Video Question: Playing Chords Beginner

September 19th, 2007 - Subwolley writes "Hello Jamplay, I am a beginner guitar player. I have a quick question about learning/playing chords. My question is: When playing a chord, does every finger needed to play a chord need to be placed exactly behind the fret? It seems to me, that for most of the chords I'm learning, it's impossible to get the needed fingers close to the fret. I know when you play a single note on a string, you need to place a finger exactly behind the fret to get a clear sound, but is this true with chords? Sometimes it's hard to tell from watching the videos where exactly the fingers are. Can you explain a little bit more about finger positioning when learning chords? Thank you, Amber." Return to Video Q&A Listing


Length: 1.56 | Instructor: Steve Eulberg Another benefit of being a member of JamPlay is the video response section. Our expert staff fields questions from our members and provides video responses each week.

Other Video Responses:

acoustic electric vs. acoustic - May 5th, 2008 (2 minutes, 19 seconds)

Avalvira asks, "First of all, I'm a beginner. I own a Breedlove Atlas AC25 acoustic steel string guitar. I'm in the market for a nylon string guitar. I was wondering if there was any benefit in getting an electric one. Realistically, I don't plan on plugging it in anytime in the future, but I think the built-in tuner is very convenient. Does it add $$ on the price of the guitar? In other words, would the same guitar be cheaper if it didn't have the built in tuner/equalizer? I hope that question/s made sense. I'd appreciate any insight or advice you may have. By the way, I'm loving the lessons on your sight. Thanks!! Aileen" View Response

Bends - October 31st, 2007 (2 minutes, 28 seconds)

Jzcode asks "Brad, Could you give me a better idea of the best finger position to have when doing a bend. When I have practiced doing these, my fingers tips are at a bit of an angle as I push the string up and sometimes the strings seems to ride up under finger nails. That usually results in a un pleasant sound. Should your fingers be straight down on the string? Thanks, JZcode" View Response

Playing Blues - February 19th, 2008 (1 minutes, 24 seconds)

csmbird Asked, "Hi Guys, Fantastic web this JamPlay, really very good for my learning. One question though: is there any chance of getting tuition for Clapton (EC) style blues, for example his rendition of "Driftin'"; I'd love to learn "walking" blues style playing! Just looking at tabs I still can't get that style and so was wondering whether this stuff is on your agenda? Regards Chris." View Response

PRS guitars - November 19th, 2007 (5 minutes, 90 seconds)

Mathias76 asks "I have noticed that Brad and Matt play PRS. It's a very open question, but why did you choose them? I am in the market to buy a top quality guitar, and I keep flip-flopping between a PRS Custom 22/24 and a Les Paul Standard. I know the textbook answer is to "play both of them and see which one you like more," but I was wondering why YOU chose them. Thanks- Nathan" View Response

Shifting Chords - May 13th, 2008 (4 minutes, 33 seconds)

Dsrinath_123 asked "Hi Steve, this is srinath here, enjoying your basic lessons. I have started learning guitar a few months back before joining jamplay, i learned a few chords and while i was doing a chord shifting i used to hit all open strings in the last beat, this is how I learned (I dont want to mention from where i learned). To explain a bit more, let me put this way, I am strumming a 4/4 eight note strum( D U D U D U D U) and two chords Dmajor and Gmajor and when I am going to shift from Dmajor to Gmajor or vice versa, I would hit all open strings at the last note(U) , but in your lesson it seems that we have to shift after the last note, i want to know whether what i am doing now is correct or not, if not please provide me some exercise to correct it. I would be very glad if my question is answered by Steve Eulberg." View Response