How many chords do I need to know approximately and memorize and play smoothly at 4 yrs of lessons?

-I'm wondering which chords I need to be able to play to play finger picking, travis picking,

What chords do you think I need to know after 4 years of private lessons?



thanksIf you've been getting lessons for 4 years and you're still memorizing chords, you're getting ripped off. You should have learned how chords are actually built years ago! It sounds to me like your teacher isn't doing his job (or he is deliberately not teaching you certain things so that he can keep getting paid).



It's the whole "teach a man to fish" thing. So here:

http://www.tinyurl.com/lucasmanchords1

http://www.tinyurl.com/lucasmanchords2

http://a.1asphost.com/LukeSniper/ccc.htm鈥?/a>



Learn real music. Learn how chords are built and figure them out on your own. Memorizing a bunch of chord diagrams is a total waste of time.



If you can't tell me WHY a chord is a G major or an E7, then your teacher has failed you. Watch my videos and you'll understand that sort of stuff.Well, of course the basic chords (e major, e minor, a major, etc...), but after four years I would say that you should be working on memorizing more advanced chords progressions. You might also be working on making up your own chords - picking notes that sound good together and playing them. Maybe even making up your own tabs too.
it gets to a point where u dont really "learn chords" anymore. chords names are given to them cuz of the notes of the scale used in them. for example, C major. well, a major chord uses the 1st, 3rd, and 5th degree of the scale. so the c major scale is CDEFGABC. we use CEG for the major chord. say its minor, to make it minor, u flat the 3rd, so CEbG. how bout a C7. well, thats a C major with a dominant 7th, so we start with CEG, add the 7th which is B, and since its a dominant 7th, you flat it. so CEGBb. also, youll begin seeing chords in music but not even thinking about the name, or bothering to remember them. so if you see the notes FAC#, thats an F major augmented, but wen ur playinf it, u probably wont care, u'll just remember what to play wen you need to play it. and eventually u'll be creating chords like diminished, 7, major 7, 6, augmented, add 9, #11, 13, flat 5, sus 2, sus 4 etc, etc. so even tho i cant play every chord off the top of my head, you could name a chord, no matter what it is, and i could figure out how to play it in a matter of moments. and with private lessons, it wont be long before you will be able to do that to.