Learn to Play the GoChords Way

Many of the musicians and songwriters we love first taught themselves how to play an instrument and learn songs by using sheet music with the chord diagrams. They learned one chord at a time, progressively introducing more chords and more complicated songs to their repertoire.

GoChords can help you do the same. We’ve outlined a few simple steps below that take advantage of our special tools in the GoChords application to make it even easier to gain proficiency on the instrument of your choice.

As you will see you can also teach yourself to play guitar, ukulele, and mandolin!

Let’s get started! Click any of the sections below to expand.

Start with the simplest song you can

Pick a song that has only 2 or 3 chords to start. You’d be surprised how many popular rock ’n’ roll songs have only 3 chords.

Some good keys to try as you start:
Ukulele — key of C or G
Guitar — key of G or D

Show Guitar Chords Show Ukulele Chords

GoChords will allow you to examine different keys/chords before you start by using the transpose feature.

We have provided a classic folk song, Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” for you to practice with.

Play at a slower tempo at the start

The first time you play, play slowly so you can get familiar with the chords.

As you gain confidence playing the chords at that speed, slowly increase the tempo a few beats, until you’re comfortable. Repeat these steps until you can play at the song’s normal tempo.

scroll-control Tip: you can use GoChords’ hands-free scroll feature as you play to scroll the song slowly in your browser window. It also removes all the other unnecessary elements from the page so that you can just concentrate on playing.

Expand your chord repertoire by trying the same song in different keys

GoChords’ transpose feature will allow you to quickly and easily change the chords of any given song to another key.

Tap either the up or down arrows to show the song’s chords a half step at a time.

Play the song in this key a few times until you’re comfortable with the new chords, and then try another key. This will also help you to find the key most comfortable to sing in.

By doing this, you can learn quite a few new chords all while playing the same song!

Try new songs that add just one or two new chords to the ones you already know

In GoChords, by joining Groups, you will have access to many other songs that other GoChords users have created. Find the songs that introduce chords that are new to you.

Make your own song sheets

Once you are proficient on a few chords you can make your own song sheets, using the chord pallet and the movable chord diagrams.

You can write your own songs or try and figure out the chords to a song you love on your own. You can also share these sheets with others.

If you feel yourself starting to get frustrated, stop for a while

Everybody encounters some frustration as they’re learning to play, and as they’re trying to play something that’s totally new to them.

Don’t try to force yourself to keep at it when you’ve gotten to the point of frustration — nobody learns particularly well when they’re frustrated.

Instead, take a little break and go do something else for a while, and then come back to it a little later and try again.

Remember: learning and playing should be fun. Be patient with yourself as you learn, and give yourself credit for what you’ve learned so far. Even the greatest musicians didn’t learn to play overnight!

Oh, and the blisters on your fingers will stop hurting after a while and become very strong!

We hope these suggestions have given you some new ways to work on your musicianship.

Regardless of whether or not you become another Beatle or Prince, you can start to learn the universal language of music — for the joy of playing, writing, and playing with others.

So put down your phone and pick up an instrument!

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