The next chord to learn is D7. This chord uses three fingers. Study the chord chart shown in FIGURES 5-8 and 5-9. Remember, the numbers represent the finger you should use on each string (third finger on second fret of first string; first finger on first fret of second string; second finger on second fret of third string).

It will probably take some practice before you make the D7 chord sound clearly. Work at it. A good exercise is to first press hard and play the chord. Next, relax your hand and lift your fingers slightly off the guitar strings but keep them in the shape of the chord. Then put your fingers back on the strings — again, pressing hard. This helps build muscle memory, so that the fingers remember where they should go to form this chord.

When you can hold the D7 chord with all three fingers and sound the chord clearly, with no buzzing strings, it is time to move on and learn the basic G chord. The form is shown in FIGURES 5-10 and 5-11. If you have trouble with this, just play the note on the first string and strum the first four open strings.

In the next song, “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” shown in FIGURE 5-12, you'll have to move back and forth among the different chords you've learned so far.

Notice that in this song, in the second and third bars and elsewhere, you'll play two beats of C and then two beats of G. This is a hard tune to play, so practice it a lot. The whole idea is for you to get comfortable changing chords.

Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder where you are Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky, Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder where you are.

“Amazing Grace,” shown in FIGURE 5-13, has a time signature of ¾. This means you strum three beats to the bar.

To keep notation simple, instead of writing out measures that are simply repeats of the previous measure, you can use a repeat measure sign (FIGURE 5-14). This sign indicates that you should repeat the previous measure. (See the way it is used in “She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain,” shown in FIGURE 5-22.)

Try the fuller versions of the C, G, G7, and D7 chords (shown in FIGURES 5-15 through 5-18), and then go back and practice these songs along with the CD tracks.