What notes can I play around any chord?

[Danny Poole]

Got it. One more...some of the notes that are in the C major scale are not included in your diagram of recommended hammer-ons. For example, the 1st string, second fret. How did you decide that? Just your opinion judging by ear, or is the a rule that I can transfer over to the other scales?

It's all mainly ease of use when it comes to this style. You can still try hammering or pulling away the notes on the 1st string, just see what sound good and is comfortable.

Also, you know I have seen descriptions of chords like "well, this chord has a cowboy character" or "this chord has a sad character" and "this chord has a happy, the future looks so bright, character" or whatever. I am kind of looking for list of all of that kind of stuff. Do you know of any?

What you are describing is a way to remember chord variations (Major, Minor, 7th, diminished and so on). I don't know of any reference material on this but maybe someone else might.

If you want to get use to some of the sounds of these chords then visit this site Music Theory Tuition Site - http://musictheory.net/index.html and use this "Chord Ear Trainer" http://musictheory.net/trainers/html/id92_en.html. Un-tick all but 2 to start off with then as you get better add in some more.