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Teach Yourself Guitar Overnight: Lesson 2

Introduction to Playing Guitar Chords

Welcome back!

So you’ve been through Lesson 1. You’ve learned how to read and play ‘Guitar TAB’. You also know how to play ‘Smoke on the Water’ and the ‘Major Scale’! Congratulations!!! That was your first step toward great guitar playing and you should be proud of yourself. Let’s move forward shall we?

Guitar Chords…What are they?

I’m sure you’ve heard the term before, but what does it mean? What is a chord?

We learned that a ‘note’ or a ‘musical tone’ is basically any sound that a guitar would make. It is a definite pitch defined by a frequency of sound. The science of it is not really that important for this lesson but when you put notes together you make music! This is called a melody. Notes being played in a ‘progression’ (one after another) produces a melody…while notes played ‘at the same time’ or on top of each other is a chord. If you tried just playing any three (or more) notes together you wouldn’t necessarily be playing a chord and it might not sound too pretty! So, to sum it up a chord is three or more notes played at the same time ‘in harmony’ meaning they sound good together!

Why are Chords Important?

Chords are very important in music, and extremely important in guitar music.

When you hear someone playing a song on the guitar and singing along, they are playing chords in the background to fill in the ‘rhythm’ section of the song. Most songs consist of a ‘Melody Line’ and a ‘Chord Progression’. For example, in modern music the melody line would be “Wild thing, you make my heart sing” while the chords are being strummed in the background. In classical music, the rhythm section of an orchestra would play the ‘chord progression’ while the main lead instrument would play the main melody line.

How do I play chords?

There are 5 ‘open’ chords on the guitar. They are called ‘open chords’ because some of the notes in these chords are played as open strings that you don’t have to put fingers on frets to accomplish. That does not mean that the entire chord is just all open strings! Just a few notes of each of these 5 chords are open. These chords are E, A, D, G and C. Let’s learn ‘em!

*REMEMBER: The Top line is the highest sounding string closest to the floor when playing the guitar. The Bottom line is the LOW (thickest) string closest to your chin.
// Open E Chord Blueprint
E |---0----------------------- (Open)
B |---0----------------------- (Open)
G |---1--- [Index Finger / Fret 1]
D |---2--- [Ring Finger / Fret 2]
A |---2--- [Middle Finger / Fret 2]
E |---0----------------------- (Open)

Notice how the notes are stacked on top of each other? This means to PLAY THEM AT THE SAME TIME! Use your middle finger for the 5th string, ring finger for the 4th, and index finger for the 3rd string.

// Open G Chord Blueprint
E |---3--- [Ring or Pinky / Fret 3]
B |---0----------------------- (Open)
G |---0----------------------- (Open)
D |---0----------------------- (Open)
A |---2--- [Index Finger / Fret 2]
E |---3--- [Middle Finger / Fret 3]

This one has 3 open strings. Play the 3rd fret on the lowest string with your middle finger, the 2nd fret of the next string with your index, and catch the highest string 3rd fret with your ring or pinky!

// Open C Chord Blueprint
E |---0----------------------- (Open) B |---1--- [Index Finger / Fret 1] G |---0----------------------- (Open) D |---2--- [Middle Finger / Fret 2] A |---3--- [Ring Finger / Fret 3] E |---X--- (DO NOT STRUM / PLAY)

NOTE: The 'X' on the LOW string means DO NOT PLAY THAT STRING! Simply start your right-hand strum downward on the next string, skipping the thickest string entirely.

// Open A Chord Blueprint
E |---0----------------------- (Open)
B |---2--- [Ring Finger / Fret 2]
G |---2--- [Middle Finger / Fret 2]
D |---2--- [Index Finger / Fret 2]
A |---0----------------------- (Open)
E |---X--- (DO NOT STRUM / PLAY)

This chord is fairly easy. The bottom string is not played. Then you hit an open string followed by pinning down the 2nd fret on three strings in a row using fingers 1, 2, and 3.

// Open D Chord Blueprint
E |---2--- [Middle Finger / Fret 2]
B |---3--- [Ring Finger / Fret 3]
G |---2--- [Index Finger / Fret 2]
D |---0----------------------- (Open)
A |---X--- (DO NOT STRUM / PLAY)
E |---X--- (DO NOT STRUM / PLAY)

This chord has two strings that are NOT played at all. When strumming with your right hand, start exactly on the open D string. Catch frets 2, 3, and 2 with your left hand to form a clean triangle shape.

ANOTHER CRITICAL TIP: Try to imagine making as much of a "claw" as you can with your left hand fingers so that your skin never flattens or touches neighboring strings. This prevents muting notes, which is a common mistake when first starting.

Execution and Field Practice

There there you have it! You have learned how to play chords on the guitar, as well as learning all 5 open chords! These are professional level guitar chords used daily by rock 'n' rollers all over the world! Go look up songbooks or tabs for your favorite tracks. Most listings write the letter of the chord right above the lyrics so you can follow right along and learn the rhythm section with ease!

Thank you for completing the 'Teach Yourself Guitar Overnight' series here at the workspace station node! Keep practicing those layout transitions, keep your notes ringing clear, and keep building.