Guitar Lessons From Your Own Home
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For an overview of basic open chords,
For an overview of barre chords,
How to Read Chord Charts
Vertical lines
The vertical lines from left to right represent the six strings of the guitar. The one to the far left represents the lowest pitched and thickest string that’s known as the 6th string. This is the string that's closest to the top of your body when holding your guitar on your lap. Each vertical line to the right of this one represents the next highest strings, ending with the far right line being the thinnest and highest pitched string also known as the 1st string.
Horizontal Lines
The horizontal lines represent the end of each fret and the space between the lines represent the space in the frets that you will be placing the fingers of your fretting hand. In the case of these example diagrams, they include three frets only, but other diagrams may use more depending on the size of the chord.
Dot Placements and Fingering Numbers
The filled in dots placed on the diagram tell you where you will have to pinch your fretting hand down. You need to first determine which string the dot is on, then determine which fret.
In this version of the C chord, you can see the dot is placed on the 2nd string (second highest pitched/second thinnest). This dot is placed on the 1st fret of that string. This tells you that you need to pinch down on the 1st fret of the 2nd string.
The number in the middle of the dot is telling you which fretting hand finger to use for that dot placement. The number 1 indicates using your pointer, 2 indicates using your middle, 3 indicates using your ring, and 4 indicates using your pinky. These fingering placements are often overlooked when learning chords and scales but it’s very important to follow. Following these finger placements will allow you to switch chords more efficiently and place fingers down on multiple string chords comfortably. Because this diagram has a 1 in the middle of the dot, this means you will place your 1st (pointer) finger on the indicated string and fret. This version of C requires you to place your 1st (pointer) finger on the 1st fret of the 2nd string.
X and O symbols
You will notice at the top of the vertical lines, some strings will have X or O markings on them. X indicates the strings you won’t be playing for that specific chord and O indicates strings that you need to play with your strumming hand even though there are no finger markings on the fretboard. These are also known as open strings.
Again, using a simplified version of the C chord, the 4th, 5th and 6th strings have X markings on the top of the vertical lines. This means you will not be playing these strings. The 1st and 3rd strings have O’s at the top of the vertical lines. This means that these strings will be played with your strumming hand. There is no marking on top of the 2nd string because we already know we’ll need to play this string with the dot marking on the fretboard.
This diagram of the C chord tells you to not play the 4th, 5th and 6th strings but to play the 1st, 2nd and 3rd strings, starting your strumming hand on the 3rd string and strumming downward towards the 1st string.