Another basic chord most beginners start their learning journey with: the G major Chord.
Not basic, you say? Well, whether it’s basic or not, opinions will vary among different players. What may be easy for you may be hard for someone else. But this is besides the point. Now, we want to learn how to play the chord, not evaluate its difficulty level.
We will present two ways to play the chord: the original way, and the simplified way. First, let’s familiarize ourselves with how the G-major looks like.
As you can see above, the G-major requires 3 fingers. (If you still don’t know how to read chord boxes, you may want to check out this lesson). And it starts from the second fret.
How to play the G-major chord
- To start with, press the second fret of the 5th string using your index finger.
Reminder: On the tips of your fingers.
- Secondly, hold down the 3rd fret of the 6th string with your middle finger.
- And lastly, press down the 3rd fret of the first string using your ring finger.
Note: It is not obligatory that you use the index, middle, and ring fingers for the chord. The fingers you use are a matter of personal preference. and varies from one person to another. As long as the chord sounds as it should, you are fine. Just be comfortable.
And here, folks, is your G-major chord. All is left is to strum down all 6 strings. Congrats! You have now learned the G-major chord!
Umm.. I’m a beginner?
Ultra-beginners, don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about you. Fortunately, there is a simplified version of the G-major called the G6 chord. Basically, all you need to do is follow the instructions of the G-major, but with omitting the last step.
No, not the strumming part. We are talking about the 3rd fret of the first string part. Skip this step and you are good to go. To get a better idea, take a look at the chord’s shape down below:
See? The G6 is, in simple words, the G-major without using the last finger. When you start feeling comfortable playing this chord, add in that last finger to the shape to complete the G-major shape. Don’t worry if it is not going well with you. A small tip is not to add the 3rd finger suddenly. Just start small and you will gradually improve the dexterity of your fingers. Just don’t get discouraged.
When you have mastered the G-major, how about adding another chord? Check out our other chord lessons:
Don’t forget to keep us up to date with your progress!