How to Play Guitar Chords

 

What is a guitar chord? 

   

 Chords are 3 or more notes played at the same time. With guitar you can play chords with up to six separate notes because you have six strings. There are certain terms you will run across when learning how to play guitar chords that you will need to know. Open chords means that there is at least one string in the chord that is being played open(no finger on that string). A barre chord means all six strings have a finger on them. This is accomplished by at least one finger covering more than one string. There are quite a few types of chords, but the ones that are used in the majority of music are Major chords, Minor chords, and 7th chords. Major chords have a bright, uplifting sound to them. Minor chords have a sad or melancholy sound, and 7th chords have a bluesy sound to them.

 

    If you are serious about learning how to play guitar chords and every other aspect of guitar, you have got to check out Learn and Master Guitar. 

 

Click here to learn how to play guitar chords 

 

 

  Chords are shown on what is called a chord diagram. It is fairly simple to learn how to read these diagrams, and it is a must if you want to learn how to play guitar chords. A chord diagram is basically a picture of the guitar neck. Look at this example of a D chord. The vertical lines are the guitar strings. The horizontal lines are the frets. The dots indicate where to place your fingers. The numbers at the bottom tell you which finger to use. At the top of the diagram you will see X's and O's. An X means do not play that string, and an O means that string is played with no finger on it(open). 

 

 

  Fingering: 1-Index finger
  2-Middle finger

  3-Ring finger

  4-Little finger

 

 

  You'll notice the chord diagram is shown with the guitar in a vertical position. Compare the chord diagram with the picture of the guitar neck and you will understand how this works.

 

 

   

 

 

Here are some of the most common major chords: 

 

  

 

 

 

 

These are the most common minor chords: 

 

 

 

  "Music should be something that makes you gotta move, inside or outside"
~Elvis Presley 

 

Learning how to play guitar chords is the backbone to playing guitar. When you are first learning these chords make sure each note is sounding. At first this may seem difficult, but with practice you will soon have them sounding nice. Practice switching from chord to chord until you can change from one to another smoothly.

When you are starting out on guitar learning chords this way is fine, but if you want to become a complete guitar player you will have to eventually have to learn how chords are constructed. This is the key to really understanding the guitar. I recommend taking a few minutes to check out Learn and Master Guitar. This is the most comprehensive guitar course I have come across.

 

Click here to check out Learn and Master Guitar