One of the first things that cross the mind of a music fan attending a high-profile rock & roll show is “This guitarist must’ve practiced forever”. In most cases, guitar players from bands like AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, or Alice in Chains have not only practiced for decades but have also performed too many concerts to count.
That begs the question – how long does it take to become a decent guitar player? Years, months, weeks? All people learn at a different pace but for most aspiring guitarists, it usually takes at least a couple of months of regimented training and/or private lessons.
That, however, is not the case for guitarists that are using Card Chords – a set of perforated tabs designed to help beginner guitarists master simple chords in not months, weeks, or days but mere minutes. In this article, we’ll outline why beginner guitarists who are using Card Chords progress faster than others, and how you can utilize the benefits these guitar-learning tools have to offer to accelerate your training sessions.
What are Card Chords?
More convenient than digital tabs, simpler than sheet music, more comprehensive than music theory books, and significantly more beginner-friendly than all of the above, Card Chords are card-shaped tablatures that the guitarist can place on their fretboard.
Simple yet exceptionally effective, with these perforated tabs you’ll no longer need to scroll through pages of digital music notation or flip through music literature, which enables you to focus solely on your playing and the chord you are learning.
Card Chords were created by Mike Grande, a professional music coach who boasts over 30 years of professional music coaching. Mike was building a guitar learning tool that anyone can use anywhere – a deck of card-shaped chord tabs, each featuring accurate finger position markers, simplified cord notation, and a chord nameplate.
What About Songs, Licks, Riffs, and Other Techniques?
A guitar player is as versatile as the arsenal of songs and techniques they can pull off. Chords “make” songs; all riffs and licks in your favorite solos can be mapped in a chord or two. When it comes to guitar techniques, learning the basic chords won’t teach you how to tap, slide, or perform pinch harmonics.
However, after mastering a few easy chords, your finger dexterity will improve considerably, which means that any technique you want to learn will be much easier to grasp afterward.
Card Chords Teach “Faster” than Other Guitar Learning Tools
Most professionals agree that a guitarist “never stops learning”. New styles, music genres, songs, and techniques are being made and developed each day, so the sooner you get the hang of the basics, the faster you’ll get to start exploring the vast expanses of guitar playing.
You might’ve read that YouTube tutorials and digital tablature software can help you learn chords in just a couple of days. The truth is, this usually applies only to people who’ve had some experience as musicians; in most cases, online video lessons are too “compressed” for beginners since creators simply assume that everyone knows how to play guitar, at least a little.
Card Chords are the only guitar learning tools that can help you learn basic guitar chords in “minutes”. Once again, not days, weeks, or months – all you need is a guitar and about 10-15 minutes, and you’ll be able to play guitar chords even if you’ve just started learning.
By looking at the chord nameplate, you’ll have a constant reminder of the name of the chord you’re learning. The finger position markers are enumerated, eliminating all guesswork from the picture.
Most importantly, after placing a Card Chord on the first three frets of your guitar’s fingerboard, you can play “above” it. As soon as you feel confident enough to play without your Card Chords, just pull the tab out while your fingers are still pressing the frets of the chord, and strum your guitar. That’s it, you’ve just learned your first chord!
Most Beginner-friendly Guitar Tools in the Market
Chord books, written tablatures, apps, music games, and other tools all have a purpose; some of them are amazing at what they do, but not all guitar learning tools are simple enough for immediate beginners to understand and use right off the bat.
Once again, the creators of most contemporary “guitar helpers” target guitar players who’ve played a bit and feel like they’ve hit a wall.
As a music coach who has worked with innumerable students aged 4 and above, Mike has coached countless people who came to him immediately after buying a guitar bundle on Amazon or eBay. He knew that the first steps to learning how to play the guitar are the hardest and that students who fail to make progress in the first week or two eventually drop the guitar and pursue other hobbies.
That’s why Mike made Card Chords as simple to understand as possible. Once your deck of Card Chords arrives on your doorstep, just pick the chord you want to learn, place it on the fretboard, and you’ll be able to play your first chord in just a few minutes. You don’t need to know anything about music theory, notation, harmony, or anything else to efficiently use Card Chords.
Conclusion: How Long Does it Take to Become a Decent Guitarist?
Learning the basic chords is just the first step to becoming a decent guitarist. In other words, it takes just a few minutes to grasp elementary guitar chords by using Card Chords tabs, but everything else is up to your ambitions.
Unless you practice consistently, your technique will become rusty, your fingers will be sluggish, and you may even eventually forget how to play the chords Card Chords taught you.
Our best recommendation for all beginner guitarists is to grab their Card Chords set today, and as soon as you’ve played a chord on your own for the first time, we can almost guarantee you’ll be inspired to continue learning, practicing, and growing as a musician.
Whenever you feel ready to begin, just follow this link, and we’ll help you choose the right Card Chords edition for your guitar.
