Still confused how to play a chord
by Trey
(D.C.)
So look, I've had my electric guitar for almost a year now and learned the basics, but once I got to playing the chords part, I became really frustrated and confused because I didn't know where to place my fingers, or if I played all strings or once so because of that I stopped trying to play my guitar for. Now I've come too the conclusion that I really want to excel in playing this instrument, so can you tell me how to really play a chord?
Answer
Hi Trey, it's very simple to play a chord, let's take the A minor chord as an example,
And focus on the fretting hand:
Press the A string string at the 2nd fret with your middle finger, the G string also at the 2nd fret with the ring finger, and the B string at the 1st fret with the index finger
You need to strum all the strings but the one that marked with the X symbol in the top of the diagram, so you skip the low E string, and strike the A, D, G, B and high E string.
The empty inside circles that stay in the same row where the X symbol mean that the strings under them are open. (You don't push open strings with your fretting hand, but you do strum them).
You should be getting something like this:
Play a slow strum and check that each single string sounds clean, if you hear some strings buzzing, try to push those stronger with your fingertips and/or avoid your fretting fingers touching and muting the nearby strings.
Learn and master the open chords along with some strumming or fingerstyle patterns and you will be able to play a lot of songs much sooner than in one year ;)
GOOD LUCK!