Folk-Guitar Basics

Guitar basics for folk, country, bluegrass, cowboy and gospel
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 * A beginner might be amazed at how many songs in our culture require only two easy chords and how many more require only three.  A small minority require four or more.
 * My song-lyric collections (eg Wailing for Wuv) use numbers to specify chords – each chord presented as a superscript on the syllable where the chord begins, almost always at a downbeat.  People enjoying the number system can be seen at:  All smiles tonight,  Blue eyes crying in the rain,  Church in the wildwood,  Darkest hour.
 * The basic chord-number system is presented in the image below (major chords only, learn minor chords on your own).  The lower-case letters at the top of the B7 diagram show the notes to which the respective strings of a guitar should be tuned (get a clip-on electronic tuner).
 *  The numbers on the strings and between the frets show where your fingers go to make each chord (2=index, 3=middle, 4=ring, 5=little).  Until you can play most of the chords easily, begin each learning session by playing all the chords one after the other, left to right, F#, B7, E, A, D, G, C and F.
 * Below the chord pictures, are tracks with numbers 2, 5, 1, 4.   The numbers in a track are written below the chords typically associated in a song.  Consider the second track from the top, the chords used in the key of A, ie 2=B7, 5=E, 1=A and 4=D.
 * After playing all the chords, select a song to sing from the Two-Chord Songs or Three-Chord Songs.  If you don’t know a satisfactory key for your voice singing that song, then start by trying an easy key like A or D (ie 1 = A or 1 = D).
 * If you can’t tell instinctively what note to sing first, it will be good to hum the three chord notes (1,3, 5) repeatedly.  They can be found by holding the 1 chord and picking the strings labeled 1, 3 and 5 at the bottom of the chord diagram.  Play and hum those three notes several times.  Then, while strumming the 1 chord, hum the half scale (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) up and down several times or the whole scale (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1).  After that, you should be able to start your song on the right note.  By the way, it’s worth noting that every song begins on the 1, 3 or 5 note of the 1 chord, and every song ends on the 1 note of the 1 chord, the key note.