Johnny Hiland Band

When learning how to play the guitar, the chords tend to be the most difficult thing to master. Learning them can be a massive challenge. To begin with, you are using multiple fingers to play multiple strings all at once! The combinations and finger placements can appear very confusing.

There are a couple of misconceptions when it comes to finger placement. For instance, don’t think that the size of your fingers has anything to do with lack of success. This is absolutely not true. However, most of the problem when playing guitar chords is hand PLACEMENT. You especially need to learn how to properly place your left hand and fingers.

Are you struggling with your lessons? Check to see if your left thumb is positioned high up on the back of the guitar neck. If it is, then the placement is wrong. Your left thumb should sit on the LOWER portion of the back. It needs to be behind the second finger. Sure, it will probably feel uncomfortable at first, but it is the correct posture for many styles.

You need to remember this posture. Sure, it’s simple to play a couple of songs or notes and then return to your old habit, but that will only encourage the bad habit. Remember: practicing good habits is crucial when learning guitar chords.

Common Mistakes
Successfully learning is heavily prevented by lack of support and knowledge. When you are struggling to play a five string chord, you are probably making two big mistakes:
1.    For starters, attempting to master a five string chord is a mistake when you’re just learning. Instead, you should focus on a two or three string chord, as they are much easier to learn. Later on down the road you can move on to more complex chords.
2.    Secondly, proper placement of the fingers is essential. For instance, it wasn’t until after a few months of playing when I realized that I was practicing incorrectly. The tutorial videos at the Learn & Master Guitar website showed me that I was incorrect with my finger placement.

If you want to learn chords, it is important to learn the correct way, which can be tough without an expert, or at least some type of formal training. However, guitar lessons usually aren’t cheap.

You need to check out a resource such as Learn and Master Guitar. That way, you will have access to many techniques, lessons, and tips that you would learn from a private teacher. The best thing is, these online lessons are way more affordable!

Lessons + Practice = Tons of success!

Make sure you take some lessons, no matter what form they come in. You aren’t going to learn guitar chords and songs without good lessons. Whether you have the money and time for private lessons or simply come across a good lesson online isn’t relevant. Just find yourself a good lesson, learn from it, and practice!

Practice is crucial. It’s recommended that you set aside a half hour to an hour every single day for guitar practice. This may not seem like a lot of time, but it’s actually best to not play more than a half hour or so each day. This is because you may become more or pick up bad habits. Instead, just set aside 30 minutes or so every day and make sure there are no distractions.

Spend a good fifteen minutes focused exclusively on the chords. Begin with basic and simple chords. Within a couple of weeks, you will not only play them like a pro, but you will also switch back and forth between them with ease!

Successful guitar chords learning requires practice and dedication just as much as it requires skill. Make up your mind that you are going to learn no matter what! You really can do this. Remember that chords are pretty much the foundation for every song, therefore you should be able to play a TON of great songs once you learn the chords!

Are you ready to dive in and get some awesome video lessons so that you can learn from the pros?

Copyright Liam Gibson (Stage Guitarist)

You need to develop a good understanding of how to read and use diagrams if you want to learn to play guitar chords. Whether you’re an absolute beginner or a bit experienced, the easiest path to becoming a pro guitar player is by learning some simple chords. That way, you can apply them to learning to play the rhythm part of songs. Guitar chord diagrams will help you to do just that!

So, what is a chord diagram?

A guitar chord diagram is basically a visual representation of a single chord, which is often referred to as a “chord box”. It’s essentially a rectangle shaped box that shows you how to play a specific chord. It represents the fretboard on the guitar, and shows you precisely where your fingers need to go in order to form a chord. Needless to say, it can help make it playing guitar chords easier. It’s truly amazing just how a small package can present so much information!

How to read a guitar chord diagram.

There are a dozen or so different formats and styles, but all guitar chord diagrams have these common features:

·    There are 6 lines that symbolize the strings on a guitar. Depending on the format of the box, the strings either run across the page horizontally or up and down the page vertically.

·    When looking at a vertical diagram, the string on the left side represents the low “E” string, and the one on the right is the high “E” (the thinnest string).

