- Hello, guitar players.
My name is Ayla Tesler-Mabe.
And today, I wanted to show you some beginner chord hacks,
because when you're just learning how to play the guitar,
I think everyone wants to start playing songs right away.
And I think that's the best and most inspiring way to learn.
However, while you're on your journey
to learning your three and four finger chords,
which I think everyone should start to learn
as soon as they can with guitar playing,
sometimes it's nice to have a little stepping stone
to get there.
So instead of playing a full-on
(strumming guitar)
chord like this,
there's a way to simplify it
so that you can play with just one or two fingers,
maybe even three fingers.
But long story short,
I want to show you how you can play all the chords
you really need to start playing songs right away
in a way that is a little bit easier.
So the first chord that you're probably going
to come across in your guitar playing is C major.
But we're going to simplify it
to a chord called C Major 7.
And while this sounds more complicated,
it's actually a little bit easier to play on the guitar.
And so, what you can do is take your third finger here,
put it on the third fret of the A string,
take your middle finger,
and put it on the second fret of the D string.
And because the chord is C Major 7,
C is indicating what the root note of the chord is,
the starting note.
And it just so happens that that's the note
I'm playing on the A string.
So I'm going to avoid the low E string,
and ignore it altogether
and just strum from the A string down.
(strumming guitar)
Now, if you're still building up your finger strength
with these two fingers,
you could consider swapping a little,
putting your middle finger here
and your first finger here,
(strums guitar)
cause that might be a little bit easier to play physically.
But the reason I recommend trying it this way
is because the regular C Major chord
is then just one finger away,
if you ever want to build towards that.
So I know I said to play this chord
from the A string down,
and I think you should aim to do that,
but just in case you're still not quite there yet
with your strumming hand coordination,
it's not the end of the world
if you play all six strings,
(strums guitar)
because this note is actually in this chord still.
So, just putting that out there,
that could be a stepping stone to this stepping stone chord.
All right, so another type of chord
you'll probably encounter a lot is D Major or D Minor.
And I'm going to show you one chord shape
that will actually allow you to play both.
And so, this chord shape right here,
First finger on the second fret of the G string.
Third finger here on the third fret of the B string.
And because this is a Dsus2,
that's the official name of the chord,
but just focusing the letter name D,
that's our root note, our starting note,
we're going to try our best to play
(plucking one string)
just from the D string down.
(strums guitar)
And for anyone out there who's familiar with music theory,
the reason this works for major or minor
is because there is no third in this chord.
So it's kind of ambiguous.
It's like a chord-quality fluid chord,
it works for both.
So another chord you're probably going to encounter
quite frequently is E Minor.
And I'm actually going to teach this chord
in its regular full form,
just because it's already a two-finger chord.
And I think, I think you can handle it.
I think you're up for the challenge.
And all you do is take your middle finger,
put it on the second fret of the A string,
third finger on the second fret of the D string.
And this is an E Minor chord.
(plucks one string)
That's the E string.
So, you can actually strum all six strings for this chord.
(strums guitar)
It should sound like that.
Now another cord you're probably going
to encounter very frequently is E Major.
And it sounds like this:
(strumming guitar)
You might be able to hear,
it sounds a little bit brighter,
a little more happy, maybe,
a little more major-sounding.
And all I did was add my first finger
to the first fret of the G string.
And then again, you strum all six strings,
(strumming guitar)
And there's E Major.
So again, E Minor was without the first finger.
(strumming guitar)
E major is when you add the first finger.
(strumming guitar)
So the next chord we're going to look at is F Major.
And this is an important one,
because this is a chord
that a lot of people are terrified of
because most people teach it as a bar chord,
and bar chords can be terrifying
when you're first starting how to play the instrument,
but it turns out there's a way to play this
without having to play a bar chord.
And we can turn it into an F Major 7 chord,
which you can use in the place of an F Major chord
most of the time, and the way you play it
is put your third finger on the third fret of the D string,
your middle finger on the second fret of the G string,
first finger on the first fret of the B string.
