Most chord books and charts list chords by type (major, minor, diminished, etc.) and alphabetically. This makes sense since a chord book is fundamentally a reference book like the dictionary and not a method unto itself. But it does present a problem if the student is learning chords in this order and trying to hear something that sounds remotely musical from those results. Again the dictionary is a decent analogy since it would be difficult to use any three alphabetically consecutive words in a sentence!

Without going into too much detail it can be summed up by saying that those chords which are drawn from a family of tones (the key) sound most natural when played in a series. The topic of keys will not be discussed here. Instead, what will be offered are a few chord groupings that go together nicely. It is suggested that the beginner try each set and practice the grouping that is easiest.

From the key of G ------------- G - C - D

From the key of A --------------A - D - E

From the key of D --------------D - G - A

From the key of C --------------C - F - G

Music has a tendency to sound natural (to the beginner) when the number 4 is used. So, we will use 4 measures with 4 beats in each measure. Since each grouping has only 3 chords, we will repeat one of the 3.

A measure is simply a small section of music containing a specific number of beats.

The beat is the count or pulse.

Music often uses the "slash" sign to imply stroked beats ( / / / / )

Putting all of this into an example might give these results. Remember to play the given chord for each "slash" and repeat it in an unbroken series. This example has been used in an enormous number of famous songs. To hear it click here.