ChangeYourStrings
FoundationsLesson 04

Guitar Lesson 04: your first chord (Em)

Taught by Fret, your Change Your Strings Guitar teacher ·

E minor is the friendliest first chord. Put your middle finger on the A string at the 2nd fret and your ring finger on the D string at the 2nd fret. Leave the other four strings open. Strum all six. Two fingers, one fret, a full and slightly moody chord.

Watch JustinGuitar's walkthrough in the video above, then read the breakdown.

Time to make a real chord. E minor is the one nearly every guitarist plays first, because it needs only two fingers and every string is allowed to ring. It sounds full and a little moody, and it is almost impossible to get wrong.

First, get in tune. A chord only sounds like a chord when the strings are at the right pitches, so clip a cheap tuner to your headstock and match each string to Lesson 01's names: E, A, D, G, B, E. Out of tune, even perfect fingering sounds wrong.

Now build the shape. Numbers are fingers: 2 is your middle finger, 3 is your ring finger.

Em23E minor: finger 2 on the A string at the 2nd fret, finger 3 on the D string at the 2nd fret, everything else open.
  1. Place your middle finger on the A string (5th, second-thickest) just behind the 2nd fret.
  2. Place your ring finger on the D string (4th) just behind the 2nd fret, right next to your middle finger.
  3. Leave the other four strings, the low E, G, B, and high e, completely open.
  4. Press with the tips of your fingers, arched, so they do not touch the neighboring strings.

Now check it string by string, low to high, before you strum. Every string should sound clean.

e |---------------0--
B |------------0-----
G |---------0--------
D |------2-----------
A |---2--------------
E |0-----------------
Pluck each string once. The A and D ring at the 2nd fret, the other four ring open. Any buzz or thud means press a little harder or arch that finger more.

Here is where Batio's one rule bites. Do not rush to strum it fast and move on. Place the shape slowly, make all six strings ring, then lift off and build it again. That is the same patience he forced on Tom Morello: clean first, speed later.

Practice this

For four minutes, form Em, strum once, then completely release your hand and rebuild the shape from nothing. Do it over and over. The goal is not to hold the chord, it is to place it cleanly from scratch, because that is what real playing demands. Aim for ten clean rebuilds where all six strings ring.

Where you are

You learned to read the grid in Lesson 03: reading a chord diagram, and now you can play the shape it describes. Keep that standard tuning (E A D G B E) reference handy so Em always rings true. Next, Lesson 05: your second chord (A) and switching, where a second chord turns one shape into actual music.