When playing/learning guitar, when do you play “chords” or strings within those chords?

Question

I don’t really understand how to play guitar or even how to approach learning.

Do you just memorize chords? When do you play individual strings instead of a full strum? Are certain notes and chords assigned to different keys?

It seems way above my head lol.

Help.

In: Other

Answer 1

There isn’t one way to learn how to play guitar. When you pluck one string, that makes a note. When you strum several strings in rapid succession so that they’re ringing simultaneously, that’s a chord, which is just several notes played together. That applies to more than just guitar.

>Do you just memorize chords?

You should.

>When do you play individual strings instead of a full strum?

This is a really odd question. One answer is when the piece you’re playing demands it for your part in that musical piece. If you’re writing your own music, it’s whenever you want.

>Are certain notes and chords assigned to different keys?

Yes. Again, chords are just notes played together. A key is like a template. Some notes don’t sound as good when played together, so you typically choose 7 out of the 12 tones for a song, but they repeat in each octave so you can use the same 7 an octave higher, if you wanted. If you choose C, D, E, F, G, A, and B, you’re in the C major key. If you choose D, E, F, G, A, Bb, and C, you’re in the key of D minor. Chords in that key would be using those notes. Sometimes you can use a note not in your key and it’s called an “accidental” even though it’s not really an accident. There’s no hard and fast rules in music, just guidelines.