Why chord knowldege - as much as you can get - is critcial to your success whether pro or hobbyist

It really is important.

Chords are those vertical stack of notes and knowing them can help you tremendously, regardless of what you want from music.

Hobbyists:

Many folks simply want to have a fine hobby making music.

For such people, the keyboard is the item to go with (and I don't mean that you treat that keyboard as a "poor-man's piano." See my other article on this blog for info on that.)

The use of Fakebooks is key to their enjoyment.

Of course, they have to buy a good keyboard and know all about how to use it, but this is not hard to do.

Then they can purchase whatever Fakebook or Fakebooks they want from amazon.

They must next, visit "youtube" for info on using the Automatic Accompaniment features of their keyboards, plus the various types of sounds that keyboards produce.

Professionals:

Some individuals are drawn to music (as one of them I can speak from personal experience) and will become professional in the field.

Here are the benefits of acquiring as much chord knowledge as possible for such individuals:

Would you rather process only a single symbol rather than many?

Do you want to read faster?

Would you like to memorize much, much faster?

Do you want to write music or even improvise it?

Do you want to not be the victim of poor arrangements.

These are great values for any pro. They all come from having as much chord knowledge as possible.