Practicing chords and chord changes
Before starting with the basics of fingerstyle guitar (which is mainly about the picking hand), let's focus on the fretting hand, that means practicing chords and chord changes.
Practicing chords
In the beginning you should make sure to know at least the most basic major, minor and seventh chords. If you don't know them yet, you can learn them one by one or as part of a chord progression. I would recommend that you learn them as part of a chord progression, as this is definitely more fun.
To get a good sounding chord, make sure that all notes sound clear and that you do not accidentally mute one or more strings. For some chords this is relatively easy (e.g. E minor), for others it requires weeks or months of practice (e.g. F major). Also pay attention to a good body posture and fretting technique.
If you are completely new to learning the guitar, you will probably need some time to learn the chords mentioned above. This is normal and you shouldn't give up too soon.
Practicing chord changes
When it comes to changing chords, there is a helpful concept called "anchor finger". The idea behind it is not to lift all fingers off the strings or the fretboard when changing chords. For example, play the A major chord and change to D major. The ring finger frets the B string in both chord shapes. When changing to D major, lift your ring finger, but make sure that it stays in contact with the B string. Now move your ring finger up one fret and rearrange the other fingers according to the D major shape. Such transitions can be found between many chords, and if you practice them thoroughly, chord changes will be much easier, faster and less prone to mistakes!
Exercise 1: Strumming chords
But now let's get into chord progressions: set up a metronome to the smallest possible number of beats per minute and strum one chord per beat. As you become better playing these chord progressions, slowly increase the number of beats per minute, but keep in mind: Slow practice is the key to success.
- Chord progression 1: Em - C - G - D
- Chord progression 2: D - G - A7 - D
- Chord progression 3: Am - Dm - E7 - Am
- Chord progression 4: G - C - D7 - G
- Chord progression 5: E - A - B7 - E
- Chord progression 6: Am - G - F - E
- Chord progression 7: C - F - G7 - C
These chord progressions contain almost all basic major, minor and seventh chords. Strumming them gets boring quite fast, so here are the same chord progressions with a few simple picking patterns on top.
Exercise 2: Picking chords
Make sure to read my recommendations on picking (especially the part about what string to pick with which finger) before you continue.
Tabs
Downloads
See also
Videos