Learning Guitar Chords: How To Read Chord Diagrams

Whether you're a "greenborn" beginner guitar player or a more advanced guitarist, or somewhere in between, there is one vital skill you'll need to succeed: the ability to read chord diagrams. The most efficient way of becoming a competent guitar player is of course, learning guitar chords and then being able to use them to learning the rhythm parts of songs. This is where reading a guitar chord diagram comes in.

So you may ask: What is a guitar chord diagram? Chord diagrams come in various styles and formats and aid you in learning simple guitar chords. All contain these common features:

- They use six lines to correlate with the six strings of a guitar. Either the strings run up and down the page (vertical), or from left to right (horizontal). This depends on the format of the diagram.
- On vertical diagrams the leftmost string is the low E (thickest string) and the rightmost string is the high E (rightmost string).
- A series of lines runs across the string lines at a 90 degree angle. These represent frets.
- The string lines and the fret line overlap to form a grid which represents the guitar fretboard.
Circles or dots act as marks indicating which strings to press on which fret to play a specific chord.

The nice thing about chord diagrams is that they're easy to read. You need not even have to know how to read standard musical notation or guitar tabulature to be able to comprehend a chord diagram. The chord diagram simply enables you to Learn to play guitar chords.

Chord diagrams offer additional information as follows:

At the top of the box is a thicker line representing the guitar nut, or end of the neck
An "x" symbol above the nut line means "Do Not Play This String".
An "o" symbol above the nut line means that the string is played open (not fingered.)
Numbers (1 to 4) on the dots (or under the box) indicate which finger to use on that string, with 1= the index finger, and 4= the little finger.
A line or bar running across two or more strings indicates a "Barre Chord", in which one finger presses more than one string.

Here are three tips that will help you master guitar chords by reading Guitar Chord Diagrams:

1. Chord diagrams are known to be the most effective tool in learning guitar chords. Use them to your advantage.
2. Separate chord diagrams can be combined to form charts. This is a great method to learn basic chords, chord families and sequences as well as songs.
3. For great guitar chords to learn make great use of these free resources. One great resource is so-called The Guitar Player's Toolbox.

Liam Gibson of LearnGuitar-User-Reviews.com, specializes in helping aspiring guitarists get the info that they need to make the right choices. Liam, a stage guitarist himself, leads his team of guitar experts to constantly review new courses and products in the market and make sure you get the best value products that work for you. Check out actual user reviews and feedback of the most popular guitar courses at LearnGuitar-User-Reviews.