Instructions

How to Play an E Minor Chord on Acoustic Guitar

Step 1: Holding your guitar- Sit down on a sturdy chair and hold the guitar with the neck on your left side. Face the strings away from your body. Rest the indent of the guitar on top of your right knee.

Step 2: Getting to know your guitar- The guitar has 6 strings, and 20 frets on it. Each fret is separated from the others by a metal bar. When pressing down on a string in a certain fret, it makes the note higher by shortening the length of the string. Notes played together form chords. Here is a diagram which shows how the frets and strings are numbered.

Step 3: Positioning your left hand- Place your left thumb print directly behind the second fret, on the the top of the guitar neck. This helps arch your fingers so you don't press down more than one string at a time. Wrap your fingers below the neck and around, as seen in the photo. There should be a dot of some color directly to the right of your thumb. This is the dot marking the third fret.

Step 4: Placing your middle finger- The first note of the chord is on the 5th string. Place the tip of your middle finger on the 5th string, in the second fret. Make sure your finger is close to the metal bar on the left side, but not touching the bar. Make sure you put enough pressure on the string. It may hurt a little at first, but is necessary to play the chord correctly. Keep your finger placed here for the next step.

Step 5: Placing your ring finger- The second and final note of the E minor chord is on the 4th string. Place the tip of your ring finger on the 4th string, in the second fret, to the right of the middle finger. Both fingers should be able to fit between the two metal bars without touching either of them. Make sure you put enough pressure on the string. It may hurt a little at first, but is necessary to play the chord correctly. Your index, thumb and pinky fingers should not be touching any of the strings.

Step 6: Playing the chord- Keeping all of your fingers in the right positions, position your right hand above the hole of the guitar(as shown below). Hit all the strings rapidly with your right thumb, hitting the 6th string first and ending with the 1st. If all your fingers are positioned correctly, you should get a clean, crisp, sound with no buzzing or muted notes. CONGRATULATIONS! You've played an E Minor chord!