Making Clean Chords

Making clean chords can be challenging for newer and more experienced guitar players alike. But without clean chords, it's tough to play a good sounding song. That's why I wanted to be sure to add a video on buzz-free chords to this series on the "5 Biggest Beginner Guitar Challenges".

Most of the tips covered here go back to the basics of technique and good old basics. Things like how you hold the guitar, the angle of attack on the strings, finger posture, finger placement, and guitar setup can all make or break the sound of your chords.

If you are struggling to make your chords sound clean, you can make a sort of technique checklist from this video. If you implement these ideas faithfully, you chords will sound better and better over time. Here is the clean chord technique checklist for you.

This list comes from the complimentary Guitar Foundations course found here on the site. If you are looking for systematic approach for guitar basics, you should go through the entire course.

Clean Chord Checklist

1 - Get your guitar set up by a professional so it plays as easy as possible. A guitar that’s tough to play can be dangerous. It can open the door for injury or strain and it can frustrate you to the point of quitting the guitar altogether. A good setup can cost anywhere from $40-$70 but it’s worth it.

2 - Start with a basic relaxed posture of holding an apple or a baseball out in front of you with your palm facing the sky. This will set you up for success when fretting the notes of these chords.

3 - Bring the guitar neck up higher with a strap or footstool. This will put the guitar neck in a better position for a good angle of attack on the strings. It will also keep you from kinking your wrist too far one way or the other.

4 - Don’t kink your wrist too far one way or the other. Kinking it upward can make it tough to get a good angle of attack on the strings and kinking it downward can hurt after a while.

5 - Put your fingers right behind the frets. If you put your finger right in the middle of the frets or toward the back you will increase the chances of a buzzing sound.

6 - Curve your fingers and use the tips to fret the notes. This will keep your fingers from brushing up against the neighboring strings and muting them.

7- Keep your elbow close to your body for a better angle of attack on the strings. If you hold your elbow up it will be tougher to get a good angle of attack on the strings.

8 - Experiment with how much pressure is enough. You want a clean sound but you don’t want to unnecessarily overexert yourself.

9 - Put one finger at a time down at first but work toward putting the entire shape on all at once.

10 - Repetition is key. Put the chord on and take it off over and over again and practice as often as possible. Multiple shorter practice sessions every day can be very effective.