Chord Diagrams
Chords are learned with the help of a chord diagram. This will show you exactly where to place your left hand fingers in order to play a particular chord. A chord diagram is a grid of horizontal and vertical lines representing the strings and frets of the guitar.
Left Hand Fingering
- Index Finger
- Middle Finger
- Ring Finger
- Little Finger
The black dots show you where to place your left hand fingers. The white number tells you which finger to place down the string just behind the fret. If there is no dot on a string, you play it as an open (not fretted) string.
G Major Chord
C
To play the G chord place your:
- First finger just behind the second fret of the 5th string.
- Second finger just behind the third fret of the 6th string.
- Third finger just behind the third fret of the 1st string.
To play the G chord, play all six strings with the pick at the same time using a downward motion. This is called a strum. Hold the pick lightly and strum from the wrist. Keep your wrist relaxed.
Strumming
This is the symbol for a downward strum.
This is a quarter note strum.
It lasts for one beat.
There are four quarter note strums in one bar of * time.
This is a whole note strum.
It lasts for four beats.
There is one whole note strum in one bar of * time.
In the following example there are four bars of the G major chord played in * time. The chord symbol is written above the staff and a new chord symbol is placed at the beginning of each bar. Play the chord with four quarter note strums in each bar. To make the example sound finished always end with one strum of the first chord (a whole note strum 
).
To help keep time play the first quarter note strum in each bar louder. The two dots at the end of the staff before the double bar lines are called a repeat sign and mean that you play the example again from the start.
