How To Play Guitar Chords
The guitar is an exceedingly versatile instrument, which is at least part of the reason for why it has become so popular and widespread. Learning how to play guitar chords is usually one of the first things a beginning guitar player learns, no matter what type of music he or she ultimately wants to play.You see, the guitar is primarily a chording instrument. At least, that was the original purpose of the instrument. Sure, almost every rock band to ever exist has used the guitar as a melody instrument, but many great solos include chords as well.
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Some musical instruments, especially those of the brass and woodwind families, are only capable of producing a single note at a time. A guitar allows for six notes to be played simultaneously. And while the piano may win in the chord versatility and range departments, the guitar definitely wins hands down in terms of portability and convenience.
That is why the guitar has been the mainstay of buskers and singer-songwriters for so many years. When a novice first learns how to play guitar chords, the lessons usually start with open chords. Open chords are played close to the guitar’s head where some of the strings are not fretted at all, which gives the chord a longer sustain and greater volume. The most common of these are G, Em, C, Am, D, E, A, and Dm. A great many songs can be played with three or four open chords; some songs consist of only two. One useful thing to remember is this: chords that go together often contain one or more identical notes, especially when going from a major chord to its relative minor. If you can form the new chord while leaving a finger or two in position, it will be a lot easier.
There is of course a learning curve involved. At first, your fingers will probably get sore and certain finger positions can feel awkward. Muscle memory is key, and practice is really the only way to address these issues and strengthen the fingers. Soon you’ll be able to place your fingers in the right spots without even looking. As long as you keep your guitar in tune, open chords will sound great.
Now, if you want to play a song in the key of G, open chords are perfect. Some keys, however, require a little more. A barre chord is when you cover all of the strings with the index finger, forming chords above it with the remaining fingers. The shapes of E, A, and C lend themselves quite readily to this. Barre chords basically move the nut to whichever fret you choose; an F chord is essentially the same as E, just moved up one fret. Barre chords definitely require stronger fingers than open chords.
Even long time veterans of guitar performance don’t stop learning how to play guitar chords. You can change almost any note in a chord and get a new sound. Some genres, jazz especially, use some very interesting and strange chords. With six strings, five fingers, and upwards of twenty frets, the combinations are nearly endless.