·    There are lines running along the string lines at a right angle. These represent the frets. This is an important thing to remember when taking your guitar chords lessons.
·    Dots are placed on the grid to show which strings need to be pressed on which fret in order to play the chord.
While this is just basic information on a chord diagram, it can still be enough to teach you how to form and play a guitar chord. The greatest part is that you do not need to even know how to read standard music, or even guitar tabulature, to read a chord diagram!
Here are some more features of guitar chord diagrams that feature even more important info:
·    On the top part of the box there is a thick line representing the end of the neck—the nut.
·    An “x” symbol on top of the nut line means, “Don’t play this string!”
·    An o” symbol above the nut line means that the string is played open (not fingered).
·    Numbers 1-4 under the box (usually on the dots) indicate the finger you must use on that string. One is for the index finger, and four is the little finger.
·    A bar or line running across more than one string indicates a “barre chord”, which means one finger has to press more than one string.

To understand easy to learn guitar chords, here are some tips on reading the diagrams:

·    Make use of guitar chord diagrams, as they are the single most powerful resource for learning the guitar!

·    Individual chord diagrams can be combined together to form charts. These are a simple means to learn basic chords, families of chords, sequences, and songs.

·    Check into online resources and tools, such as The Guitar Players Toolbox, to help you learn about diagrams and charts. You will find out about all the easiest guitar chords to learn!

Good luck and play well!

Copyright Liam Gibsom (Pro Guitarist)

For most, guitar chords are the most difficult part of learning how to play. These series of notes can be difficult to remember, and can challenge even the most talented guitarists.

Get The Most From Your Guitar Chord Lessons

When you learn to play guitar chords, you are using multiple fingers and strings at the same time. The combinations can be awkward, and it can be very difficult to retain all of the information that you need.

A common problem for beginners is hand placement. Many guitarists, when first starting out, get discouraged because they have difficulty getting a clean note. This is especially true of people with larger hands. The reason for this is not about hand size at all, but about hand position.

If you are struggling to learn guitar chords, check the position of the thumb on your fret hand. If your thumb is high on the back of the neck, your position is wrong. It should actually be sitting on the lower portion of the back of the neck, behind the second finger. It will be uncomfortable at first, but it will give you a much better reach at the frets, and a cleaner sound. It is very easy to revert back to old habits, so make sure that you spend some time practicing this position. Concentrate more on your hand position than your playing, and soon, it will become natural to you.

The guitar is very difficult to learn if you do not have the right knowledge or support. For example, if you have a five string chord that you are having trouble with, there are probably two main problems. First, if you are just starting out, attempting a five string chord just doesn’t make sense. This is an advanced technique. Focus on two or three string chords first, then work your way up. Second, correct finger placement is crucial. The trick to learning is having good resources. You can find videos and information all over the Internet, at sites like learnandmasterguitar.com, that can help you. Just a small change in finger position can make a huge difference.

The best way to learn guitar chords is with some form of training. However, guitar lessons are not cheap. Internet resources like learnandmasterguitar.com can give you many of the same techniques, tips, and lessons that an instructor can, but for much less.

Definitely make sure that you find some form of training. Learning guitar chords is difficult enough without going through everything on your own. If you try to teach yourself, you will be lucky to learn the chords within months. Whether you have the time or money for an instructor, or simply find a few good lessons online, make sure that you have some form of training. Once you have a chance to learn, all you need is practice.

Practice is the most important part of learning to play guitar and chords. You should set aside a half hour a day for practice. While many guitarists have longer practice sessions, beginners tend to get bored very quickly, or start developing bad habits. Once you have developed your technique, you can begin to lengthen your sessions.

Make sure that you have no distractions. Find a quiet room and pick a time of day when you have the most energy. Since chords are such an important part of guitar playing, you should devote half of your practice time exclusively to them. Start with simple chords, and work your way up. Within two weeks, you should be playing the basic chords like a pro, with clean and easy chord progressions. It takes patience and dedication to learn and master guitar chords, not just knowledge and skill.

Keep in mind that guitar chords and songs are directly related. Once you learn the chords, you can play thousands of different songs, or even write your own.

Copyright Liam Gibson (Stage Guitarist)