How to Hold Chords on an Acoustic Guitar
When learning acoustic guitar, a chord chart will assist you as you attempt to place and hold your fingers to form chords. Chord charts are available at most music stores or online and are one of the most basic and useful tools for guitar players of all levels. Chord charts are standardized, and act as a visual map of the guitar strings and frets. Dots on the strings between the frets indicate where fingers are placed, with numbers and symbols placed above or below the chart to show which strings are played.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Hold the guitar in your preferred playing position and place the chart on a table or music stand in front of you.
-
2
Identify the six vertical lines in the chart, which represent the guitar strings. The lines from left to right represent the E6 (thickest and lowest sounding guitar string, and the one closest to your upper body when holding the guitar), followed by the remaining strings in succession: A5, D4, G3, B2, E1. The E1 is the first string on the guitar, which is the thinnest and farthest away from your upper body when holding the guitar.
-
-
3
Identify the vertical lines on the chart, which represent the frets. The line on the top represents the open string (played as-is). The line underneath the top line is the first fret, followed by the second, third and fourth frets.
-
4
Place your fingers on the strings and frets indicated by the dots. Depending on the type of chart, the finger numbers will appear within the dots, above or below the dot's corresponding string, or sometimes not at all. There are no "set" finger numbers for chords, although some charts will provide the most common finger combinations. The fingers are numbered as follows: 1=index, 2=middle, 3=ring and 4=pinky finger.
-
5
Read the symbols above or below each string. An "X" indicates that the string is not played, and an "O" indicates that the string is to be played open (no fingering or fretting). The name of the chord is placed above the symbols.
-
6
Strum the strings to play the chord while holding your fingers in place, avoiding the strings marked with an "X". For most basic guitar chords, the "X" is used for the lowest 1 or 2 strings (the 6E, 5A or both).
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Use chord charts that feature finger numbers along with the finger placement dots. As you advance, you will be able to work out different fingering patterns on your own. There is frequently more than one fingering pattern for each chord, which is why some charts don't feature any at all.
Place your fingers directly behind the fret for best sound results. Placing it directly on the fret or too far behind may result in a muffled sound or too little pressure on the string.
Only apply enough pressure to each string and fret to get a clear sound. Applying too much pressure will cause fingers and hand muscles to fatigue faster, cause fingertip soreness, and may cause the chord to sound out of tune.
Always tune your guitar by ear or with a guitar tuner before practicing. Part of learning guitar involves training your ear to hear notes and chords properly. An out-of-tune guitar will undermine this process and make learning more difficult. If you are unsure of how to tune your guitar, ask your music store salesperson to demonstrate how to use a tuner, or investigate an online guitar tuning site (see resources).
The same chords used for acoustic guitar apply to electric guitar.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit guitar detail 2 image by Scott McCarty from Fotolia.com
