Guitar Chords
Source: Ultimate Kids Guitar Chords
Ultimate Kids Chords:
With little fingers and mussels that are not quite developed as of yet, some of these chords we have you strum can be just too much. So that is what inspired me to develop this series of what I call Kids Chords.
These chords are meant to show the easiest possible way to play chord patterns, while still using the proper fingering and the most tone out of your guitar.
Most of these chords will be played on the first four stings of the guitar, being the following:
1st String E
2nd String B
3rd String G
4th String D
The 5th and 6th strings are bass strings and should be added only where your kids have enough finger strength to add them, while keeping the other notes clear, with no buzzing.
Chord Playing Tips:
We have gone through some of these tips before, but it sure does not hurt to review them. Here are some of the tips you can use to play these chords as easily as possible, without buzzing or muting of strings.
First: Place your fingers of your left hand directly behind the frets. The closer you place them the easier it is to sound the note clearly.
Second: Arch your left hand fingers so that the finger tip to the first finger joist is as close to being vertical as you can. This will minimize this finger from touching other ‘next door’ strings. Also center your fingertip on the string.
Third: Place your left hand thumb centered on the neck behind the fingers you have on the frets. This will give you more strength in your hand so you can more easily press down the strings. The thumb can be placed anywhere between the center of the back of the neck to the upper 1/4 of the neck. Never hang your thumb over the fretboard and never hold the guitar neck in a death grip. Look at the picture at the top of this article – that is how your hand should look for every chord.
Fourth: Because you put a lot of pressure on the left hand fingers, this does not mean you should strum the chords louder because of this. This is a natural reaction and be aware that you should treat the strum with the same intensity with easy chords as with hard ones.
Chord Diagram Review:
Here is a review on how to read these diagrams.
The horizontal lines (lines going from left to right) are the frets.
The vertical lines (lines going from top to bottom) are the strings – notice there are 6 of them.
The black dots represent the finger and it is shown on the fret and string to sound the proper note. The number inside the black dot is the left and finger that is to be used. 1 = index finger; 2 = middle finger; 3 = ring finger; 4 = pinkie finger.
The solid dark line at the top of the diagram is the nut of the guitar. If you don’t know what a nut is take a look at the guitar definitions for all the parts and pieces of a guitar so you know what we are talking about.
Next look at the “x’ or ‘o’ symbol above the nut. ‘o’ means this string is to be played open. ‘x’ means this string is not to be played.
The Capital letters beneath each string line is the name of the note you will be playing if you finger the chords correctly.
The Roman Numerals to the right of the chord diagram indicate the fret number. I = first fret; II = second fret; III = third fret; IV = fourth fret; V = fifth fret and so on….
We will be adding Ultimate Kids Chords here for an extended length of time so check here often. We will divide them conveniently into Major Keys and Relative Minor Keys, for instance C major and A minor; G major and E minor and so forth.
Tags: easy guitar chords, Guitar Chords, how to play guitar chords, ultimate guitar chords, ultimate kids guitar chords
