And what, Mr. Hammer may ask, is all this Roman-numeral mumbo-jumbo that Scoville and Peter T are talking about? It's music-theory shorthand. They're talking about how the chords in a song relate to one another.

Without getting too technical about it at this early stage in your song-learning, the "I" (One) is the key the song is in. The best example would be the key of C. Now, find a piano keyboard or a picture of one on the internet and, considering the white key that is the note "C" as your first piano key, count up to the fourth WHITE piano key. This will be the note "F". Counting up from C (the first white piano key) to the fifth white key will give you the note "G". Okay, now, getting back to your guitar and our Roman numerals, if the "I" (One) chord is a C chord, then the "IV" (Four) chord is an F chord, and the "V" chord is a G chord. Learning to play this I,IV, V pattern will allow you to play many, many, many songs!

The reason they call it a I, IV, V pattern is that it's a pattern no matter what key you're playing in. In the key of D it'll be D,G,A. In the key of E it'll be E, A, B. In the key of F it'll be F, B flat, C... and so on. So how do you know what the "IV" guitar chord will be for any particular "I" guitar chord if you don't know pianos or music theory? Start with the "root" note of the "I" chord (the note for which the chord is named -- for example, the root of a C chord is the note C) and, on your guitar, count up 5 frets (for example, to the note F). That's the root of your "IV" chord.

Hey, wow, whaddaya know... if you look at your piano keyboard and count upwards using all the white AND black piano keys, it's the same number of notes.

For a "V" chord you'll count upwards 7 frets. Et cetera.

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I second Scrump's advice to watch what other players do. Attend sessions, find jams where you will be welcome to join in as a beginner, go to folk guitarits' performances, and in all cases watch the hands of the players. Watch how their picking hands pick. Watch how their chording hands form the chords (some chords have several fingering options from which to choose) and watch them change from one chord to another. Listen to the chord progressions as they change, in order to learn more chord patterns. Be a sponge and soak it all in. Teach your ear to hear the chords and the chord changes, as well as teaching your eyes to see them. This will help you immensely when following along in jams. Following along in jams will, in turn, help you learn to play what you're watching others play.

When you practice, try to discipline yourself to keep going through a song or a picking sequence, instead of stopping-and-starting-over, even if you make mistakes along the way. Just keep repeating the whole song or sequence, and the number of mistakes within it will lessen over time. The formation of those brain pathways that Foolestroupe was talking about is dependent on this kind of practicing!