The location and number of strings on stringed instruments technically does not allow you to extract sounds from all of them at the same time. As a rule of thumb, playing all strings at the same time means a very fast arpeggio.
Instructions
Step 1
On a plucked instrument (balalaika, guitar), while playing with your fingers, hold down a chord with your left hand. With the thumb of your right hand (pad), slide down all the strings (from the lowest in sound to the highest). Count to four, each count must be hit. Each string should sound at a uniform volume, fairly active, not louder than the rest of the sounds.
Step 2
Repeat this exercise from the first (highest sounding) string to the last with the same finger. Then with the rest of the playing fingers in both directions. Watch the rhythm and evenness of the sound.
Step 3
To play with a pick, simply swap your finger for a pick. The sound should remain clear, even in tempo and dynamics. Not a single note should "come out" or "fail".
Step 4
In works for bowed instruments, three-sound combinations are extremely rare and almost never four-sound combinations. Generally, expanded chords are recorded as arpeggios in short lengths (sixteenths). Just follow the directions of the author in the text.
