1/12/2015

HowtoPlayGuitarChords(withPictures)wikiHow

HowtoPlayGuitarChords
ThreeParts:

SampleChordChartandGuitarHelp

UnderstandingChords

LearningMoreChords

Learningtoplayguitarisloadsoffun,thoughplayingchordsmayseemalittle
intimidatingatfirst.Fearnot,itisnotmuchdifferentthanplayingsinglenotes:
you'rejustplayingthemallatonce!Thisarticlewillwalkyouthroughthe
processofworkingoutthefingering,andshowyouhowtoplaysomecommon
chords.Pulloutyouraxe,androckon!

SampleChordChartandGuitarHelp

SampleGuitarChord
Chart

SampleGuitar
StrummingPatterns

SampleStarSpangled
BannerTabsand
Chords

Part1of2:UnderstandingChords

Learnthestrings.Thebestwaytostartisbybecomingfamiliarwiththestringson
yourguitarandhowtheyrelatetoyourfingers.Tomakethiseasier,we'regoingto

numberthemboth.Thestringsonyourguitararenumberedlikethis:
Vertically,thestringsarenumbered1through6,fromhighestpitchtolowest.
Horizontally,thenumberingisbasedonthefretpositions.
Notethatwhenthedirectionssay"putyourfirstfingeronthe3rdfret,"that
meansyouactuallyplaceyourfingerbetweenthe2ndand3rdfret.It'sthe
stringitselfthatneedstobeincontactwiththe3rdfret.
Ad

Online Lessons
For Guitar, Mandolin & Bass
Interact with Our Artists

Numberyourfingers.Takealookatyourlefthand,andimagineyouhave
numbersstampedonyourfingers.Yourindexis1,yourmiddlefingeris2,your

ringfingeris3,andyourpinkyfingeris4.Yourthumbwewillcall"T,"butyouwillnotbe
usingitforchordsinthisarticle.

http://www.wikihow.com/PlayGuitarChords

1/5

1/12/2015

HowtoPlayGuitarChords(withPictures)wikiHow

LearntheCchord.ThefirstchordwewillcoverisaCchordoneofthemost
basicchordsinmusic.Beforewedo,let'sbreakdownjustwhatthatmeans.A

properchord,whetherplayedonapiano,aguitar,orsungbywelltrainedmice,is
simplythreeormorenotessoundedtogether.(Twonotesiscalleda"diad,"andwhile
musicallyuseful,isnotachord.)Chordscanalsocontainfarmorethanthreenotes,but
that'swellbeyondthescopeofthisarticle.ThisiswhataCchordlookslikeonthe
guitar:
Thelowestnoteisthe3rdfretoftheAstring:C
Thenextnoteupisplayedonthe2ndfretoftheDstring:E
NotethereisnofingerontheGstring.Thisstringremains"open"when
strummingaC.
Thehighestnoteisplayedonthe1stfretoftheBstring:C
ThehighestandloweststringsontheguitararenotplayedforthebasicC
majorchord.

Tryitoutthenotes.Playeachnotenoteinthechord,fromlowtohigh,oneata
time.Takeyourtimeandbedeliberate:pressdownfirmlyonthefret,andpluckthe

string.Letthenoteringforaslongasyoucan,thenmovetothenextnote:
Pressyour3rdfingerontothe3rdfretoftheAstring,asindicatedabove,pluck,
andletitringuntilitfadesout.YoujustplayedaCnote.
Pressyour2ndfingerontothe2ndfretoftheDstring,thendothepluckand
ringtoplayanE.
Breaktime!Simplyplucktheopen,unfingeredGstring.
Pressyour1stfingeronthe1stfretoftheBstring,andletthatCnotesound
loud!
Playthenotes,oneatatime,forafewtimes.Whenyou'reready,sweepyour
pickorfingersacrossallfourmiddlestringsquickly.You'vejustplayedaC
chord!
Itmaystingalittlethefirstfewtimesyoudoit,butasyoudevelopcalluses,the
paingoesaway.

