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How To Play Guitar Chords (With Pictures) - Wikihow PDF
How To Play Guitar Chords (With Pictures) - Wikihow PDF
How To Play Guitar Chords (With Pictures) - Wikihow PDF
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.
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Numberyourfingers.Takealookatyourlefthand,andimagineyouhave
numbersstampedonyourfingers.Yourindexis1,yourmiddlefingeris2,your
ringfingeris3,andyourpinkyfingeris4.Yourthumbwewillcall"T,"butyouwillnotbe
usingitforchordsinthisarticle.
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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."
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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
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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]
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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!
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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
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