The secret to a successful guitar lesson is ensuring that students experience success in their learning and get a payoff for their efforts. Pleasant sounding chord sequences that are not too difficult to do are likely to encourage more learning. But to do this, students must have a firm knowledge of important chord shapes. Chord shapes are the placement of the fingers upon the frets when producing the chords. If the guitar student understands the chord shapes of the most important chords, the student may build upon this knowledge to learn other chord shapes.
Lesson on Basic Guitar Chords
The absolute beginner may practice the key chords, G major, E minor, A minor and D major in a preliminary guitar lesson until the student feels reasonably confident. The correct fretting techniques must be practiced to retain a crisp and bright sound when strumming, and to encourage smooth transitioning between chord changes. When the student feels ready, she may progress onto additional chord shapes as described in this article.
The teacher may begin by demonstrating how to fret the four key major chords F, C, E and A. Like the previous lesson on chords, a smooth transition between chord changes is encouraged. Students may find this difficult at first, but this is to be expected. By practicing proper fretting techniques and building a kinaesthetic memory of the fretting positions of fingers when producing chords, the guitar student will be able to adopt a smooth and confident fretting technique when changing chords.
Fretboxes for Guitar Chords
To offer support, the teacher may supply diagrams of the upper part of the fretboard with black dots indicating finger positions. These diagrams, known as “fretboxes” for producing the chords, F major, C major, E major and A major can be found at the foot of this article. The guitar lesson may offer support for left handed guitarists by supplying fretboxes in reverse.
How to Play Simple Guitar Chords
The students may practice the chord shapes in the sequence shown, which will produce pleasant sounds and where transition between chords will be easiest. F major might prove difficult at first, for the index finger must lie flat across the two highest strings, whilst the second and third finger stretches down. Placing the thumb low down at the back of the guitar neck might make this easier. It must be noted, that the two lower strings must be omitted when strumming F major.
Guitar Exercise on Simple Chord Sequences: F major, C major, E major and A major.
F major (fig 1)
- Place the index finger flat over the two highest strings below the first fret
- Place the second finger on the G string between the first and second fret
- Place the third finger on the D string between the second and third fret
- Remember to omit the two bass strings when strumming F major
C Major (fig 2)
- Place the index finger on the B string just below the first fret
- Place the second finger on the D string between the first and second fret
- Place the third finger on the A string between the second and third fret
E Major (fig 3)
- Place the first string onto the G string below the first fret
- Place the second and third finger onto the A and D string between the first and second fret
- Note how the second and third finger swap places when changing between C and E.
A Major (fig 4)
- Place the index finger on the B string between the first and second fret
- Place the second finger on the G string between the first and second fret
- Place the third finger on the D string between the first and second fret
Acoustic Guitar Chords
Practicing this chord sequence until there is no hesitation between chord changes will provide a firm foundation upon which to build other chord shapes and chord sequences. Retaining a rhythm throughout, even if this is slow at first will ensure a rhythm is retained as confidence grows. Practice will help.
How to Learn Guitar Chords
Learning guitar for the first time means learning the most important chords. Major chords form the basis of many chord sequences in songs. The four major chords, F, C, E and A fit pleasingly together and is likely to motivate the guitar student to keep practicing before moving onto more challenging guitar exercises.
Rachel Shirley - I have written and illustrated several art instruction books entitled Oil Paintings from your Garden and Oil Paintings from the Landscape ...
