“Mine” by Taylor Swift

By | Guitar Chords | 6 Comments

Alright, alright. Say what you want about Taylor Swift, but I love her. As a songwriter, her songs couldn’t be more memorable. If you start playing a Taylor Swift song, chances are people are going to instantly sing along. For guitar players, especially beginners, the good thing is that her songs are pretty easy to play.

Here are the chords for Taylor Swift’s “Mine.” You’ll want to pay attention especially to the chord changes in the intro and pre-choruses because some of the chords switch on some off beats. Be sure to check out our other easy guitar songs and chords.

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Hey, Soul Sister Chords by Train

By | Guitar Chords | 16 Comments

This week we are going to look at the chords and lyrics for Train’s Hey, Soul Sister from their “Save Me, San Francisco” album. It’s likely that you’ve heard this song on the radio, as it’s been at the top of the charts for quite awhile now. It uses the most basic guitar chords and is in a 4/4 time signature.

The most challenging part about this song will probably be the rhythm. While we don’t have time to go into the strumming pattern of the song, one thing that can help is to simply listen through the song before trying to play it. Listen to what’s happening with the rhythm and listen to the chord changes. Try to internalize the song in your mind and hear it. If you can hear it in your mind, you will most likely be able to play it.

If you want more songs to learn and play, check out the chords and lyrics for some other beginner guitar songs.

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The Only Exception Chords by Paramore

By | Guitar Chords | 22 Comments

As a guitar player, the ultimate goal is to be able to play songs. However, if you are first starting out it can be hard to find easy guitars songs to play that aren’t too hard. The good thing is that some of the best songs ever written are the most simple ones.

Here are the chords and lyrics for Paramore’s The Only Exception from their “Brand New Eyes” album. It uses the most basic guitar chords and has a swung 6/8 rhythm. If you are new to strumming, you might want to check out our guitar lessons for creating and understanding strumming patterns.

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How to Transpose or Change the Key of a Chord Chart

By | Beginner Guitar Lessons, Guitar Chords, Intermediate Guitar Lessons, Music Theory | 12 Comments

What do you do if you find a chord chart of your favorite song, but it’s not in the right key?

The term transpose simply refers to changing the key of a song. You can transpose a piece to either a lower pitch or a higher pitch. So for example, you find a chord chart is in the key of A but you want to play it in the key of G. Surprisingly, this isn’t very difficult to do if you know a small bit of the theory behind it.

Let’s look at this.

Scales and Roman Numerals

Each song is generally based upon a scale. Most popular songs that you play on the guitar are based on the major scale. There are seven notes in a scale. So in the key of C major, you have the notes: C D E F G A B.

The chords of that song are then built off of each note of the scale, which would give you seven chords for that key. However, each of these chords will have a different sound. Based upon a major scale, some chords will be major, others minor, and one chord will be diminished.

We don’t have time to look into how each of these chords are built, but a major scale has this structure, which can be represented by roman numerals:

I ii iii IV V vi vii^o

The uppercase roman numerals represent major chords. The lowercase roman numerals represent minor chords. The lowercase roman numeral with the superscript circle represents a diminished chord.

So let’s take a C major scale and use the above roman numerals. In a C major scale, you will have the following chords [...]

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Major Triad Positions: One Way to Learn the Guitar Fretboard

By | Beginner Guitar Lessons, Guitar Chords, Guitar Scales & Fretboard, Site News | 5 Comments

Are you up for a challenge?

In a recent previous post, “Guitar Lessons: Scales & Learning the Guitar Fretboard,” I mentioned a few things you can put into practice to master the guitar fretboard. One of these suggestions was to learn your triads over the fretboard. Triads can help “connect the dots” for how individual notes across the fretboard interact and relate to one other.

Just a forewarning, this discussion needs some understanding of how guitar scales work. This might make more sense to more intermediate players. If you are just beginning, you will want to check out guitar scales explained.

What are triads?

A triad is a group of three notes played simultaneously. Triads are made up of one note with a major third and a perfect fifth above it. In plain speak, a triad is just a three note chord. There are different types of triads: major, minor, augmented, and diminished.