Part2of2:LearningMoreChords

Expandyourmusicalvocabulary.PlayingaCchordisnice,andit'sdefinitelya
gatewaychordthatwillleadyouintomoreinterestingmusicalterritory,butthere's

muchmoretomusicthanthat!Herearetwootherchordscommonlyusedwhenplaying
inCMajor.F,andG.PlayabasicFchordlikethis:
ThenotesinanFchordareF,A,andC.NotethattheFandtheCarebeing
playedbythesamefinger:thefirstfingerisplacedacrossthe1stfretofboth
the1stand2ndstrings.
Generally,chordsarebuiltsothatthelowestnoteistherootofthechord,butin
thiscase,theFisbeingsoundedonthe1stfretofthe1ststring.Thisiscalled
an"inversion."

ExtendtheFchord.YoucanaanFintherootbyplayingtheFontheDstring:
the3rdfretup,playedwithyourthirdfinger.Youmaynoticethechorddoesn't

soundalotdifferent,just"fuller."

http://www.wikihow.com/PlayGuitarChords

2/5

1/12/2015

HowtoPlayGuitarChords(withPictures)wikiHow

PlayaGchord.LiketheCandtheF,theGchordisoneoftheBigThreeintheC
majorscale.Therearemanywaystoplayit,andwe'llshowyoutwo.Thefirstway

iseasy:it'stheexactsamefingeringastheextendedFchord,onlymoveduptwofrets:

PlaytheGchordtheeasyway.Here'sawaytoplaytheGchordwithonlyone

Putitalltogether.NowthatyouknowthethreebasicchordsinthekeyofC,put

finger:

themtogether,andperhapsyou'llrecognizeaboutazillionpopularsongs.StrumC

fourtimes,followedbyF,twotimes,thenG,twotimes,thenbacktoC.
NotethataftereachchordisaRomannumeral.Theseindicatewhatposition
therootnoteofthechordisonthescaleregardlessoffingering.Onceyou
knowthebasicchordsinallthekeys,it'seasiertojustshowachartthanto
havethechordspelledouteverytime.
Practicethatuntilyourfingersaretired,thentakeabreak,butcomeback:we'll
alsoshowyouthebasicchordsinEandA!

LearnthekeyofE.There'salotofrock'n'rolldoneinthekeyofE,andalotof
blues,too.ThethreechordstolearnhereareEMaj(I),AMaj(IV),andBMaj(V).

Here'stheEchord:
Thisisoneoftheeasierchordstoplay,onceyouhaveyourcallusesbuiltup.
Youcanplayallthestringsatonce.CrankupaMarshallstackto11withthis
chord,hitithard,andyou'llfeelthebeginningsofbeingarockhero!

PlaytheAMajor.Thisisanother"bigchord,"sonically.Thereareseveralwaysto
playthis.Youcanuseonefingeracrossthe2ndfretoftheB,G,andDstrings

(playingC#,A,andE,respectively),oranyothercombinationoffingers.Forthis
example,we'llusethe4thfingerontheBstring,3rdfingerontheGstring,and2nd
fingerontheDstring.
Asyougetbetteratplaying,youwillunderstandthatmovingquicklyfromone
chordtoanothersometimesresultsinoddfingeringsthatstillwork.Thekeyis
tomakethemostefficientuseofyourfingers,andonceyoukickoffthetraining
wheels,don'tbeafraidtoexperiment.

PlaytheBMajor.Youcanplaythisoneeasy,orplaythisonehard.Theeasyway
isshownwiththeblacknumbers.Youcanaddtheadditionalnote,showbythe

graynumber.

Tryitout.Here'sanothershortstrummingpatterntotryoutinthekeyofE:
Tryvaryingyourstrummingpattern,too:don'tjuststicktothelinesonthe
paper.

