Memorize Guitar Chords Quickly
When first starting to learn the guitar, all those confusing chords can be quite daunting. They can all flood your brain and you can forget the names and positions of all of them. If you want to start playing the guitar for real, you will need to start memorizing simple chords before anything else.
Contents
Steps
- Learn a few at a time. Rather than trying to remember all the chords in every key, learn two, or even one, to start out with. The most important chord is an A chord. Luckily, this chord is also very simple to play. After the A chord, you might want to start learning the C chord. It may look confusing at first, but it's not too different from an A chord. Both of these chords are very important when playing the guitar. Learning just a few chords will mean you'll have less to remember and if you put all of your focus into them you probably won't forget them.
- Practice switching between these chords. When you memorize where your fingers go on both the A and C chords, try switching between the two. This doesn't have to be done quickly and should be practiced super slowly when you're starting out. Gradually, you'll speed up the transition between the two and learn how to play songs, you don't have to worry about that yet though. Just focus on "feeling" where your fingers should go and build up the muscle memory in your hands. It's hard to forget the chords when you spend ages playing them. You can also try saying the chord names out loud when you play them if it helps you.
- Get a teacher. A personal teacher will not only teach you the correct finger positioning and technique, they will also motivate you to practice what you're learning in lesson. You may be surprised about how much you can actually play when a teacher is telling you what to do. Don't only play in lessons though, you need to practice at home too. If you're worried about the cost of a one-on-one personal teacher, consider joining in at a group session. These can sometimes be cheaper and also allow you to communicate with other musicians. Some schools offer free guitar lessons to anyone that's interested, be sure to check that out too.
- Print out chord diagrams. Chord diagrams show you exactly where to put your fingers and what fingers to actually use. These will help you understand what the chord shape is supposed to look like. Try to refer to these when you're stuck as opposed to Youtube videos and other Wikihow articles because they help you to visualize what the chord should look like when you play it. Stick these chord diagrams somewhere where you'll see them every day. This includes on your walls, on your wardrobe or on your actual guitar. Seeing them every day should help you to memorize them. Keep in mind that if you plan on playing your guitar out in public, chord diagrams will look very tacky on your instrument.
- Learn simple songs. Learning songs that include basic chords should help you to memorize them much quicker than just playing the chords over and over. Try to learn a song that is simple but popular so you can play them to an audience of friends and family. A good song to learn in "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. This song is very popular and can be recognized by almost anybody. On top of that, is only has three chords (A, E and D) in it and repeats the same progression and strumming pattern throughout the whole song. This makes it easy to remember and sing along. Also, remembering what chords go in the song will also help you to remember what to chords look like and how they should sound.
Tips
- Practice for at least half an hour every day.
- Try a few easy notes first, then try more difficult notes.
- Try to picture the chord in your head before you play it.
- Get someone who knows how to play guitar and play with them.
- A good way to help you transition between the chords quicker is to have a sibling or a friend yell out random chords while you play them.
Warnings
- Make sure you're playing the chord right as bad habits are hard to un-learn.
- Your fingers will hurt when you're starting out.
Related Articles
- Learn Guitar Scales
- Learn Music Chords
- Learn Bass Guitar Tab
- Learn All the Notes on the Guitar
