This article is for the following people.
Those who have bought a guitar but do not know where to start.
Those who don’t know how to play the C chord.
Those who cannot play chords well.
I will explain how to actually play a chord. The explanation is based on the basic C chord.
I will also tell you what to do when you can’t hold the chord, and tips on how to hold the chord.
(1) How to play the C chord
Once you are able to tune, try playing the chord.
If you don’t know how to tune, please check the following article on how to tune.
1. About Tuning ([For Beginners] The First Thing to Do After Buying a Guitar (1))
First, learn to play the C chord. Follow the steps below to play it.
i) Press the 3rd fret of the 5th string (the second thickest string) with your ring finger.
↓Click here. You will hear a sound like this.
ii) Keep your ring finger on the 2nd fret of the 4th string (the 3rd thickest string) and hold it down with your middle finger.
↓Click here to check the sound.
iii) Do not hold down anything on the 3rd string. Do not allow other fingers to touch it.
↓click to confirm the sound
iv) Hold down the 1st fret of the 2nd string (the second thinnest string) with the middle and ring fingers still held down.
↓click to confirm the sound
v) Do not hold down anything on the first string . Do not allow other fingers to touch it.
↓click to confirm the sound
vi)Pluck the 5th to 1st strings together with the pick. (Do not pluck the 6th string).
↓Click to check the sound. When it is clean, the sound will be like this.
(2) Check the sound
Let’s check if we are playing properly.
Starting with the 5th string, pluck the strings one by one to check if all the strings are plucked.
↓If you press the strings properly, the sound will sound like this.
(3) How to solve the problem of not being able to hold down a chord.
If there is a string that does not sound clean, the main cause is that the string is not being held down properly or an unrelated finger is touching the string.
Try pressing the strings again, paying attention to the following points.
i) Press down on the fret side as much as possible.
↓Bad example
↓Good Example
ii) Press with the fingers perpendicular to the fingerboard
As shown below, if the finger is held down with the finger lying down, the finger will touch the adjacent string and the adjacent string note will not sound.
As shown below, hold the strings with your fingers as upright as possible. (so that your fingers do not touch the adjacent strings)
You can try different ways of playing the strings while keeping the above two points in mind.
However, in the beginning, it is okay if you can’t get a beautiful sound.
If you keep at it, you will eventually be able to produce beautiful sounds.
Let’s enjoy it and keep at it without strain.
<Next article>
About a chord chart (diagram). How to read chord charts and play chords by looking at chord diagrams
