The E Major Chord
This is the E major chord. Each number tells you which finger to place down: 1 is index, 2 is middle and 3 is ring finger.
Chord Boxes
Chord boxes aka Chord Diagrams show us where to put our fingers for each chord. Here is the chord box for the E Major Chord (aka E maj for short).
The black dots show you where to put your fingers, the numbers show you which finger to use (1 is index, 2 is middle, 3 is ring finger). In this chord, we strum all six strings on the guitar.
Many beginners feel that chord boxes and TAB can look 'upside down'. Many left handed beginner guitar players feel that chord boxes can appear 'back to front'.
In the video below video, I explain why this can be the case and hopefully help you to understand how to read chord boxes better.
See a complete video of how to read chord boxes and TAB for total beginners here
Finger placement/ buzzing etc
You must place your fingers at the near side of the frets. This is the most common cause of ‘fret buzz’, an unwanted sound where the strings don’t ring out and buzz.
Hopefully this has enabled you to play the E chord and it's sounding great!
Next Lesson...
Check out how to play the next chord and change between chords correctly in the next lesson in this course!