Chord Playing: "Am I Doing It Right?"

Notes On Guitar: Chord Playing: “Am I Doing It Right?”

Author: John Collins

When you’re just starting to learn how to play chords on guitar, it can sometimes be difficult to tell whether a given chord that you’re playing is being played in the right way or not. You see the diagram of a chord on the page, put your fingers where you think they ought to go, and give it a strum. Something comes out, but you’re not quite sure whether it sounds as it should or not. Then there are times when something’s obviously wrong, and left to your own devices it can be hard to figure out what, and how you might go about righting it. What follows are a few tips that beginners may find helpful.

Whatever chord you’re playing, you generally want all the strings involved to ring clearly when you strum them. You don’t want any of them to sound muffled, muted, “thuddy,” or stifled in any way.

One good way to check on whether you’re playing a chord correctly is to play each note of the chord individually, one at a time, to see whether each note rings clearly and cleanly or not. To do this is to "arpeggiate" the chord (to break it up, and play it one note at a time). You appegiate the chord to see whether each individual note of the chord sounds the way it should (clean and clear).

Start by holding down a given chord. Then, starting with the uppermost (thickest) string involved in the chord, pluck or stroke that string with either your right-hand thumb, or with a pick (assuming you’re a right-handed player; if you’re not, then pluck or stroke with your left hand). Does that note of the chord ring clearly? Or does it sound more like a “thud,” dull and unclear? If it sounds good and clear (almost, but not quite, as clear as when the string is
played “open,” without any left-hand fingering), then move on to the next thickest string, usually the string right below, and give it the same test. Do the same with each of the other strings involved in the chord, stroking them from thickest to thinnest, one by one, in slow succession. If you come across a string that doesn’t sound so good, then the likelihood is that one (or more) of four things is wrong:

1. You’re not applying enough pressure on the string (with whatever lefthand finger is being used to play it) to get the note to ring clearly.

Try pressing down a little harder on the string (without causing yourself pain; if that happens, stop and come back to it later). Alternately...

2. Somewhere along the line, a finger is touching a string that it shouldn’t be touching.

If a particular string isn’t ringing clearly, it may be that one of the fingers of the left hand that’s being used to play a note on a different string is accidentally brushing up against the string that isn’t ringing properly, thus interfering with it, and preventing it from sounding the way it should. Check to see whether this is what’s happening, and if it is, then adjust your finger so that it’s no longer touching the string that sounds blocked. You can accidentally mute the sound this way on strings that are played “open” (that is, unfingered), as well as on those that are being fretted (fingered). Alternately...

3. You may need to adjust the position of your finger within the fret.

Start out by positioning your finger right about in the middle of the fret (that is, right about midway between the two metal strips that are embedded in the fingerboard). If the note doesn’t ring clearly from that position, a slight nudge to the left or the right (of center) might improve the sound, and/or make the chord easier to play. Just make sure you don’t press down on top of any of the metal strips. The correct location is almost always somewhere between them. Alternately...

4. Your fingernails may be too long.

You ladies, especially, need to watch out for this. If you find your left-hand fingers unavoidably touching strings that they shouldn’t be touching, or if it’s too difficult to hold down chord positions because of your fingernails, then they may need trimming.

There are other ways of checking on the accuracy of your chord playing, but these four considerations make a good beginning.

John Collins is a musician, songwriter, composer, author, and teacher of music and guitar. He's founder of the Tanager Press publishing company. His books and writings on music, as well as his blog and other things, can be found on the Tanager Press website, at http://www.tanagerpress.com.