Chords are collections of notes that when strung together create a distinctive sound when strumming. Some chords may be easier for beginners to play than others.
Chord diagrams indicate where to position your fingers on a fretboard. Vertical lines correspond with strings while horizontal ones indicate frets; an “x” above any string indicates it should not be played.
D Major
D Major is an easy chord for beginners to learn, made up of D major scale guitar notes stacked in thirds up to A to form a simple triad.
Playing D requires three fingers, but it may be challenging to achieve the correct shape without touching unintended strings. Over time you should develop the ability to mute low strings using your thumb so only the correct strings ring out when strumming is performed.
D major is an ideal chord to practice with for beginners as its form can be easily created and sounds good. Make sure you practice switching between each open chord until switching becomes effortless.
D Minor
D minor has an emotive sound, making it popular in ballads and slow songs. While playing it may seem simple enough for novices, playing D minor requires stretching your fingers across three frets to produce its melodious notes.
Strive to create percussive strumming techniques using your fingers two and three while holding down the barre. Doing this will provide a percussive strumming technique which you can incorporate into many songs. For beginners, muddling low E and A strings with index finger might make this chord more manageable.
E Minor
Take Me Away by Avril Lavigne is an ideal E Minor guitar chord song for beginners to start learning on. Featuring only basic chords and using a traditional strumming pattern, Take Me Away makes for an accessible introduction into guitar playing for beginner guitarists.
This key is often chosen for songs with sad-sounding melodies, though it can also create any emotion, from happiness to melancholy.
E minor is an excellent place to practice barre (barre) chords. These chords require your first finger to bar across multiple strings – which may prove challenging for newcomers – however using your pointer finger allows the shapes to remain more moveable by barring across strings below each fret.
G Major
G Major chord is one of the first full chords that many beginners learn and is widely utilized across a range of songs.
As is typical for major chords, it has an upbeat vibe and can be used in upbeat songs. Additionally, minor chords can be combined to produce more emotive music.
There are various methods of playing the G Major chord and it is important to become acquainted with all of them. Beginners should start off learning the open G chord and gradually advance toward second inversion; as opposed to the open chord, second inversion does not require pinky finger use and thus is ideal for beginners.
A Major
This delightful song is perfect for beginners. With an easy chord progression and down-up strumming pattern, this tune can help develop your strumming skills as you build on its consistent beat.
This song uses a slash chord, meaning its root note sits atop and fretted notes below. An example would be D5, played with your index finger on the fifth fret of the second string; middle and ring fingers respectively on its fourth and third strings;
This song provides a fantastic opportunity for practicing open and power chords as well as barre chords – more challenging chords that require one or more fingers holding down frets on different strings simultaneously.
B Major
The B major chord requires more work to sound good and requires practice to move it around songs easily, but once it does it will likely prove itself useful and make frequent appearances; Jimi Hendrix or BB King both used it frequently as well.
Open Bsus4 chords offer another simple alternative to this standard B major chord, providing more vibrant sound while requiring less strength from fingers.
C Major
There are numerous songs that use the C Major chord, from folk and country tunes to well-known recordings such as Shady Grove by Peter, Paul and Mary; it has since also been performed by Bill Monroe and Taj Mahal.
Beginners may also benefit from practicing the C Add 9, which only requires two fingers and is much simpler to hold down than its fuller version. Though initially thin and tinny sounding, this variation will serve as an invaluable stepping-stone to eventually mastering its full counterpart.