Originally Posted by: binfordtoolsI can play a little but only because:
a. I take lessons
b. I look up tabs on the internet and play them

Honestly, I have no idea what a root is, or what a 5th is, or even what the chord names mean. My teacher is cool, but he is teaching me songs not theory. I feel that I need to get the basic music language down before I can progress much further.

I can play some open chords, I can even play a few songs but everything else is like reading another language! Where can I read up on the basics? I have looked on-line at various sites and they all seem to start at a level that I do not understand. Again, I need the basics. If I read something like Csus7 or Dmaj9 it’s like I’m reading German! I have no clue what I am looking at. I want to be able to understand this.

Thanks for the info.

There is so much information in music theory that I'd recommend having your teacher teach you some about it while you also learn online.

I'm actually on my way to class right now (damn the collegiate system!), but
I'll explain those two example chords for the hell of it. Csus7 isn't really a chord, but C7 is! C7 is merely a C major chord C-E-G (root-third-fifth, count the notes between C=1 D=2 E=3, etc) with the minor seventh added. So it goes C-E-G-Bb (root-third-fifth-minor seventh, the major seventh is just B natural). And Dmaj9 is D maj D-F#-A with the seventh and ninth (second) added, so D-F#-A-C-E. D=1 E=2(9) F#=3 etc. I'd explain more about intervals in keys and whatnot so you know WHY the third in Dmaj is F#, but I'll probably get around to it when I get back from class, or equator might beat me to it, unless he starts talking about relative scales ;) :D (just kidding, Equator! We agree to disagree :) )