For now, we just want to talk about and focus on major triads. If we understand major triads, we can understand the other ones better. [...]

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Easy Guitar Songs for Beginners: Round Two

By | Guitar Chords, Practice Tips | 12 Comments

This is a continuation of last week’s post of 10 easy guitar songs for beginners. Check those out if you haven’t already. Chords, lyrics, and videos of each songs are included so you can play them!

The best thing a beginning guitar player can do is to apply all the new chords they are learning to playing an actual song. After all, isn’t that why you’re learning how to play guitar in the first place?

So again, here’s my picks of some easy guitar songs for beginners that you should be able to pick up right when you are first beginning guitar (or even if you’ve been playing awhile! These are good songs still!). There’s a mix of some new pop songs and older classics in this list.

Click on the song title to view chords, lyrics, and a video.

Easy Guitar Songs for Beginners

1.) House of the Rising Sun by The Animals
2.) I’m Yours by Jason Mraz
3.) Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne
4.) I Walk the Line by Johnny Cash
5.) Viva La Vida by Coldplay

What would you add to this list?

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10 Easy Guitar Songs for Beginners with Guitar Chords

By | Guitar Chords, Practice Tips | 73 Comments

When you’re first learning how to play the guitar, the best thing you can do is practice learning a new song. However, it can be hard to find easy guitar songs for beginners when you’re first starting because you don’t know which songs are easy to learn on guitar and which ones aren’t.

Here’s my collection of some easy guitar songs for beginners that you can pick up right away when you are learning how to play the guitar. There’s a mix of some new pop songs and older classics in this list.

I’ve also written up the chords and lyrics. Click on a song to see the video, chords, and lyrics.

Top 5 Easy Guitar Songs for Beginners

1.) Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver
2.) Free Falling by Tom Petty
3.) Yellow by Coldplay
4.) Come On Get Higher by Matt Nathanson
5.) Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynard

More Easy Guitar Songs for Beginners

6.) Clocks by Coldplay
7.) Teardrops On My Guitar by Taylor Swift
8.) Lost by Coldplay
9.) Realize by Colbie Caillat
10.) You’re Beautiful by James Blunt

What songs are you learning how to play? What easy guitar songs for beginners would you add to this list?

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How To Use a Guitar Capo

By | Beginner Guitar Lessons, Guitar Chords | 5 Comments

Guitar capos are a beautiful thing. Not only are guitar capos practical, but by using a guitar capo, you’re given a whole new palette of options in the realm of creativity. You can even get a certain characteristic of sound in the songs you play. Every guitarist should keep a capo in their guitar case.

What Is a Capo?

A capo is a small tool that “clamps” down all the strings on your guitar. In a certain sense, it bars all the strings on a particular fret. This allows a guitarist to transpose keys. The capo shown on the left is a Kyser Capo, which is a pretty popular style of capo.

How Does a Capo Work?

As I said, a capo allows a guitarist to [...]

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Minor Guitar Barre Chord Charts

By | Guitar Chords, Site News | 3 Comments

A minor chordLast week, I added some major barre chords to our ever growing list of guitar chords. This week, it’s time to add some minor barre chords. These minor barre chords are based on the same common position that can moved up and down the fretboard. Again, these barre chords bar all of the strings.

On these barre chord chart diagrams, you’ll notice that there is a little marking to the left of the diagram that has a number and “fr.” like 3fr. and 5fr. These markings indicate what fret you play the barre chord position on. So if the markings say, 3fr., you’d play [...]

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Major Guitar Barre Chord Charts Added!

By | Guitar Chords, Site News | 6 Comments

A major chordOur list of guitar chords has been updated with the most common major barre chords! These barre chords bar all of the strings (except the first type of F major chord).

If you are just learning your barre chords for guitar, be patient! It may come quick for some, but more than often, it requires time to build up the adequate amount of strength in your fingers and wrist to be able to play a clean barre chord. I won’t lie to you. Barre chords can be hard! So give it time.

On these barre chord chart diagrams, you’ll notice [...]

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