mr dave

do you know barre chord theory and understand the concept of chord voicings?

ultimately there aren't that many chords out there. you've got 5 basic major shapes and 3 minor shapes. there are obviously more but those 8 make up the bulk of what you hear.

as for groups of chords that sound good together the proper term is a Triad. there's a technical explanation as to how they work but i don't really get it. the simplest example is the I-IV-V progression used by every other classic rock song / country / folk song you've ever heard, G-C-D.

basically where the chords loop over into octaves, if you start counting with G as 1, then the 4th full tone you'll reach is C, the 5th is D. you can apply that to any chord you want to start with and get the same feel. E-A-B, A-D-E, etc.

another easy trick to change the feel of your chord progressions is to change one of the chords into a minor variant of itself, usually first or last. generally speaking it will make your progression sound like it's either becoming lighter or darker depending on where you use the minor.

like other people have mentionned play covers, but unlike other people, i strongly suggest using tabs. keep in mind online tabs vary greatly in quality but the stuff in magazines is printed along with sheet music. don't necessarily rely on the tab to learn how to play the song but use it to see what chord progressions your favourite musicians use, start recognizing patterns within the music, different voicings and ways to play the same progression of chords in different areas on the neck.

__________________
i am the universe