![]() This involves wrapping your thumb around the neck so that it reaches over to touch the low E string and mute it. However, it’s still not touching any other strings, so that’s fine. Notice how, in this photo, the third finger is at a little bit of a flatter angle than the other two fingers. ![]() You might need to flatten the third finger out a bit or otherwise adjust how you play that note. Getting this to work correctly will also require modifying the suggestion I made above about the angle of the fingertip where it hits the fretboard. So you need to make sure your finger is touching it solidly enough that it completely deadens the string. If you just touch the E string lightly, you might cause it to buzz instead of muting it. Now, you have to be careful when you do this. The idea is that you place your 3rd finger so that, while it’s playing the 3rd fret on the A string, it’s also touching the low E string and muting it. This is more subtle and can be done in combination with the above. Mute the low E string with the edge of your 3rd (ring) finger Still, it’s something you should always be working on, with this chord and any other chord you play: try to only pick or strum the strings that you intend to play. But this is easier said than done when you’re a beginner because it takes a while to develop right-hand control and accuracy. This is the most obvious and basic solution if you don’t hit the string with your right hand, it’s not going to make a sound. So the challenge is: how exactly do you keep that low E string quiet? Well, there are several different ways, and I think these are the three most important: Don’t touch the low E string with your right hand You’ll probably notice that the chord has a certain “color” to it that is different from when you manage to keep the low E string quiet. You can easily check this yourself by playing the C chord and making sure you also play the low E string with it. However, when playing a chord, you usually want the root note of the chord (in this case, the note C) to be the bass note, or lowest note in the chord. In fact, E is one of the three notes in a C major chord: C – E – G. Now, to be clear, the E is not technically a “wrong” note. ![]() C Chord Challenge 2: Avoiding the Low E StringĪs I mentioned above, the low E string can present a problem when playing a C chord on guitar: unless you’re careful, it’s easy to play the open E along with the chord. The last joint of each finger should be pretty close to vertical when it touches the string. And second, make sure your fingers are hitting the fretboard at a steep, not shallow, angle. First, play with the tips, not the pads, of your fingers. So, as with most chords, there are two keys to playing all the notes cleanly. This presents a challenge, discussed below. In this version of the open C chord, the right hand plays five of the six strings the low E string is not played. As you can see, you need to play three notes on the fretboard: the 1st finger on the 1st fret of the B string the 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the D string and the 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the A string. The fingering for the C major chord on guitar is shown below. That lesson includes important information about thumb and finger position that applies to all chords. In fact, before moving on with the C chord below, I suggest you check out the lesson on how to play E minor. As a result, I think E minor is a better chord to start out with. The hand position takes a little getting used to and can be a bit frustrating at first. Although C major is usually the first chord learned on piano, the C chord on guitar is not the easiest to play for a beginner. However, even though it’s an important chord, it’s not ideal to learn as your first chord. This makes it a good choice for explaining basic musical concepts like scales, intervals, and triads. As you might know, C major is the only major scale that has no sharps and no flats. But it’s also important as a foundation for learning about other guitar topics and music theory. For one thing, it’s used in many songs, especially acoustic songs. The open C chord is one of the most important guitar chords to learn for a beginning player.
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