10 Tips to Help You Learn Guitar Chords

1. Keep persisting.

It is cliché, yet it is true—practice makes perfect, especially when you want to learn guitar chords. You won’t get anywhere by giving up after a week or a month. The guitar is one of those instruments which requires utmost effort from its players; but that effort is surely rewarded in the end. Rest assured that it is perfectly normal not to get things right on the first try. One of the worst times to give up would be after learning the correct finger position and strumming a few times. Resist the temptation to throw in the towel and instead, keep practicing. It’s only a matter of time before you finally see results.

2. Constantly visualize.

It is a well-known fact that the mind plays a decisive role in the failure or success of our actions. Don’t underestimate the power of visualization. Before you even form a chord, visualize in your mind where each finger should be positioned even before you play it. One of the most effective ways to switch chords efficiently is to look at where your fingers are at the moment and thinking about where they need to be. Basic chords usually involve the most common notes so there will certainly be times when you won’t need to move your fingers that often.

3. Take it slow.

Don’t try to take on too much all at once. If you find yourself struggling with learning guitar chords, the problem may lie with the chord progressions you are choosing to work with. Start with simpler ones, and then move on from there. Take your time with changing chords and understand that putting too much pressure on yourself at the outset may backfire, discourage you, and ultimately, cause you to quit. Repetition is a useful tool for preparing yourself for more sophisticated chord changes.

4. Develop finger strength.

If you truly wish to become not just more adept at learning guitar chords, but guitar playing in general, you need to realize the importance of developing finger strength. The value of this exercise will reveal itself in time. Some of the best ways to do this would be to engage in finger exercises such as finger weights, doing finger press-ups, and even pressing down hard on guitar strings. Get creative and do what you think will help in making your fingers stronger and chord playing easier.

5. Avoid looking at your hands.

In the beginning, looking down at your hands as you learn guitar chords might seem second nature to you. However, this is an issue that needs to be corrected as finger positioning should be something that you become accustomed to without the need to look at your hands.

6. Practice several chords simultaneously.

While some of the foremost experts and sources on guitar playing might tell you that practicing one chord at a time is actually the best route to take, when you learn guitar chords on the contrary, this is actually not the best way to learn. In order to learn more quickly and more effectively, practice playing several chords all at once. In that way, you are more likely to retain the information in your head as opposed to just having one chord reverberating in your memory. This will also be useful when it comes to recalling finger positions and chord progressions.

7. Use your pinkie finger.

The pinkie finger is oftentimes the most neglected finger in learning guitar chords. While the tendency of most beginning guitar players might be to push the pinkie finger aside while not in use, this shouldn’t be the case. It is essential that all fingers stay close to the fret board even when not in use. You will find that picking up this habit will prove useful as you learn higher-level chords in the future.

8. Get familiar with the root note.

When learning guitar chords, I cannot emphasize enough how critical it is to know what the root note of a chord is. In simple terms, a root note is the bass note of a chord. Basically, the root note tells you which string you should begin strumming from. For instance, a G major is formed by the three notes G, B and D. Therefore, the root note of the G major is the note G.

9. Pick the chord that needs to be picked.

As a beginning guitar player when you learn guitar chords, if you are hearing dull or flat notes within the chords you are playing, the problem is probably caused by a fingering issue. Don’t waste endless hours playing a certain chord until it comes out right but instead, begin to pick the chord. This way you are able to identify the problem more accurately. From there, remedy the problem by applying more pressure on the particular string that needs it or adjusting your finger position to produce better-sounding notes.

10. Make use of all 5 senses.

This tip may seem irrelevant, but some of the world’s greatest guitar players swear by it. To learn guitar chords effectively, it is useful to look at it from every possible angle. Use your eyes to look at a chord chart, watch someone play the chords, use your ears to hear the chord being played, and visualize yourself playing the chords yourself. Obviously, a keen sense of touch is vital to the art of guitar playing. Utilizing all 5 senses is sure to be helpful to learn guitar chords.