Below is a blank chord diagram. Think of it as a picture
of your guitar sitting in front of you.
The 6 vertical lines represent the 6 strings on a guitar
(low E on left side, high E on right). The horizontal
lines represent frets except for the top line which is
the nut of the guitar.
Black dots on the diagram tell you what fret and string
to place your fingers. Numbers inside the dots tell you
which finger to use.
White
dots mean to play the string open (an open string is a
string that is played without any notes being fingered
on the fretboard).
Here's how the fingerings are mapped out on your hand:
=second
finger
Try it
To play the chord on this chart, place your 2nd finger
on the 2nd fret of the 5th string and strum all six
strings.
You just played an E minor 7th chord!
If you see an "X" on a chord chart that simply
means that you do not strum that string, otherwise all
strings are played. In the example A chord below you'll
see an "X" over the 6th string. This means that
the string is not used in the chord, so you will not strum
it when playing the chord.
To play this chord, you place your 2nd finger on the
D string (4th) at the second fret, your 3rd finger on
the B string (2nd string) at the second fret, and your
1st finger on the G (3rd) string second fret. The A string
(5th) and High E string (1st) will be played open ("open"
means that the string is not fretted, but strummed in
the chord pattern).
Black dots on the diagram tell you what fret and string
to place your fingers. Numbers inside the dots tell you
which finger to use.
White
dots mean to play the string open (an open string is a
string that is played without any notes being fingered
on the fretboard).
=second
finger
