OK, I’m clearly a beginner with ants in her pants! I looked up the chords to a song that I heard today after some years and that I long to play, “Sweet Talkin Woman” by ELO, and discovered that there is an “F” chord that I never knew existed! What??? OK, so now I know that I need to learn chords A through G; I have never seen any “H, I, J, K” chords.
Can one of you intermediate/advanced players let me know where the chords end? Are there chords after G? Also, do you think it’s a good idea to jump ahead and learn chords that are not in the beginner learning plan? I need to stay engaged, but I don’t want to get overwhelmed… Oh geeeesh…
More seriously, no, the notes and chords in music go from A to G.
By Western music conventions, there are normally 7 notes in a scale and 7 related chords (actually families of chords). After that, they repeat.
There are also sharps and flats which brings the total number of notes to 12.
This is in an octave.
An octave is, technically, where two notes have a relationship where one note is twice the frequency of the other. To our ears they sound similar but one note will sound higher than the other.
There are no hard anbd fast rules, Tabitha. As Justin once said to me ‘nobody dies if you try something and it doesn’t go well’. That said, some people recount trying things that were too big a stretch, getting frustrated, and giving up.
So I think there is a lot to be said for following Grade 1 and 2 as Justin designed. Based on his years of experience the sequence is tried and tested. You will lay a solid foundation.
And rather than worrying about all the chords you may encounter, just learn them as they are introduced, and be sure to follow our ‘Learn songs. Learn songs. Learn songs’. And in due course that will include the F chord and open the door to learn ‘Sweet Talkin Woman’
Oh geeeezeeee! Thank you, Majik. I will wrap my head around this so that I do not get discouraged. Knowing what I can anticipate makes all of the difference.
Thank you, DavidP. I think I am getting over zealous, which probably comes as no surprise. I will dial back my tendencies to race ahead. I think those tendencies will detract from my progress and cause a regression. I can’t wait to play “Sweet talkin woman” though…what an amazing tune! I am glad I learned that an F chord exists.
Have a crack at the song if its one you like.
It may be very difficult…or you may surprise yourself, and have alot of fun with it.
A default F chord, technically is a barre chord, but you can play other versions of it that are simpler, and can sound just as good.
Reach out if you need some help.
Thank you, Shane. I feel like a kid with a new toy who is all over the place. This makes me happy because I have realized that I can still be challenged; but it also makes me nervous because I do not like to fail at things that others find so simplistic. This journey is going to test my resolve… It’s too late to turn back now (another song I’d like to play…LMAO).
The trick is in the mindest. See the song as something to have fun with and explore, with no pressure to try to master it. You will likely master it in time, as your skills develop.
And remember, everyone here is the same. We all started on Day 1. Just different days .
Frankly, at this point in your journey, you don’t need to know what it is in order to play it if you really want to. Look it up and learn how to play it first. then you’ll know what it sounds like.
I don’t want to discourage you from learning about the theory: you absolutely should because, then, you’ll understand how these chords are built, what their function is in music, and how they sound. But that is going to take a lot more time.
And, not knowing the theory shouldn’t stop you from learning how to play them. Learning the sus2 and sus4 D chords is really easy and you can have a lot of fun with them.
Just don’t get too distracted from the main course, is all I would suggest. It’s important to keep following it, especially as a beginner.
many people learn many different ways, but having said that Justin is a very successful long time teacher and a big part of that is his structure and building slowly on learning. and no, nothing after G.
.