Chord diagrams and first chords: Em, E, Am, A, D

E minor needs two fingers and all six strings. Add one finger and it becomes E major.

How to read a chord box

A chord diagram is a picture of the neck standing upright, as if the guitar were hanging on a wall facing you. The six vertical lines are the strings, low E on the left and high E on the right. The thick line at the top is the nut, and the horizontal lines below it are frets. A filled dot means press that string in that fret space. An open circle above the nut means play the string open, and a cross means do not play it at all. Many books also print finger numbers: 1 is the index finger, 2 the middle, 3 the ring finger and 4 the little finger. The thumb stays behind the neck.

Press with the tip of the finger, just behind the fret wire rather than in the middle of the space. Close to the fret you need less force and the note does not buzz. Keep the finger arched so it does not touch the string next to it. If one string sounds dead, play the chord one string at a time to find which finger is in the way. Sore fingertips in the first two weeks are normal. Short daily practice builds the small calluses that make it easier.

E minor and E major

Em is the usual 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, then strum all six strings. The chord contains only three different notes, E, G and B, repeated across the strings. To turn it into E major, add your index finger on the G string at the 1st fret. That one fret changes G to G sharp, and the chord changes from a darker sound to a brighter one. A major chord and a minor chord differ by exactly this one note, the third.

A minor and A major

Now move the whole E major shape one string toward the floor. Your fingers land on the D and G strings at the 2nd fret and the B string at the 1st fret, and you get Am. Skip the low E string and strum from the open A string. For A major, put three fingers side by side at the 2nd fret on the D, G and B strings, again starting the strum from the A string. The fingers are crowded in one fret space, so many players use fingers 1, 2 and 3 in a slanted line, or flatten one finger across all three strings.

D major

D makes a small triangle on the top three strings: index finger on the G string at the 2nd fret, ring finger on the B string at the 3rd fret, middle finger on the high E string at the 2nd fret. Strum only the top four strings, starting with the open D. Hitting the low E by accident muddies the chord, so aim the first stroke at the D string. The notes are D, F sharp and A.

Try it

Tap each chord box to hear it, then press Play to hear Em and E, then Am and A, alternate. Listen for the single note that moves between minor and major.