[Updated February 2024]No matter how much the world changes using a guitar as a way to woo women will always stay the same. You don’t need to be Jimi Hendrix; you just need to be able to pass with a few guitar chords and a ballad or two. Even if you are not there to woo, it is an essential tool for getting the party started or adding to the atmosphere of a gathering. By learning these chords and a few songs along with them, you will be the man in the room that all the men want to be, and all the women want to be with.
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The Five Essential Guitar Chords
There are only five chords that you need to know to play a whole library of some of the greatest songs ever written. Once you have mastered G major, C major, D major, E Major, and A major, you’ll have everything you need. With these five chords, you should be able to play just about anything you want. Not only do these guitar chords cover your bases for a whole setlist, but they are super simple to play if you know how to read tabs.
How to Read Guitar Tabs
To put it simply, guitar tabs are a diagram of your guitar that shows you where to put your fingers. Tabs are read from left to right like you are looking at an upright guitar facing you. The top line of the diagram represents the “nut,” which is the top of the guitar neck. The next four horizontal lines in the diagram are the frets, which are the horizontal lines below the nut. The six vertical lines represent the guitar strings. From left to right, the strings are the low E, A, D, G, B, and high E.
The numbers on each tab tell you which fingers you will use to press down on the strings and where they should be placed on the guitar neck. The C chord, for example, is one of the easiest chords to play because there is a nice progression with your fingers. For tabs, fingers are numbered one for the pointer finger, two for the middle finger, and three for the ring finger. The C chord is played with the pointer finger on the B string between the nut and the first fret, the middle finger on the D string between the first and second fret, and the ring finger on the A string between the second and third fret.
There is one more important feature on tabs that you need to know before getting started. If a string has an X over it, don’t strum the string when you play the chord. If it has an O over it, you are supposed to strum the string without a finger on it.
Here are the tabs for all five tabs you need to know:
Practice
These tabs are some of the easiest to play, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t take some practice to master. Before you even strum a note, practice your finger placement. At first, finger placement is awkward, but it gets more comfortable over time. Practice transitioning your fingers from one chord to the next and getting a feel for finger placement and pressure as well as timing.
Once you feel confident with your finger placement, you can start playing. First practice transitioning between chords while strumming. Once you feel comfortable with that, you can start playing some excellent songs that will impress at any party.
Practice is all about repetition, so it do it every day. Even a few minutes a day is better than an hour once a week. Pretty soon, your fingers will be moving from chord to chord without you even thinking about it.
Challenges
You will face some challenges along the way, but that comes with learning anything new. The biggest problem you will face is making your fingers do what you want them to do. Playing guitar takes a certain amount of finger strength and dexterity that most of us don’t have starting off. Another challenge you will face is reading the music while trying to play. Reading tabs is a learned skill, and being able to read them while moving from chord to chord is a difficult task. The more you practice, the more it will become a more fluid and effortless task.
The Songs
There are plenty of catchy tunes that you can play with these chords, and whittling it down is tough. These are just a few of the classic songs that can be played with five chords or less.
1. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
This song has it all, it’s easy, it’s catchy, and everyone knows the lyrics whether they think they do or not. If you are serenading a specific lady, you can always change the eye color to make it more personalized.
2. Let It Be – The Beatles
The Beatles are arguably the most famous musical group of all time, and this is just one of many of their mega hits. Everyone loves Let It Be, and you will create a crowd sing along wherever you are.
3. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Those first few notes of Sweet Home Alabama are easily recognizable to anyone. If you are looking to rock, this is the song for you. With only a few chords, you can play this song in its entirety, and people won’t realize that you are still learning.
4. What I Got – Sublime
This is the ultimate song about being happy with what you have. The song transcends genres and will be a hit at any party.
5. Good Riddance – Green Day
The penultimate campfire song, Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), is one of the best songs you can learn on your guitar. It only takes a few chords, and you’ll have the attention of anyone born after 1998.
Learning guitar is all about patience and getting a feel for finger placement. Not everyone can be Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton, but almost anyone can learn these five chords and strum some of the most popular songs ever written. Now that you know the chords grab that guitar and start practicing so you’ll be the center of attention at your next get together.
