Slash Chords

A confusing chords type to come across is the slash chord. It looks like this on a chord chart -

Here, the A/Ab is the slash chord. Basically, reading from left to right ( as we do in western culture ), you play the first chord in your right hand and then the other side you play the note only as a bass. To visualise it would appear like this:
 

 

Obviously you can't play all these notes with one hand. You would play the chord in your right hand and the bass note (the right side of the / ) in your left hand. It might also be effective to play an octave in the left hand as well.

Playing Chords with a Chord Chart

Now you have a basic understanding of how to construct chords all you now need to do is put it into practice by playing a song.

A popular website to get chords for all your favourite songs is http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

The site formats the chords like this:

Em                 G                            
All around me are familiar faces

D                A                               
Worn out places, worn out faces

All you need to do is play each chord as the song goes on and there you have it! You can play chords!