First, you need to know that each finger on your left hand is numbered to make it easier to read a chord diagram.
Index or pointer finger- 1st finger
Middle finger- 2nd finger
Ring finger- 3rd finger
Pinky finger- 4th finger
X – Shows you which strings not to play, or to mute them instead.
O – This is the OPEN symbol. It shows you to strum or pluck the string it is directly above with no fingers placed on that string.
C Major – This is the name of the chord.
(Cmaj) – This is the symbol for the chord.
The barre symbol shows when to barre your 1st finger across 2 or more strings at the same time.
?3 - The dots with numbers next to them show to place that finger number on the string that the symbol is next to, and on the fret that the symbol is in. For this chord, the diagram shows to place your 3rd finger of the left-hand on the 3rd fret of the D string.
A COUPLE THINGS TO REMEMBER:
- If there is no symbol to the right of the chord diagram, such as 5 fr, then assume that the chord is to be played between the 1st and 5th frets.
- 5 fr – This symbol is not on either of the above chord diagrams, but for future reference, this symbol means to move your hand up the fret board, in this case, to the 5th fret, and place your fingers beginning there, according to how the chord diagram will read.
