Chord Picking - What It Is And How To Do It

by Simon Candy

In this video, you learn the art of chord picking on guitar.

Chord picking is when you pluck the notes out of a chord separately rather than strum them all at the same time.

Think of the introduction to songs like Hotel California or Sweet Home Alabama for examples of chord picking.

In this tutorial, I take you through several steps to get the skill of chord picking into your guitar playing including:

• Chord Picking Strategy:

Here, you learn the strategies needed to pluck the notes out of the chords you play.

As always, there are right and wrong ways to do this and effective training strategies to ensure you succeed with chord picking.

• Chord Picking Patterns:

You will also learn some common patterns associated with chord picking that can be heard in many songs.

• Chord Picking Application:

Finally, you learn how to take your chord picking patterns and apply them to progressions so you can use this skill in your playing whenever you want.

Watch the video below to learn more:

Chord Picking Patterns

• Chord Picking Pattern 1:

Here is a common picking pattern applied to a G chord:

• Chord Picking Pattern 2:

Here is another common picking pattern, again applied to a G chord:

• Chord Picking Pattern 3:

Finally, here is a third picking pattern applied to a G chord once more:

Chord Picking Progressions

• Chord Picking Progression 1:

The following progression uses chord picking pattern 1 throughout.

Notice how it has been adjusted to fit the Cadd9 and D chords of the progression:

• Chord Picking Progression 2:

The following progression uses chord picking pattern 2 throughout.

Notice how it has been adjusted to fit the Cadd9 and D chords of the progression:

Learn more awesome sounding ways to approach playing chords and progressions on guitar