Chords are three or more tones ringing together. And, two tones can sound together and can pass as a chord. And, a single tone is ultimately a ringing chord [harmonics].

Chords are the 'vertical' dimension of music. Another word for chords is harmony.

Chords can be strummed, fingerpicked as blocks/fragments, or arpeggiated [broken into individual tones by picking or fingerpicking each tone separately - the tones that are picked can ring together or not ring together].

Our Main Goals with Chords

1. Program chord changes to strumming.
2. Arpeggiate them - fingerpicking and/or picking.
3. Expand our chord catalog by learning new chords, understanding chord forms & playing chord scales [both, fixed position & linear].
4. Put our skills & knowledge to work in songs which exist or songs which we write.

Chords can be strummed, fingerpicked as blocks/fragments, or arpeggiated [broken into individual tones by picking or fingerpicking each tone separately - the tones that are picked can ring together or not ring together].

For chords, each of us chooses how to finger them. This is often context dependent [what we are fretting from and to, style].

There is a spatial logic to our hands [if all 4 fingers were in the same fret space, the index would be on the lowest - pitch-wise - string, not the pinky]. Yet, this logic doesn't always have to be followed.

Over the decades and even recently, I've seen some bizarre fingerings for common chords, but if it works, it works [even if not for everyone]. This is another layer of personalization for playing.