As you work towards learning chords, keep this in mind: Rome wasn’t built overnight and getting your fingers into their appropriate shapes will require patience and persistence.
As your progress, you’ll start to internalize the shapes, and will become adept at switching quickly between shapes. This is achieved through repetition.
Open D Major
Open D chord is one of the simpler open string chords due to its close spacing of notes and is commonly found in Led Zeppelin and John Denver songs.
The trickiest aspect of playing this chord may be getting your fingers to fit together without touching or muteding the low E. If this is an issue for you, try rotating your hand slightly outwards so finger one and two are better aligned with their frets; alternatively, use your thumb up to muted out that low E so it doesn’t ring when strumming – this will result in cleaner and fuller chord sounds.
Open E Major Slide
If you want to play slide in the style of Duane Allman and Derek Trucks, open E may be the optimal tuning choice. This tuning makes it much simpler to fret notes and chords using just your ring finger while keeping three hands free for muting strings or playing normally.
This tuning resembles an E major chord with its low A tuned to B and high E tuned up to G, giving you plenty of options for voicing minor chords with your ring finger – for example playing it as part of an Em7 chord or using it in pentatonic blues scale riffs as an additional blue note!
Open F Major
F Major chords may seem intimidating at first, but newcomers shouldn’t shy away from them – once mastered they become one of the most useful chord shapes on any fretboard!
If you are having difficulty with the fully barred version of this chord, try this smaller and simpler shape instead. It contains all the same notes but only covers thin strings so your index finger doesn’t cover multiple frets at once.
Remember to mute the low E string! This will ensure the chord sounds full rather than weedy, and don’t hesitate to use your thumb if additional tension needs to be added to it.
Open A Minor
Open A minor is an exquisite chord that can be found in various songs. Although learning this chord takes some time and practice, its use makes for beautiful compositions.
Bar or barre chords can be daunting for beginners. To play one, press down with your index finger on the 1st fret of each string (the 1st, 3rd and 5th strings, respectively), before using your middle finger on 3rd string (2nd fret) and ring finger (5th string, 3rd fret).
If you’re having trouble playing this one, try Dsus2 instead – an easier variant that looks similar. This chord serves as an entryway into power chords widely used across rock and metal genres, making it a fantastic starting point for guitar beginners. It has proven particularly popular.
Open C Major 7
As its name implies, this open chord features a flat third note. We will be using it in some of our chord progressions later on so it’s essential that we learn it properly!
Finger flexibility training can be extremely helpful in playing barre chords; here is another opportunity for you to stretch and strengthen them further than usual! Don’t give up if initially it proves challenging!
Open C is a favorite among folk songs and singer/songwriter style music, providing richer chords than can be achieved with standard tuning. Experiment with different voicings of this chord to find one you can use in your own composition!