Learn 4 Chords: beginner guitar lessons, start playing songs

I'm so excited that youve decided to learn to play the guitar, and I'm happy to have you here in this course.

My name is Rusty Perez.

I'm a singer / songwriter.

I've been playing the guitar since I was a kid, and I have to say that music has been one of the most sustaining things in my life. I'm excited to share that with you in this course.

You might notice that my eyes wander. That's because I happen to be blind. Please don't let it distract you.

low strings which play low notes are fat strings on the top edge of the guitar.

thin strings play high notes.

Strings are numbered 1-6 from the highest note to the lowest note.

from lowest to highest, (fattest to thinist) the strings are

low E, A, D, G, B, high e.

How to use your tuning pegs:

On the top of the guitar head stalk, the tuner on the right controls your low E string. the middle tuner controls the A string, and the tuning peg on the left controls the D string.

On the bottom side, the one on the bottom left is for the G string.

the bottom middle tuner is for the B string.

the bottom right is the high E string.

It can feel confusing, but on the top side, turning to the left makes the note go higher, right makes the note go lower.

On the bottom, it's the opposite.

You'll get the hang of it. Just match the tone of your string to my strings, or to your tuner app.

To understand the graphical chord representations, remember that your fingers are numbered as follows

1 = pointer or index finger

2 = middle finger

3 = ring finger

4 = little or pinky finger

I think of chords as chord shapes because it's possible to make these same shapes in different places on the guitar to makedifferent chords.

Memorize what your chord shapes feel like. Place your fingers on a chord, and just stop for a moment being aware of what it feels like and where each finger is in relationship to the others.

When you place your fingers on the strings, place them just behind the frets, and make sure you are placing the tips of your fingers just behind the frets, curving your finger so that the rest of it does not touch any other strings.

In this unit we will learn the following chords.

G major

E minor

C major

D major

these are all used to play in the key of G.

These chords are sometimes called open chords, or cowboy chords.

They are not just beginner chords, they are part of the foundation of everything that can be played on the guitar.

they are also some of the easiest and most commonly learned chords by first time guitarists.

If you haven't found a tuner or tuner app for your phone yet, tune your guitar by listening to the notes I play in this video and matching the notes with your own guitar tuning pegs.

How to use your tuning pegs:

On the top of the guitar head stalk, the tuner on the right controls your low E string. the middle tuner controls the A string, and the tuning peg on the left controls the D string.

On the bottom side, the one on the bottom left is for the G string.

the bottom middle tuner is for the B string.

the bottom right is the high E string.

It can feel confusing, but on the top side, turning to the left makes the note go higher, right makes the note go lower.

On the bottom, it's the opposite.

You'll get the hang of it. Just match the tone of your string to my strings, or to your tuner app.

the G Chord

Check out the pdfs and pictures to help understand the fingering.

Remember low strings are fat strings, high strings are skinny strings.

g chord fingerings

finger 1 (pointer) fret 2, A string

finger 2 (middle) fret 3 low E string

finger 3 (ring finger) or finger 4 (little finger) on fret 3 of high E string

Alternate fingering

finger 2 (middle finger) fret 2 A string

finger 3 (ring finger) fret 3 of low e string

finger 4 (little finger) fret 3 of high E string

You will understand why this might be useful when we get to the C chord.

Strumming:

My favorite way to strum is with the backs of my pointer and middle fingers on my right hand. You might like to use a pick.

While some people might use their thumb, I feel as though it gets stuck on or between the strings so I only use my thum for rhythmic picking.

E Minor chord

Check out the pdfs and photos to help you understand the fingerings.

The most common fingering is

finger 2 (middle finger) fret 2 of the A string

Finger 3 (ring finger) fret 2 of the D string

One other possibility is to switch the two fingers around.

finger 3 (ring finger) on fret 2 of the A string

Finger 2 (pointer finger) on fret 2 of the D string.

the second fingering might make it faster to transition to a C chord as you will soon see.

DO NOT use your pointer finger or index finger for this chord because keeping your pointer finger free will help you move to other chords in the future.

Practice by transitioning from

E-minor to G

em G Em G Em G Em G

The C Chord

Take a look at the pdfs and photos for help understanding the fingering.

there is only one fingering for this chord

finger 1 (pointer) fret 1 B string

Finger 2 (middle) fret 2 D string

Finger 3 (ring) fret 3 A string

Try not to hit the low E string when strumming the C chord.

Transition from the C to the G chord is easy.

Move finger 2 up to the second fret of A string and finger 3 to the Third fret of Low E string.

think of just moving those two fingers up one string without changing frets.

then just place your pinky (finger 4) on fret 3 of the high E string. Your hand sortof swivvles around.

Practice:

C g C G C G C G

C Em C Em C Em C Em

the D Chord

As always, take a look at the pdfs and photos to better understand the fingering.

Fingerings:

finger 1 (pointer) fret 2 high E string

Finger 3 (ring) fret 3 B string

Finger 2 (middle) fret 2 G string

Alternate fingering

Finger 1 (pointer) fret 2 high e, B, G (small bar)

finger 2 (middle) fret 3  B string.

Wehn strumming, try not to hit the low E and A strings

this chord is challenging  because the fingers are bunched up, and also because when changing chords, none of the fingers stay in the same place.

This is where your finger memory comes in to play. Once you've gotten the chord shapes in to your memory, your fingers will begin to naturally go where they need to be.

Practice switching from the D chord to all other chords

D G D G D G

D Em D Em D Em

d C D C D C

Congratulations! You've learned the main four chords in the key of G.

These chords can be arranged in any order to create a chord pattern we call a chord progression.

The introductory music to these videos is an example of the many ways these chords can be arranged to create songs.