Guitar chords are an integral component of playing any tune on guitar, and when musicians refer to “one, four and five chord progressions”, that’s exactly what they mean.
These games are easy to pick up and perfect for beginners looking to start. Plus, as your skills increase you can easily adjust them!
C Major
Beginners looking to explore chord variations should try out this one; it requires only one finger, leaving G and high E strings open, and has a simple sounding chord structure.
Place your index (first) finger across all six sixth strings on the eighth fret to keep down A, D, G and B strings while muting low E string. This will enable you to keep down A D G B but mute low E string.
Notice how the C open and barred versions sound slightly different? That is because using open strings creates a fuller sound on this instrument.
G Major
G Major chord is a highly utilized chord in popular songs from all genres. Its full sound makes it suitable for ballads as well as rock riffs.
This chord is known as a barre chord, in which your index finger presses down on multiple strings to form a capo-esque shape reminiscent of guitar playing, allowing your middle and ring fingers to fret openly the remaining ones.
There is also a variation of this chord which involves using four fingers to fret the strings, with index finger compressed so as to eliminate muted high E string.
A Minor
A minor chord is one of the easiest chords to learn. It requires very close fingering without large stretches – making it perfect for beginners.
To play Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Simple Man,’ detune your guitar by one half step (Eb). This will produce a fuller sound than standard tuning; practice this voicing of the A minor chord until you can strum it blindfolded! Be patient as this requires much practice!
B Major
Beginner guitarists may find the B chord to be one of the more challenging chords, yet it remains an essential one to know as it appears in many popular songs. This article will specifically discuss playing the B Major guitar chord.
An easy and straightforward approach to playing B chords is through three-note triad shapes. This method requires minimal finger strength and can serve as an intermediate step while you master more complex B shapes.
D Major
This chord is one of the most frequently seen open string chords, featuring D as its root note and another D an octave higher at its peak note. It often occurs with G and A major chord progressions.
Beginning guitarists should find it relatively straightforward to learn this shape, though practice will likely be required to achieve string muting effectively using the thumb on the back of their necks to dampen down the low E string.
E Major
This chord is a Sus4 chord (C root, F fourth and G fifth). I won’t go into too much depth here on how this works but for more information check out my page on scales.
The chord diagram above displays starting notes for each string, followed by frets you should press with your index finger. Note how each circle’s color reflects intervals – there are 2 whole tones between C and E and 1 1/2 between C and G, for instance.
F Major
F Major is a key frequently utilized in guitar arpeggios and chords, similar to other major scales with whole and half step patterns that repeat over one octave.
Beginners may find this chord challenging to play due to its complicated shape; its first finger must cover six strings instead of just the thinnest two. To make learning it simpler, visualize scale patterns or groupings while practicing slowly and consistently.
G Minor
G Minor chord is an intensely expressive musical chord which conveys feelings of anger, bitterness and discontent. You can find its use in songs by Cherry Glazerr such as “Had Ten Dollaz” as well as classics by Santana like “More Than a Feeling.”
G minor is typically played using full bar chords with your forefinger traversing all strings at the third fret and two fingers holding down fourth and fifth strings at the fifth fret. If this style doesn’t appeal, there are alternative approaches that still sound great: