Hi folks! Welcome back. Today for the benefit of the more novice guitar players reading this post, I am going to talk about learning how to play chords.
Learning chords can be very difficult at first and it will feel awkward and some beginners (including me several years back) tend to over think on whether or not they are doing things correctly. You’ll know when you are doing a chord properly if it sounds right providing your guitar is properly tuned.
Another issue that can come up is buzzing strings that are not adequately pressed, particularly the thick ones (strings nos. 3 to 6). Don’t worry, chances are you are doing it correctly, but it does n’t ring out as you intend for it to because you haven’t got the callous on your finger tips yet. This will develop as long as you keep on practising.
Yet, there is a better way in which you can learn chords quickly and more importantly, be able to apply them in songs right away! How? Learn mini chords first. This simply means leaving out the lower three strings and playing the higher three strings for now.
To do this, you can refer to your chord charts and follow everything it says, particularly the fingerings, EXCEPT anything about the lower three strings. And your goal for now is to be able to memorise as many guitar chords as possible, list them down on paper, be able to shift smoothly from one chord to the next and use them in songs that involve chords that you know.
Then as you become comfortable with this, you can start adding on string no. 3 into your chords and repeat the process. Do the same for the remaining two strings.
If you are struggling with chords, you should definitely try this approach. Then if you are still struggling, I’d be happy to help, just leave a comment. :)
