Buzz
Learning to play the guitar is a fun and engaging experience. Although it may feel challenging at first, playing chords is not much different from playing single notes—you just need to play several notes at once! This guide will help you navigate through finger exercises and teach you how to play some common chords. Grab your guitar and let's make music!
Steps
Understanding Chords
Learn about the strings. The best way to start is by getting familiar with the guitar strings and how they correspond with your fingers. To make it easier, we’ll number both the strings and the frets. The strings are numbered as follows:
- From top to bottom, the strings are numbered 1 to 6, from highest to lowest pitch.
- For the frets, numbering is based on their position on the guitar neck.
- For example, when instructed to place your finger on the 3rd fret, you should position it between the 2nd and 3rd frets.Use this mnemonic to remember the notes of each string from lowest to highest: Mì, Là, Rề, Sol, Si, Mí (in Western notation: EA D G B E).
Number your fingers. Look at your left hand and imagine numbers marked on each finger. Your index finger will be labeled 1, your middle finger will be 2, your ring finger will be 3, and your little finger will be 4. We’ll refer to your thumb as 'T,' but you won’t use it to play chords in this article.
Learn about the C chord. The first chord we will explore is the C chord – one of the most fundamental chords in music. Before diving in, let’s understand what it means. A complete chord, whether played on a piano, guitar, or sung by a well-trained voice, is simply a combination of three or more notes. (Two notes are called "double stops," and while they are useful in music, they are not considered chords.) A chord can include more than three notes, but we won’t cover that in this article. On the guitar, the C chord will look like this:
- The lowest note is the 3rd fret on the A string: note C.
- The next note is played on the 2nd fret of the D string: note E.
- Do not place your finger on the G string. We will "leave it open" when playing the C chord.
- The highest note is played on the 1st fret of the B string: note C.
- The highest and lowest strings on the guitar are not used for the basic C chord.
Try strumming these notes. Gently strum each note of the chord, from low to high, one by one. Take your time and be careful: press down firmly on the frets with your fingers, and strum the strings. Let each string ring for as long as you want before moving to the next note:
- Press your 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the A string, as described above, strum the string, and let it ring until it fades. You've just played note C.
- Press your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the D string, then strum and let it ring to play note E.
- Take a short break! Strum the G string open.
- Press your 1st finger on the 1st fret of the B string, and let the note C sound loud and clear!
- Strum each note individually several times. When you're ready, quickly strum across the strings in the middle with your pick or finger. You've just played the C chord!
- Your fingers might hurt a little at first, but once they develop calluses, the pain will disappear.
Learn more chords
Expand your musical vocabulary. Knowing how to play the C chord is a great start, and it will definitely open the door to more exciting areas of music, but there’s much more to explore! Here are two other chords commonly used when playing in the key of C major: F and G. To play the basic F chord, follow these steps:
- The notes in the F chord are F, A, and C. Note that F and C are played with the same finger: your 1st finger is placed across the 1st fret of both the 1st and 2nd strings.
- Generally, chords are built so that the lowest note serves as the foundation of the chord, but in this case, F rings out on the 1st fret of the 1st string. This is called "inversion".
Expand the F chord. The F chord can be expanded by playing the note F on the D string: press the 3rd fret using your 3rd finger. You'll notice that the chord sounds thicker but not drastically different.
Play the G chord. Just like C and F, the G chord is one of the Three Major Chords in the C Major scale. There are several ways to play it, and we will show you two methods. The first method is quite easy: use the same finger as the extended F chord, but move up by two frets.
Play a simple G chord. Here's how to play the G chord using just one finger:
Combine everything together. Now that you know the three basic chords of the C scale, combine them, and you might recognize a ton of familiar songs. Play the C chord 4 times, followed by F twice, then G twice, and then back to C.
- Note that after each chord, there’s a Roman numeral. These indicate the root position of the chord within the scale – regardless of finger positioning. Once you grasp the basic chords in any key, reading sheet music will be easier than spelling out each chord.
- Practice until your fingers are sore, take a break, but remember to come back and keep practicing: we’ll teach you the basic chords in E and A next!
Learn the E major chord. Many rock 'n' roll and blues songs stem from the E scale. The three chords you should learn here are E Major (I), A Major (IV), and B Major (V). Here’s the E chord:
- This is one of the easier chords to play once you’ve built up some calluses. You can strum all the strings at once. With this chord, crank your Marshall amp to 11, strum hard, and you’ll feel the early stages of becoming a rock star!
