How many chords do or should one know?

[unimogbert]

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[jeanray1113]

Don't get bogged down and overwhelmed by the seemingly endless array of chords. As a beginner, there are a lot of songs you can play with just the 3 main chords of any key. Say, C, F, and G, for key of C, and D, A, and G for key of D. (And 5 chords will enable you to play in both keys, since G is in both.) Then it will be relatively easy to learn the 7th and minor chords for those keys. As others have said, don't go nuts trying to learn as many chords as possible as fast as possible;learn them in the context of a piece you are working on. Work on changing smoothly back and forth. Learn a few simple songs/pieces that you enjoy, so that you have a sense of making some real progress. Most of all, enjoy your guitar!

[daza152]

Originally Posted by mc1

3, maybe 4.

I wouldn't have gone as high as 4...sorry Ask Bob Dylan??

[Hotspur]

Originally Posted by unimogbert

You guys have an incredible level of knowledge.

But you missed the part where he said he'd been learning guitar for two months.

I wouldn't blame him if he decided guitar was too hard and took up bongos instead.

Really? Because I don't see anyone who said "go learn all this stuff now!"

In fact, lots of us mentioned the opposite - this material should be assimilated slowly, through songs.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by daza152

I wouldn't have gone as high as 4...sorry Ask Bob Dylan??

Hey, Bob Dylan knows way more than 4 chords! Must be at least, er, 5....

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by unimogbert

You guys have an incredible level of knowledge.

But you missed the part where he said he'd been learning guitar for two months.

I wouldn't blame him if he decided guitar was too hard and took up bongos instead.

Good! There's way too many guitarists around already, and not nearly enough good bongo players.

I'm not entirely joking . No room in Guitar World for the faint hearted. (Just wait till he tries barre chords, and tries changing chords while keeping time...) Nobody makes it without dedication in the face of those kind of challenges.

If he was learning to be a mountaineer, do you think we should keep the Himalayas secret from him, in case it scares him off? We're not suggesting he goes and climbs them tomorrow. Just pointing out what may lie ahead, and the best routes to get there. None of this has to be learned in full NOW. It's a process which can take as long as necessary; it's the order of doing things which is what matters.

[unimogbert]

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[mc1]

Originally Posted by unimogbert

Continuing the analogy - It looked to me like he was planning a day hike and wanted to know how much moleskin to carry. He got detailed responses for 7 different crevasse rescue techniques and some pointers on oxygen supply conservation.

We don't even know if he wants to be a mountaineer or not. Maybe he is just dabbling in dayhiking and his real goal is professional photography.

i think 1st aid and hypothermia should also be covered prior to going outdoors.

and professional photography - don't get me started - i shutter to about that development.

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the whole "how many chords do you know?" is an interesting question. as hotspur mentioned, how do you count. the more i think about it, the less clear the question and answers are.
are 7 different ways of playing Cm7 one chord or 7?
are the same notes on different string sets the same chord or different?
if you know Cm7 can you say you also know Eb6?
if your chords contain no open strings and you're thinking I-ii-V, can you multiply that by 12?
etc., etc.

[waveform]

If you'v been playing a few months heres an idea. Maybe just focus on some basic chords (E,A,G,B,F etc), learn them, learn songs with just them. Play and have fun with them. Once you learn those chords you can move them up the neck to make new chords (you basically have remembered a chord "shape" that can make a new chord). Don't learn to play the bongos. Become a professional photographer. Climb Mount Everest, bring oxygen. Tip the Sherpa's well.

[Greg_B]

Originally Posted by unimogbert

You guys have an incredible level of knowledge.

But you missed the part where he said he'd been learning guitar for two months

This is actually a very good point.

I know I interpreted the question as saying "what can I get by with" as if there was a point where you could say "That's enough chords". But you're right, there are different answers for different levels of play.

Certainly A C D E F G all in open position should be known

Then Am Dm Em

Then A7 B7 C7 D7 E7 G7

Then Am7 Dm7 Em7

That will get you through nearly every bluegrass jam, folks song, and many classic rock tunes.

Now, once you know all that (and that's really not all that much) you'll find that you'll want to learn some cool closed position chords. See my previous post for the 8 most important jazz chord grips.

Then the world opens up and you start to learn all those cool chords in the Mickey Baker book or Ted Greene's Modern Chord Progressions. It's a journey but it's always fun and it never ends.

[daza152]

On a serious note/chord.....I just learnt chords as I needed them, I choose a song I like and want to learn and learn the chords for that song. I wouldn't even know an 1/8 of all the possible chord and TBH don't want to know them as I realised the songs I like to strum to have simple chords so, just learn what YOU need to play what you like.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by unimogbert

Continuing the analogy - It looked to me like he was planning a day hike and wanted to know how much moleskin to carry. He got detailed responses for 7 different crevasse rescue techniques and some pointers on oxygen supply conservation.

LOL. I don't feel I went quite that far (at least I started from basics), but - to pursue the analogy even further - I'll accept that what I did was maybe talk him through his route in a little too much detail. "When you get to this rock here, you need to make a 30 degree turn to the southwest; 50 yards further you get a slight incline.... then you get a steep rock face where you may need crampons... whaddya mean you've only got trainers? Are you taking this seriously or not?"

[mr. beaumont]

I don't see any problem with learning new chords as you go...at least until you're comfortable branching out...learning a thousand shapes in a vaccuum without context isn't going to get you too far anyway.

But I still think the end goal, somewhere down the line, for a serious player should be to learn how to build chords from the major scale/formulas. Once you can do that, you can literally say that you know how to play EVERY chord...and every place that chord "lives" on the neck!

[trion12]

Originally Posted by Greg_B

that leads us to an answer to a similar question that's often asked about music theory: "How much music theory should I know?"

As much as you need to play the stuff you want to play . . .

[roadbiker]

I find that after the challenge of learing a chord to begin with, the next challenge (and a bigger one!) is transitioning to that chord from another. ONe of the ones I struggle with early on is the B7 chord. Now it's easy, and I'm working my way through alternate chord positions. Some are much easier than others. My current challenge is the C9 on the third fret using 5 strings. I find it tricky to get my index finger on the A string with my middle finger on the D string and get a clean sound. But I'm working on it...

Jim