Left Handed Guitar Chords For Beginners

When I first started to learn left handed guitar chords, it never occurred to me that chord diagrams were designed with right handed players in mind. I always managed to figure them out, but there was always that slight struggle toget them to make sense on my southpaw guitar.

Like me, many of youwill just put upwith deciphering regular chord diagrams – but why make it harder? Lefthanded guitar chords will help make learning that little bit easier.

Left

For those of you who are new to guitar and a little unsure, I’ve put together a selection of 14left handed guitar chordsthat every new guitarist should learn. I’ve also included an audio file for each diagram so that you can hear how each chord should sound when played correctly.

Left Handed Guitar Chord Pocketbook

Once you’ve mastered these 14 basic chords, you’ll definitely want to check out my popular and downloadable left handed guitar chords PDF. This eBook will teach you over 300 spicy new chords in a lefty friendly format – probably the only chord book you’ll ever need!

If you are brand new to left handed guitar chord charts, head to the bottom of this page for a brief explanation of how to read the diagrams.

Print Me! Click here to download a printable version of these lefty guitar chords! Right-click the image to save it to your computer.

Stream ❤️ Read Left Handed Guitar Chord Book: Over 900 Chords, Diagrams, And Photos By Peter Vogl By Ruqanathaliaallen

Below you will find all of the above lefty guitar chords in a handy, downloadable poster. Save it to your device or print it out for reference!

In case you are a complete beginner looking at these diagrams for the first time, let me briefly explain what they represent.

The diagrams should be read as if you have your guitar standing up in front of you with the fretboard facing you.

Left Handed Guitar Chord Master 1: Master Basic Chords (paperback)

The orange stripe near the top of each diagram represents the nut, i.e. the thin strip of plastic or bone just before your guitar’s headstock which holds the strings in place.

A ‘0‘ above the nut (the orange strip)tells you that the string should be played ‘open’, i.e do not fret any notes. An ‘X‘ above the nutindicates that the string should not be played.

Yes! Left handed guitar chord charts are essentially mirrored versions of regular chord diagrams. So for example, if you were to look at a regular guitar chord chart in a mirror you would get a left handed chord. Other than this simple difference they are exactly the same.

Flash Card Flips For Left Handed Guitar Chords

This is easily illustrated in the image below which shows a left handed E Minor chord versus a right handed E Minor chord.

Finger placement. Try to place your fingers as close tothefret-wire as you are able to. The reason for this is because if you place them too far back, the string is likely to buzz.

Finger pressure. Try to use the lightest touch necessary for the stringto ring through without any buzzing. Pressing down too hard will causethe note to become slightly sharp, making the chord sound off key.

Left Handed Guitar Chords Encyclopedia: Fast Reference For The Chords You Need In Every Key

Strum and pick. At first, pick every note individually to ensurethat no strings are being accidentally muted. You might not notice deadnotes when strumming the whole chord.

After a while calluses will form andyou’ll wonder what you were crying about. Give it a few weeks, but don’t push it too hard initially!

Stay in tune. Always tune your guitar before playing. If your guitar is out of pitch you might incorrectly blame wonky sounding chords on finger pressure or other issues.

Left

Hal Leonard Guitar Case Guide To Left Handed Chords

Now that you know a good number of lefty guitar chords, you’ll probably be wanting to put them to good use, right? Here are some guides you’ll probably love!

Neal has been playing guitar (left-handed!) for over 20 years, and has also worked in various roles within the guitar retail industry since 2012. In his spare time he loves to travel, ride bikes, and suck at videogames. More Info

Left Handed Guitar Chords Refrigerator Magnet

Sign up to get mymonthly email newsletter featuring lefty guitarnews and special offers!You can unsubscribe any time. For more details, review thePrivacy Policy.Power chords are brilliant because you only really need to learn one shape that you can then move around the fretboard to make other chords.

Power Chords are really simple chords that are used in most styles of music, but particularly in heavy rock, punk and metal. They are usually played on amplified guitars with overdrive or distortion applied for a powerful sound.

A key feature of power chords is that they are neither major nor minor (because the third interval is missing). As a result, you can play them over both major and minor chord progressions! So If you played an A power chord over an A Major chord, it will still sound like A Major.

Left Handed Bass Chord Picture Book

And likewise, if you played an A power chord over an A Minor chord, it will still sound like A Minor. Very cool!

Power chords are also known as fifth chords, and this is how you should name the chords when noting them down.For example a G power chord would be written as G5.They’re called fifths because they consist of the root note and the fifth note of the major scale.

Learn

The two note uses the root and the fifth, whereas the 3 note uses the root, the fifth, and in addition, the root octave.

Struggles For Left Handed Musicians

However, you can easily change these into 2 note chords by simply removing either the highest or the lowest note, depending on the sound you are after.

I’ve indicated to play the chords using your first, third and fourth fingers but it’s also perfectly acceptable to use different fingerings – experiment and find out what works best for you.

For example, many people will barre the two higher notes using their ring finger. Check out the image at the top of this page to see a power chord being barred!

Guitar Case Guide To Left Handed Chords

The only time the shape changes is the E5 chord as you’ll use the open E string instead of fretting a note.

The name of the chord is determined by the root note, which in the case of all of these shapes is the note that you play with your index finger.

Remember at the beginning of this article that I told you that you can take this one simple chord shape and move it around the fretboard? Well I wasn’t lying!

Left Handed Guitar Everything You Need To Know

The power chord shape remains exactly the same on the A-string, so just shift the pattern up a string and you’ve doubled your repertoire!

For example, take your G5 chord that you learned earlier, shift the whole pattern up one string and you have a C5 chord.

Once you’ve mastered these power chords, you’ll definitely want to check out my popular and downloadable left handed guitar chords PDF. This eBook will teach you over 300 spicy new chords in a lefty friendly format – probably the only chord book you’ll ever need!

Left Handed Guitar Fretboard And Chord Poster

Although guitar store employees may be fed up of hearing these songs, every single one is an absolute classic, and most can be learned using powerchords!

There are 3 reasons! Firstly, check that your guitar is perfectly in tune. Secondly, make sure that you are not pressing the strings down too hard, as this will result in the chords sounding out of tune. If neither of these are the issue then you can also check your guitar’s intonation.

Left Handed Guitar Chord Chart

Sign up to get mymonthly email newsletter featuring lefty guitarnews and special offers!You can unsubscribe any time. For more details, review thePrivacy Policy.

Posted by zodaries14