Hey & welcome to GT!

Originally Posted by: LESLIEBAKERRPH

I am confused at what the difference is between a simple A chord and the A chord. In the lesson for the A chord, we are taught to use 2 fingers (index and middle) but when I look at the "Essential Chords", the A minor has 3 fingers (index, middle and ring). Are these both A chords?

Yes those are both A minor chords.

We start with very simple versions of certain chords to get absolute beginners moving. We just want you to play something simple to get you going! Therefore, the first two chords are done with only one finger. Then we gradually add fingers!

[br]You will see that the simple chords at the beginner level do eventually get built into the full chords. This is because the simple version is just a small part of the full chord version. For example, an A minor chord, is formed by playing the notes A, C & E any where you can find them on any musical instrument, in any configuration.

[br]Simple A minor chord:

[br]|--0-(E)---|[br]|--1-(C)---|[br]|--2-(A)---|[br]|------------|[br]|------------|[br]|------------|

[br]Full A minor chord:

|--0-(E)---|[br]|--1-(C)---|[br]|--2-(A)---|[br]|--2-(E)---|[br]|--0-(A)---|[br]|------------|

[br]See, we just double some of the notes of the simple version to get the full version (A & E in this case). Since some of the doubled notes are on the lower strings, they make the full version of the chord sound more bassy & full.

[br]Make sense?

[br]There are many, many different ways to play any given chord on the guitar. We just started with the simplest possible versions so beginners could get some music happening as soon as possible. After that, we gradually increase the complexity of the content as the courses move forward.

[br]It's just part of the learning process, so keep going & don't stop now! If you can't play simple chords then you might find more complex ones even harder. They do have a place in the process.

Hope this helps. Ask more if necessary. Best of success with your guitar learning!