Books

[John Bertotti]

Mandolin for Dummies is an incredible resource. Everything is explained very well and it is also a fun read.

I'm not sure why anyone would suggest complicated extended chords, shapes and even progressions (ii7-V7 etc) when you simply asked about beginning books for learning chords. We must all walk before we run and we must all stand before we walk.

Mark Gunter asked a perfect question: "Have you learned to simply play the chords for any songs you like? That is the starting point!"

You can play "Happy Birthday" with 2 finger G C and D chords.

Good Luck! Matt

I can do happy birthday I suppose that’s something. Two finger chords is about it and I don’t even remember which is what just what sounded right for a handful of tunes. I will get tue dummies book and work with what I have then move on to more thanks!

[Bill McCall]

I can do happy birthday I suppose that’s something. Two finger chords is about it and I don’t even remember which is what just what sounded right for a handful of tunes. I will get tue dummies book and work with what I have then move on to more thanks!

From where you’re at, i was taking you down the wrong road. Sorry to confuse you.

[Mark Gunter]

John, there is no shame in playing “two finger chords” in my opinion; in fact, I use them fairly often. Especially the open G chord, because I like the tonalities so I use it wherever it sounds good to me.

My advice to any beginner learning chords is to learn to keep rhythm and play the appropriate chords to songs you like to sing. Or, play them as backup to your friend who is playing songs, if you have one. Historically, this is the way every beginner for eons learns to play chords. Before the advent of the printing press, a mentor or two would show the beginner how to finger chords, or teach him how to find chords. Since print, most beginners would use a chord Bible or song books to find chords for playing the songs they like. Basically, most newbies would use a chord book simply as a reference book to find how to finger chords they don’t already know when they need the chord to play a song.

This approach to learning chords has worked for beginners for ages. So, in order of importance to the beginner, I would suggest:

1. Pick song(s) you really, really like and want to play.
2. Find the chord progression for the song.
3. Using a chord book or other resource, look up the fingerings for each chord and try them.
4. learn to play the song well using the chord fingerings that come easiest to you.
5. Once you really have #4 down pat, begin experimenting with using other fingerings for the same chords found in your chord book. In this way, you can begin to learn several ways to finger a particular chord.
6. Study chord building (the music theory part) to expand your knowledge and skills in playing chords.

Why start with #6? 1 - 4 is guaranteed to keep any beginner busy for awhile.