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50 Part I: You Got a Right to Play the Blues Playing a Chord
A chord is defined as the simultaneous sounding of three or more notes of different-named
pitches. On the guitar, you can play chords in three basic ways:
Strum: To strum, drag a pick across the strings in a single, quick motion
Pluck: To pluck, use the individual right-hand fingers
Smack: Smack the strings with your open right hand or closed right fist
When you play the strings with your right hand, position your hand over the
soundhole (if you’re playing acoustic) or over the pickups (if you’re playing
electric). You can’t, however, just play any group of notes, like all six open
strings — the notes must form a musically meaningful arrangement. To a guitarist,
that means learning chord forms.
To play the E chord, follow these steps:
1. Place your first finger (index) on the third string, first fret.
2. Place your second finger on the fifth string, second fret.
Here, you have to skip over the fourth string. Be careful not to touch the
fourth string as you reach over it.
3. Put your third finger on the fourth string, second fret.
You may have to wriggle your third finger to get it between the first and
second fingers, which are already in place. Don’t grip the guitar too
tightly; you want to relax your fingers so you can add fingers as needed.
4. Press down firmly on all three fretted strings.
Make sure to keep your knuckles curved, with none of the fretted fingers
covering the open strings — especially the first and second strings,
which must ring out to help the E chord sound in all its resplendent,
six-string glory. Your hand should look like the one in Figure 3-5. Now,
quick, keep reading before your fingers fall off!
Okay, your fingers won’t really fall off, but if your left hand is set, you may as
well give your right hand something to do. Using a pick, strum all six strings
at once with a smooth and firm motion, but don’t strum too forcefully.
Listen to Track 2 and try to match the level of intensity (which isn’t very
intense at all, so relax) and evenness. Note, too, that the four strokes aren’t
only smooth and even, they’re also consistent — one stroke sounds like
every other. When you can strum the E chord with four even strokes, try doubling
the number to eight, then to 12.
TEAM LinG