In this lesson, we are going to talk about chords. A chord is
an arrangement of notes. Until now, we have focused primarily on playing notes one at a time. But, when we play a chord, we let the notes ring out together so that we can appreciate the rich blend of notes that speak to the depths of our very soul. Okay, give me a break, it's been a couple of days since I've posted and I have a right to be a little dramatic when talking about something as profound as playing more than one note at a time.

It is a time honored tradition to learn the three basic chords, C major, D major, and G major together as a set. But, before we get into playing these chords, we have to discuss how we notate chords. Normally, we would notate a string of notes, such as, A7, B9, D3 etc. by writing them out in order from left to right. When writing out chords, we will use a similar convention, accept we will place [ and ] markers around the set of notes that will be played as a chord. So, to illustrate this, let's go ahead and write out the three major chords we are going to be playing.


C major
[A3r, D2m, G0, B1i]

At first this may seem a little awkward. So basically, we place our ring finger on A3, our middle finger on D2, skip over the G string (since it will be played open), and plant our index finger on B1. And if this is your first time playing a chord on a guitar, you will likely hear a lot of buzzing and percussive thumps as you strum with a down stroke on all four strings. Technically, you can play the two E strings open as well and the chord is still a C major chord. So, which ever form you want to use in this lesson is fine with me. What I want you to do is hold this chord for a while and think about the shape of this chord. while you are doing this, strum in a downward direction with your pick across the strings, and then strum back in an upward direction with your pick across the strings. If you hear a lot of thumping and buzzing, try to adjust your fingers to get them more in the center of the frets. Eventually, as you develop more strength in your fretting hand and more coordination, you will fret this chord with ease and make the notes ring out clearly every time.

Next, we have the D major Chord.

D major
[D0, G2i, B3r, H2m]


The first thing students tell me when they realize how this chord is fingered is "How is that possible?" Actually, it is only difficult to fret this chord for about the first week or so. After some practice, it becomes rather trivial to fret this chord. We put our index finger on G2, our middle finger on H2, and bring our ring finger up behind our middle finger from underneath and plant it on B3. Strech!!! Okay, strum this chord in the downward direction and back in the upward direction again. You should get a lot of buzzing and thumping sounds this time. So, adjust your fingers until you have them as close to the center of the frets as possible and try it again. Don't worry, no one starting out on guitar gets this chord to ring out nicely the first time they play it. It's just one of those things you will have to work on getting to sound good over time as you are able. But, keep working on it, because you will eventually master it and likely sooner than you think.

Finally, we have the G major chord.

G major
[E3m, A2i, D0, G0, B0, H3p]

So, this time we place our middle finger on E3, our index finger on A2, and our pinky on H3 and repeat the down strum followed by the upward strum. You will likely find this chord a lot easier to fret than the D major. Some people prefer to use their ring finger on H3 instead of their pinky. But, I think it is better to use one's pinky when starting out on the G major chord so as to get your pinky in shape.

Now, as you form each chord with your fretting hand, I want you to focus intently on its shape. At the same time, verbally call out each chord as you play it. You want to associate the chord shape with its name. Practice switching between each chord, calling out its name as you go. First work from C major to D major to G major. Then go from G major to D major to C major. When switching chords, move extremely slowly. Allow your mind to follow the change from one chord shape to the next. Switching between chords is one of the most useful exercises for any beginning guitarist. It forces your fretting hand to move in ways you might think at first glance would be impossible. Yet, professionals move between chords with such lightning speed it isn't funny. The trick is to practice slow at first and gradually work your way up to switching faster and faster over time. But, the real goal at first is not so much speed as much as it is accuracy. It does no good for a guitar player to be able to move from one chord to the next with amazing speed, if the switching sounds inaccurate and sloppy.

For homework, I want you to practice switching between these chords over and over and over again, then do it 20 more times after that for good measure. If exercises like this seem borring, try playing while watching television to make the exercise seem less monotonous.


Corey J. Bray