Play the A Major chord. This is another "big chord". There are several ways to play it. You can place one finger on the 2nd fret of the B, G, and D strings (playing C#, A, and E, respectively), or any other finger combination you prefer. For example, we use finger 4 on the B string, finger 3 on the G string, and finger 2 on the D string.
- As you become more proficient at playing, you’ll realize that sometimes moving too quickly from one chord to another might force you to position your fingers awkwardly, but you can still play. The key here is to use your fingers in the most efficient way possible, and once you start practicing, don’t hesitate to experiment.
Play the B Major chord. You can play this chord either easy or hard. The easier version is represented with black numbers, while adding a few more notes will be represented with grey numbers.
Experiment. Here’s a sample strumming pattern in the E scale:
- Vary your strumming style: don’t just follow the lines on the paper exactly.
Learn about the A scale. You’re two-thirds of the way there! The A scale consists of A in the first position (I), D in the fourth position (IV), and our loud friend E in the fifth position (V). Here’s how to play the D chord:
- Note that you place your first finger on the first three strings: this is the starting point for a "bar chord". A fully barred chord will involve one finger pressing down all strings, often based on the basic form presented in this article.
Learn about an alternate version of the A chord. This is quite useful when playing alongside the D and E chords:
Experiment. Here's the Little Ditty for you to test your new chords:
- Now, think about the song Down on the Corner by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and give it another try!
Use chord charts with video
Learn the G major chord. Your ring finger will press on the top string, at the 3rd fret. Your middle finger will go on the 5th string, 2nd fret, and your pinky will be placed under the bottom string, at the 3rd fret of the 1st string. Strum all the strings at once to play the chord. If you want, you can also add the 3rd fret of the 2nd string – this isn’t required but will give a deeper sound.
- --3--
- --0--
- --0--
- --0--
- --2--
- --3--
Learn the C major chord. Place your ring finger on the 5th string, 3rd fret. Then, place your middle finger on the 4th string, 2nd fret – notice it’s similar to the G chord, just moved down one string. After that, press your index finger on the 2nd string, 1st fret. Strum all the strings except the top string.
- --0--
- --1--
- --0--
- --2--
- --3--
- --X--
Learn the D major chord. This chord requires only the last four strings. Place your index finger on the 3rd string, 2nd fret. Your ring finger will go on the 2nd string, 3rd fret, and your middle finger will rest on the 1st string, 2nd fret. You’ll form a small triangle. Strum only the last three strings, leaving the 2nd string open – this creates the D chord sound.
- --2--
- --3--
- --2--
- --0--
- --X--
- --X--
Learn about E major and minor. This deep chord uses all 6 strings. Place your middle and ring fingers on the 2nd fret of the 4th and 5th strings. Then, put your index finger on the 3rd string, 1st fret. Strum all 6 strings.
- --0--
- --0--
- --1--
- --2--
- --2--
- --0--
- To play E minor, simply lift your index finger off the 3rd string, leaving it open.
Learn about A major and minor. A major is one of the easiest chords – just use your index, ring, and middle fingers to press the 2nd fret on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings. Strum all strings except the low E.
- --0--
- --2--
- --2--
- --2--
- --0--
- --X--
- To play A minor, press the 1st fret on the B string instead of the 2nd. The shape is similar to E major.
Learn about F major. F is similar to the C major chord but with a stronger feel. Ignore the first two strings. Place your ring finger on the 4th string, 3rd fret. Your middle finger will press on the 3rd string, 2nd fret, and your index finger will be on the 2nd string, 1st fret. Strum only the last 4 strings.
- --0--
- --1--
- --2--
- --3--
- --X--
- --X--
Tips
- Once you're familiar with the basic chords, it will be easier for you to understand the function of the scale. For example, in the E scale, E (I) is called the Tonic. This is the chord that all other chords want to resolve to – giving Western music a sense of movement. The A (IV) chord in the E scale plays the role of the Subdominant – it’s like a passive chord in between, capable of moving forward joyfully or comfortably returning to the Tonic. The Subdominant does as its name implies: it leads you where it wants. In the E scale, this role is filled by the B (V) chord, which will certainly make your brain crave a return to the Tonic! Once you're familiar with the chords and ready to sketch out a melody, you can write it as I-IV-V (or its variations) instead of E-A-B. This will make transposing easier when you realize your singer can’t sing in the original key!
Warning
- As Ringo Starr once shouted during a grueling recording session, "My fingers are sore!", you too will get blisters, and your fingers will start to hurt. But as guitarist George Harrison once said, "This too shall pass." Likewise, those blisters will be replaced with calluses. Keep practicing regularly, and before you know it, you won't even worry about the pain in your fingers anymore.
