in midi. Players can slow the playback down and learn the piece at their own pace.

In conclusion, learning the guitar can be accomplished with many different tools. The most important, though, being your mind, heart, ears and fingers. Tab and tab programs are great, but they can only do so much. Passion goes a long way toward learning a musical instrument. If you have the spirit, you will become a good guitarist.

How do I identify what chords to play in a song? Use your ears and heart, keep playing and you will amaze yourself.