Hello mate
I've also learned to play the guitar by myself....albeit with some very early lessons from the age of 8. I didn't pick it up again until I was 20.
The best I can offer you is a very, very easy (and bastardised) way of learning how to play all the chords by just using your three lowest notes i.e. E, A, D.
As you may know, the progression of notes on the E-string is as such:
E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D# E
(Note - F# is the same as Gb, etc etc etc)
To play an E chord, simply leave the E string open and place your fingers on the second fret of the A and D string to make the notes B and E. To play an F chord, put your fingers on the first fret of the E string and the third fret of the A and D string to make the notes F, C, F.
Basically, for each chord that you want to play, make sure that you put your finger on that note on the E string, and on the next two strings place the fingers two frets higher. I usually use my 2nd finger (next to my thumb) to cover the E-string and use my 4th finger to cover both of the other strings.
You can use these strings to play a major or minor chord, as the decisive note in each chord (i.e. F# in a D major chord, F in a D minor chord) is not played.
Probably the best advice I can give is to never give up, and muck around with your favourite music and play along to the CD. That's how I learnt 95% of my current technique....
I don't think I've explained it really well, but give it a go and see if that helps somewhat. They're not as good as the real chords but for people such as me who are definately not guitar heroes, they'll do.
Some songs that I can think of off the top of my head that would be easy for a beginner to play along with. I'm not sure about the actual chords that they play in the song but will try to give you chords that would be easy for you to play.
Ballad of John and Yoko (The Beatles)
Dead easy!
The verse is just one note - G
The chorus ("Christ, you know it ain't easy" etc) - C G D G
With or Without You (U2)
The same four chords over and over and over:
C G Am F
An outstanding example of how a song can be a classic without 49382 chords and melody changes!
Beds Are Burning (Midnight Oil)
Their songs are usually as complex as their politics. Not this one:
Verse ("Out where the river broke" etc) - E
Chord for "Let's give it back" - F#
Signature Rift - E G A (percussion solo)
Chorus ("How can we dance") - Em C G G Em C D D (repeated)
Note the key change from E major in the verse to G major in the chorus. ;-)
Khe Sahn (Cold Chisel)
A tune in every pub band's songlist!
Basically the same repeating chord progression (except for the little piano ditty at the start). The progressions can be divided into Part 1 and Part 2 (more about this below)
1.
Em C G G
Em C D D
Em C G C
Am F D D
2.
Em C G G
Em C D D
Em C G C
Am D G G
This is how the two different 'blocs' of chords work in the song. I'll just use the first line of each verse to give you an idea:
1. I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sahn....
2. About the long forgotten dockside guarantee....
1. She like so many more from that time on.....
2. And the legal pads were yellow, hours long, paypackets lean....
1. So I worked across the country from end to end....
2. And I've travelled around the world from year to year....
1. Guitar/Organ solo #1
2. Guitar/Organ solo #2
1. The last plane out of Sydney... #1
2. The last plane out of Sydney... #2
2. The last plane out of Sydney... #3
GOOD LUCK!
