How to Play Guitar Chords

There some important things you should know before you begin instruction in playing the guitar. First, you should know how guitar songs are comprised. In the most basic sense, songs are made up of a series of sounds or notes.  

Notes are the foundation of another basic element of any guitar song: Chords. In order to teach yourself how to play guitar, you must learn how to play guitar chords. When played correctly, chords have a pleasant sound. This is because chords are made up of several complementary notes that are played simultaneously.  

Almost all Learn How to Play Guitar for Beginners courses begin with a few lessons on how to play guitar chords. G, C, D, and A are the easiest to learn to play guitar chords. These chords are formed by combining several easy guitar notes. These chords are easy to play because they don’t require you to use all of your fingers. As a matter of fact, you can play these chords using just three fingers of the hand you use on the neck of your guitar. This becomes easy guitar for beginners. 

You play chords on an easy electric guitar or an easy acoustic guitar by holding individual strings firmly against the the guitar neck. This area of the guitar is called the fretboard. As you hold the strings against the fretboard with one hand, you strum the strings with your other hand. You want to strum somewhere near the center of the sound hole on the body of the guitar if you are playing an acoustic guitar. Many electric guitars have a solid body so there is no sound hole. If you are playing guitar chords on this type of electric guitar, you strum the strings near the center of the guitar’s body. It’s a good idea to learn how to play a steel string acoustic guitar before moving to an electric model.

An acoustic guitar takes a little more strength to play because the strings must be pushed harder against the fretboard. This means you will develop calluses on your fingers faster which will make it easier to play any guitar. Once you learn to play guitar chords on an acoustic guitar, you can easily play those same chords on an electric guitar.  

Here’s a good tip for learning guitar chords. Don’t press down too hard on the strings. Why? Your hand will cramp and become sore. If your fingers are in the correct position (just behind the fret) you don’t need to press very hard to get a clear note from the string. Most beginners make the mistake of pushing down too hard. You will need to find a good balance of pressure but once you do, you will develop muscle memory and applying the correct pressure on the strings will become automatic.  

It is also important to keep the thumb of the hand you have on the guitar neck as close to the center of the neck as possible. In other words, your thumb shouldn’t wrap around the neck. This will accomplish two goals. 1. It will put less strain on your hand. 2. It will help minimize or prevent the “buzzing” sound you sometimes hear when the guitar is being played.  

When you are learning to play, try to find songs that have simple chords and fewer chord changes. For example, the classic rock song, Sweet Home Alabama, has only three chords. D, C and G. There are plenty of other songs like this that you can learn quickly to build your playing ability and your confidence.  

Finally, once you can play a song all the way through, try practicing with your eyes closed. This will further develop your dexterity and muscle memory. Soon you will be able to play without looking to see where your hands are on the guitar. You will be pleased by how quickly you can memorize the finger placement for most chords.  

Here are two secrets to learning to play guitar well: First you need high-quality lessons. See our reviews to find the best ones. Then as you follow the lessons, you need to practice every day. That’s it. If you do these two things, you’ll be playing well in a surprisingly short time. 

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