Guitar How-To

Posts Tagged ‘how to play guitar chords’

Now that we know how to read chords in guitar tab, we can discover the joys of actually playing some simple open chords. The chord in the tab below is G major. You will notice that we are only fingering three strings in this chord – the sixth string at the third fret, the fifth string at the second fret and the first string at the third fret. The fourth, third and second strings are played open, that is without needing to place the left hand fingers on them.

Put your second finger on the third fret of the sixth string, and your first finger on the second fret of the fifth string. Pause for a moment and feel that your hand, and, indeed your whole body is relaxed without flopping in a heap. Now place your third finger at the third fret of the first string.

While you have your fingers in position, check that your thumb is at the center of the back of the guitar neck. Hold your left hand with enough force to press on the strings, but no unnecessary tension.

Now, play the chord with your fingers or the pick, from the sixth to the first string, letting all the strings ring out. If any of the strings are muffled, adjust your hand so that the fingers are pressing on the strings without interfering with the adjacent strings.

e—————–3—–|

B————–0——–|

G———–0———–|

D——–0————–|

A—–2—————–|

E–3——————–|

Here is a video showing you how the chord should look and sound: