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So it sounds to me that you are trying to learn the chords and the tab at the same time. No doubt this is confusing. I suggest that every tune in here you want to play you first look at the little chord chart at the top right and determine if you know those chords or not. If not then you need to practice chording before you try playing and learn those chords. Use the song to give you a sense of whether or not you've learned the chords, but don't worry about the tab stuff yet.
Those letters above the words are the chords to be played, but a word of caution; many songs here are not very accurate in either the chords given or the locations of those chords throughout the song. I have spent many an hour editing songs in my own song book to fix this, so it can be a little confusing for a beginner too. You might want to consider buying song books in the series called "made easy for guitar" with songs you already know how they "should" sound. I did this with several books while I was learning and it really helps to teach you the chords. Also, get yourself a good chord chart. There's a good one in here, but being an old timer now I guess, I still like the chord chart book I bought several years ago that is slim enough to fit in the neck portion of my guitar case.
Now, after more than 20 years of practice, I know many chords and can hear when there's one or two off and can fix it, but starting out I think you might get sidetracked too much by that.
Oh, and never forget - practice, practice, practice!

Hey again.

Just so you - and everyone reading knows, no offence was taken at all. I hope that the end result of this discussion is that people in the market for a new guitar will have some good things to think about before putting their cash on the counter.

By the way, I'd like to add that I've had some very expensive guitars and some pretty inexpensive ones too. The only one I've kept through it all is an Ibanez PF-10 that I bought about 20 years ago brand new for about $250 Canadian. It was all set up and ready to play right off the shelf and it has never required any tinkering or adjustments. The action and intonation is as good now as it was 20 years ago and it has been through the party, pub gigs, and travelling around scene. If anything it sounds better with age. Maybe I'm a tad sentimental about it, but the reality is that when I think about the couple hundred I could get for it today it's worth so much more to me than that. My most recent buy was the Takamine (thus my user name). I bought it through an ebay dealer who set it up before shipping and included the 9v battery for the on board electronics - all included in the price which, after shipping was still about $25.00 cheaper than the 3 different shops I checked. There is of course some risk when buying from ebay - caveat emptor - but I am very happy with this guitar for the money.

Come to think of it, we're probably making the new buyer's decision even tougher - ther is a lot to consider. In the end just be happy and make music.

All good answers, however..... You said you can play right handed although not so well just yet - you also say you just learned and are predominantly left handed. Could it be that you're somewhat ambidextrous and, although it may be a little more challenging, if you do persist you could play right handed?

Just a thought. If you can do it right handed - bearing in mind that the guitar world caters mainly to right handed players - it might be worth you while to stick with it right handed.

Either way - good luck!

I agree with these guys saying to not forget the importance of lyrics - so true. I also must say I like the exercise of trying to answer such a question because it brings me back to thinking about something I no longer think much about. I've recently been playing Cat Stevens a lot - Peace train, Moonshadow, Father and son - you want to talk about challenging strum patterns. But I find if I disect the song one little piece at a time, I can then put it all together. I listen to the tune on CD or media player which allows me to listen to a short bit and then pause it. Then try to get just that short bit and move on to the next little bit. It takes some time, but I can usually get the hang of a new song all in one piece after a couple of days playing with it like that. I once had a student who's problem was strumming - in particular it was the smooth transition from one chord to the next that troubled her. The result was choppy playing that was really tough to keep time and rythem with. I got her to think about the root of each chord rather than the whole chord at once and focus on that. This eventually led her into double fingering and smooth strumming since focusing on the root allowed her fingers time to get in place for the whole chord and also eliminated her playing strings that were not part of that particular chord. That might be all a little off track for you, but it's another way to approach strumming. Above all keep practicing. The timing will come.