Hey peeps! It’s CMC here- straight outta Hollywood! Today
we’re talking about HOW TO PLAY GUITAR CHORDS, so let’s dive
in!
I’m sure you know this but for the few of you out there who
are really, really newbies, here is basic, fundamental Guitar
fact 101:
-There are pretty much two main options for playing guitar:
They are: a. Strumming or, b. Picking. Another way to look
at it would be: 1. CHORDS (mostly strumming but can be
picking as well) and 2. Individual, what I will call “standalone”
notes. What that means is- you are either strumming
ALL SIX (or TWELVE) strings, which produces a pretty amazing
harmonic convergence of notes OR you are picking individual,
(one at a time) single notes.
SO, now that we’ve got that down, let’s get back to our quick
“note” for the day, HOW TO PLAY GUITAR CHORDS.
First, as I’ve said before and as I need to repeat as often
as you (newbies) need to hear it, you need to HOLD the guitar
properly.
Classical teachers will stress this more than rockers. For
rockers, it’s all about looks and style, hip, swagger, so
they want to be standing, with the guitar on a strap, as low
as possible. Back in the day, when this was me, I’d determine
the length of my strap this way: my left arm would be
completely relaxed, loose and stretched out about as far as
it could go, then I would let the strap down accordingly.
But when I took classical guitar lessons, I learned that
GUITAR CONTROL is what it’s all about and to best control the
guitar, your fingers, your hand, the action, the fret board,
the best idea is to LIFT the neck UP to a level closer to
one’s head, eyes, face, etc.
Of course, this works best sitting on the appropriate stool,
ottoman or whatever chair-like piece of furniture you might
have.
SO, grasping this and grasping the guitar properly is a great
start to learning guitar chords. Yes, you see, the web site
is aptly named, for guitar CONTROL is what it’s all about. If
you don’t or can’t control the neck, your fingers, the fret
board, the sound, you just can’t be effective as a guitar
player. So, I think you’ve got that. Now- what’s next?
Well, boys and girls, we’re out of time-check out my next
article LEARN GUITAR CHORDS for more info!
I also want to recommend you our beginner course in DVD:
