Lesson 6- Playing Your First Chords

Learn Guitar Chords

Generally speaking guitar chords are made up of two to three notes played at the same time. These notes come from guitar scales. Let’s take the major scale in the key of C for example. The notes would go in alphabetical order: C D E F G A B. So, if we wanted to make a C chord out of this scale? We would take the 1st (C) 3rd (E) 5th (G) to make up the C Major chord (see the example of the C Major Chord below). Now, there are thousands of way’s to build thousands of chords. This is just a general explanation to help you understand how chords are built. Let’s get into reading chord charts…..

Reading Chord Charts

Playing Your First Guitar Chords A, E & D

Essential Chords Pattern C, A, G, E & D + Em & Am

By GuitarLessons.com

It’s very important that you start playing chords that are fun! Here Brad explains why he teaches the following chords first. (A E D @ 2:40 in the video to the left). These chords are in many songs and can be played quite easily and it will help you to start playing guitar right away! Learn them & Play them over and over again until you have it down!

open A chord	open E chord
open D chord	open C chord
open G chord	open Em Chord
open Am chord	open Dm chord

Troubleshooting

Oftentimes a lot of beginners complain how sore their fingers are after finishing one session with their guitar, its a normal reaction. You should be surprised if you’re not hurting even a bit, this means that you’re not playing it right. The proper way to carry out fingering is pressing your fingertips hard enough on the strings. When you notice that there is a buzzing sound or the echo is not going the way it should sound, try to press harder on the strings.

Tips

1) Cut those long fingernails. They will make it difficult for you to press the strings correctly.

2) Don’t let your fingers lie down while playing for they tend to mute some strings. This is the most common mistake done by beginners.

3)Be sure that your fingertips are the ones that are in contact with the strings and not the place where fingerprints are taken. Maintain the straight arch. Aside from the fact that this is exhausting, this is also painful and difficult but will pay off as soon as calluses are produced.

4) Practice. Memorize each chord pattern.

To View The Chord Charts And See More Chords………

Go To: The Chord Library

John Sizemore

I've been playing and teaching guitar for over 20 years. I've found that the absolute beginner guitar player is the one that needs the most help to stay motivated. I'm here to help you! Here You Can Get A FREE Guitar Lesson Account From One Of The Best Instructors In The Business

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40 Comments

John Sizemore says:
April 6, 2012 at 5:54 pm
Hi Potato,
This is the most common and it affects every beginner. Until your fingers have the muscle memory down this will continue happen. So, make sure you’re ringing one note at a time.
let’s take the open E chord for instance. Place your first finger first and pluck that note. if it sound clear and true place your 2nd finger and ring that note. If it sounds clear… Move to your 3rd and so on. If any of the notes don’t sound clear? re-position your finer until they do. This goes for the open strings also. So, when you’re playing a note with your finger. Make sure that the open string above or below the note you’re fingering sounds clear also.
This is going to take a little time. After several times of playing this chord clear…. Your muscles in your hand will begin to remember the exact position that sounds clear and you won’t have to think about it anymore. Just be patient. It will come. If you get frustrated? Put the guitar down and come back in an hour. You’ll be surprised how much easier it gets.
Potato says:
April 6, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Hi,
Whenever I try playing any one chord, on finger happens to touch the string right next to it and it always makes this buzzing noise and ruins the chord. How do you think I should hold my hand so it won’t touch the next string?
Thanks.
John Sizemore says:
February 29, 2012 at 6:11 am
Hi Julie,
If you play 15min/day consistently…. It should stop hurting after a few weeks and it gets better each day after the initial day.
I’m glad you like the site!
Julie says:
February 29, 2012 at 2:07 am
The pain! Fingers hurting!! But, liking the sound. I’ve wanted to learn to play guitar for many years. Hoping I can endure the pain until the callouses form. Thanks for this great site.
John Sizemore says:
February 24, 2012 at 8:30 am
Hi Eric,
Unfortunatly this is a problem for many people with large hands. However, it can be overcome. There have been many large fingered pros that have gone on to great success (BB King for instance). All I can say is to try and work through it with the guitar you have. If you want to purchase a different guitar that has a wider neck? I’ve heard good things about the “Big Lou” guitars. I’ve never played one. So, I can’t give you a great review. I’ve just talked to people who have purchased one as their first guitar.
Let me know if I can help with anything else?
Eric says:
February 23, 2012 at 10:03 pm
Mr Sizemore,
I was very fortunate to buy an electric guitar from a friend at a very low price a number of years ago. I tried to learn immediately after I bought the guitar, however I became really frustrated and quit. In the last couple of days I blew the dust off the old Ibanez and came across your website. Great website!!! I wish I had this website when I first tried to learn. With that said, I am a big guy with big fingers. How do I get around this obstacle, because it seems I can not properly play a clean cord to save my life! I feel my frustration building again, any advice will be greatly appreciated.
John Sizemore says:
February 23, 2012 at 9:30 am
You’re welcome Ken. Let me know if you need any more help
ken says:
February 23, 2012 at 6:21 am
This is a blessing. Great stuff.
John Sizemore says:
December 27, 2011 at 5:49 am
Hi Urvashi,
That’s great… If you practice everyday for at least 15 min? You’ll be surprised how good you’ll be in 3 months! You could be playing some of your favorite songs quite well. The first 3 months is the toughest. After that, it gets soooo much easier.
Urvashi says:
December 26, 2011 at 10:20 pm
Thanks a lot,John.The e-book was wonderful and the website is also extremely helpful.Although my fingers hurt a bit on my first day, but I’m pretty determined to learn how to play the guitar.I hope in a year or two I’ll become an awesome guitarist:)