Playing Chords

by Howard M. Lenhoff, Ph. D.

The Problem:

For people with Williams syndrome, poor motor coordination of the fingers makes the guitar a difficult instrument to play. I know of less than a handful of Williams syndrome musicians who can use their fingers to make chords the usual way. And those who can, have to work hard at it.

One Way Around the Problem:

One young adult WS musician, Brian Johnson, has found a way to accompany his songs effectively on the guitar. Brian strums chords he has constructed by retuning the guitar so that the open six strings are tuned to a major chord, the chord of C. Then he prepares other chords by using the forefinger of his left hand as a firm bar and holding it across the appropriate frets.

Another related way:

Laura Goldberg, an instructor at the Music Camp at Belvoir Terrace has devised an analogous related, but even simpler system using an object, such as a pencil, as a bar, and holding the guitar on the lap. In addition, she placed a thin strip of white tape along side of the frets to help the student find the relevant chords. I watched her teach WS campers by this method and was amazed by the instinctive sense of chording the campers had. As they were singing, they seemed to know exactly when to move the pencil to change the chord.