And we're going to strum from the D string down,
because that's where we're playing our F root note.
And sounds like this.
(strumming guitar)
It's a very nice chord.
All right, now it's time to look at G Major.
This is one that is all over the place.
This chord is used in so many songs.
And the first option I'd like to present to you is,
take that C Major 7 chord from earlier.
(strums guitar)
Just hop it down,
a set of strings,
so that your third finger is here
on the low E string,
middle finger is here on the A string.
And you can play even just the bottom three strings.
If you want, you can strum all six strings.
(strums guitar)
You're just going to end up
with some colorful notes in there,
which actually do work for a G Major-type of chord.
But I think you should trust your ear,
if you're learning a song,
and you don't think all of those colors
quite suit what sound you're going for,
then just stick to the lowest strings.
And that should do the trick.
Another option I would like to present to you,
which is probably even easier to play.
All you have to do is take one finger.
I'd probably use my middle finger,
put it on the third fret of the high E string,
just play the G, B, and E strings.
(plucks strings and strums chord)
And that's a super simple way to play a G Major chord.
So the last chord we're looking at today
is one that works for A Major or A Minor.
It's another ambiguous chord that you could use for both.
And it's called Asus2, or in other words,
(strumming guitar)
this chord that I just played,
and take your middle finger,
put it on the second fret of the D string,
third finger on the second fret of the G string,
and you're going to strum
from the A string down for our root.
(strumming guitar)
And you might also notice
that this is essentially your E Minor chord,
hopped down a set of strings.
And again, this chord is great.
You can use it for A Major or A Minor,
and it'll be really easy to turn this
into the full major or minor chord shape,
eventually, just by adding
(strumming guitar)
one finger.
(strums guitar)
But for now, this chord,
I think will sound great.
So now I'd like to provide you
with a very simple and effective way
to ensure that you've learnt any chord properly.
This can be a self test, and let's say,
I start with that C Major 7 chord.
The way I'm going to test
if I have this chord down properly,
is go through each string one at a time.
(plays each string separately)
And the reason this is a great thing to do
is because you can hear,
(plucking string)
you know, if you're not putting enough pressure
on a certain fret, let's say,
(plucking string)
it'll sound like that.
So, and I could say, oh, that's on the D string.
That's where my middle finger is.
I see that I could maybe put a little more pressure there,
(plucking string)
and now it's ringing out the way it should.
Another example is maybe,
(plucking string)
it's a little bit too close to the actual fret bar.
I can actually see that and feel it on my fingertips.
So, slide it down a little bit.
And I think another really common roadblock to run into
as a beginner is having your fingers
muting other strings.
Like this, for example, is an example of,
this is an example of an example of my third finger
covering the D string like this,
because I don't have it upright enough.
And so, just imagine if you were playing a piano,
you wouldn't want to play it like this.
You'd want to approach it sort of from above like this,
from the fingertip.
So, just look at your fingers,
(strums guitar)
and make sure they look kind of upright like this.
And if they look like this,
(plucking strings)
you're probably going to be muting the strings underneath.
And, again, this test will help you figure out
what string is not sounding the way it should.
And then you can troubleshoot using all of the
aforementioned tips,
and you'll be well on your way to playing awesome chords.
So I hope that you can now use these chords
to have fun learning songs that you really like.
I think as a beginner,
the best thing you can do is play music that inspires you.
And you're going to learn a lot from that experience.
It'll help you improve,
but it'll also really keep you practicing.
And most of all, you'll be making music right away.
And I think that's probably the best part
of picking up an instrument anyways.
So let me know down in the comments below
what your favorite chord hacks are.
Something I missed, something I need to know,
and the guitar community needs to know.
We'd love to know.
So, thanks for tuning in.
I hope you have fun practicing and using these chords
to learn music that you love.
Because I think as a beginner,
the best thing you can do is try to make music right away.
Cause I think that's why you probably
picked up the instrument in the first place.
And you'll learn a lot from the experience,
and it'll keep you feeling inspired and having fun.
So thanks again.
Happy practicing, stay safe.
Bye!
(upbeat music)