10

LearnthekeyofA.You'realreadytwothirdsofthewaythere!ThekeyofA
consistsofAinthefirstposition(I),Dinthefourthposition(IV),andourold

http://www.wikihow.com/PlayGuitarChords

3/5

1/12/2015

HowtoPlayGuitarChords(withPictures)wikiHow

powerhousefriendEinthedominantfifthposition(V).Here'showtoplaytheDchord:
Notethefirstfingeracrossthefirstthreestrings:thisisthebeginningofa
"barre"chord.Afullbarrechordusesonefingeracrossallstrings,andisoften
basedonthebasicformsshowninthisarticle.

11

LearnanalternateversionoftheAchord.Thisisusefulwhenplayedalong

12

Tryitout.Here'sanotherLittleDittytotryoutyournewchordson:

withtheDandtheEchords:

Now,thinkoftheCreedenceClearwaterRevivalsong,DownontheCorner,
andtryitagain![1][2]

Ad

Free Guitar
Chords Charts

Men Footwear
Upto 70%Off.

guitaristsreference.com

Learn Guitar
Chords

naaptol.com/mens-footwear

Lookup 3000 guitar chords

online You can hear the chords
as well

truefire.com/Learn-Guitar-Cho

Latest Footwear from Rs 499 Only.

Boots,Sports Shoes,Sneakers,
Loafer

Download a Free Guitar

Chord Chart. Learn How to
Play Guitar Today!

Wecouldreallyuseyourhelp!
Canyoutellusabout

Canyoutellusabout

Canyoutellusabout

Canyoutellusabout

gleeking?

mindhacks?

estate
planning?

findingfamily
members?

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Tips
Onceyouknowthebasicchords,itmightbeeasiertothinkofthemthe
waythefunctioninsideakey.Forexample,wheninthekeyofE,theE
(I)iscalledtheTonic.It'swhatalltheotherchordswanttogetto
whichiswhathelpsgivewesternmusicitssenseofmotion.TheA(IV)
inthekeyofEfunctionsastheSubdominantit'ssortofapassivein
between,justashappytocontinueforward,astorelaxbacktothe
Tonic.TheDominantisjustwhatitsoundslike:itleadsyouwhereit
wantstogo.InthekeyofE,thatroleisfilledbytheB(V),andwill
definitelymakeyourbrainwanttogetbacktotheTonic!Whenyouget
morefamiliarwiththechords,andwanttosketchoutatune,trywriting
itasIIVV(orvariationsofthat)insteadofEAB.Itwillmakeitmuch
easiertotransposewhenyoufindoutyoursingercannotsinginthe
originalkey!

http://www.wikihow.com/PlayGuitarChords

4/5

1/12/2015

HowtoPlayGuitarChords(withPictures)wikiHow
Ad

NikeNikeShoesShow

Now!30%Rs.3,847Rs.5,495
SlazengerSlazengerShoesShowNow!Rs.

ibiboads

3,199

CantabilCantabil

Warnings
AsRingoStarrshoutedafteragruelingstudiosession,"I'vegotblisters
onmefingers!",youwillgetblisters,andyourfingerswillhurt.As
guitaristGeorgeHarrisonnoted,"allthingsmustpass."So,too,shall
theblisters,tobereplacedwithcalluses.Practiceoften,andbefore
longyouwon'tbebotheredwithfingerpainsagain.

SourcesandCitations
1. HarmonybyWalterPiston,3rdEdition
2. JazzHarmonybyAndyJaffe,2ndEdition

ArticleInfo

Categories:GuitarChordsandSongs
Inotherlanguages:
Espaol:Cmotocaracordesdeguitarra,Portugus:ComoTocarAcodesde
Guitarra,Deutsch:AkkordeaufderGitarrespielen,Italiano:ComeSuonaregliAccordi
conlaChitarra,Franais:Commentjouerdesaccordslaguitare,:
,Nederlands:Gitaarakkoordenspelen,BahasaIndonesia:Bermain
ChordGitar

Thankstoallauthorsforcreatingapagethathasbeenread628,851times.

http://www.wikihow.com/PlayGuitarChords

5/5