HOW TO play chords that sound clear and not muffled

For this post, I will be writing about my ideas on how to be able to achieve a clear sound on each guitar chord that you play.

For beginners, it is very common to play a chord, and find that it sounds muffled and not clear. This can be because of several things. Eventually, the aim is to be able to play any chord and to get a clear sound from each of them. Yes, even for the dreaded barre chords which every beginner will hate.

I have come up with 3 reasons why chords come out muffled and unclear.

Reason One
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Check your fingers! Yes, it's true. For beginners, the main reason why your chords do not come out clearly is because your fingers are still not "seasoned". If your fingers are not "seasoned", you will tend to press your chords lightly because the harder you press, the more painful your fingers will feel. One way to confirm if your fingers are "seasoned" is to take a look at your left hand (I'm assuming you're playing a right-handed guitar). Feel the tip of your left hand fingers. Are they soft? If they are, that means your fingers are still not seasoned. With more playing, your finger tips will become calloused (hardened). When this happens, you will find it easier and less painful to press down each chord that you play, thus achieving a clear sound.

Reason Two
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Arch your fingers! This is another common mistake made by beginners. When you play any chord for that matter, you need to arch your fingers in such a way that it only presses the string it's supposed to press, and not accidentally touch others. Here is a picture of the C chord which sometimes gives beginners some problems:



This is a C chord. Just take a moment to look at the picture. See the ring finger on the 3rd fret 5th string? What commonly happens is that this finger is not arched enough and it accidentally touches the 4th string. Take a look at the index finger on the 1st fret 2nd string. What commonly happens is that this finger is not arched enough and it accidentally touches the 1st string.
When all this happens and you give the chord a strum, you will not be able to get a clear-sounding chord. So, you need to remember to arch your fingers.

Reason Three
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Place your fingers near the frets! Yes, this is a really good tip to remember. Let's take the above picture again as an example. Notice how each finger is placed near to the fret (the metal bar)? So you might be asking, how will this help achieve a clearer sound? The reason is pretty simple. If your finger is closer to the fret, it will require less strength to press the string down.

So that's the three reasons/steps I have come up with to be able to help you in achieving that clear sound when you play any chord. The most important thing to do is to of course, PRACTICE. With more practice, your fingers will naturally become "seasoned". With more practice, you will be able to control your fingers to arch properly. With more practice, you will remember to place your fingers near the frets when playing chords.

I hope this post has helped!