Learn the fundamental chords for open strings to make playing classic songs easy – maybe you’ll even impress your guitar-soloing partner!
Chord grids offer a snapshot of a guitar neck; dots inside dots represent frets, while the lines connecting groups of dots represent strings. Left-handed fingers can then place themselves over any of these frets to produce specific chords.
1. Strumming
Strumming is an essential skill for novice guitarists to develop. It strengthens rhythmic control and allows them to play more songs more effortlessly while building confidence that they can actually create music that sounds good!
This track from The Lumineers introduces four chords (Em, F and G), which most beginners can easily handle. Furthermore, this song gives beginners their first introduction to slash chords (in which one or more notes appear in bass position, indicated by an “s” on its name).
Though this song features arpeggiated chords, you can also easily strum all of them together for an incredible sound! Remember that strumming is a two-part action: first stroking down strings then hitting them back up again – so practice until you feel the beat in your bones! Once that is accomplished you can add more upstrums for an airier and lighter sound in the chords.
2. Fingering
“Sweet Home Alabama” uses only open chords that are easy for beginning guitarists to master, with an F Major 7 chord requiring a capo at the third fret which may prove challenging for some players. It’s an ideal opportunity to practice your barre chord technique which involves placing fingers correctly across the neck of your guitar.
“Ho Hey” by The Lumineers is another straightforward song with four simple chords to learn quickly. Additionally, its staccato strumming pattern provides an ideal opportunity for strumming practice.
Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” is an easy three-chord song perfect for beginners. This tune provides an ideal opportunity to practice using sus2 (or su4) chords, which use the second string instead of fourth to add tension and depth to standard triads. Furthermore, this piece allows participants to utilize their left thumb on top of neck as a mutes (mutes) on sixth string to silence it completely.
3. Strumping
Once you are comfortable with downward strumming and have found your rhythm, try adding upward strokes. This may prove more challenging as it takes practice for wrist movement to pass over all strings without muzzling or mulliganing them.
Again, this exercise uses whole notes, with you counting out loud to ensure a steady rhythm in your mind. Doing this helps maintain an underlying beat which keeps the exercise engaging for longer.
Simply watch Noel Gallagher playing his song ‘Around the World’ and see if you can tap your foot along with its beat as he performs it. What you are tapping to are called downbeats; these powerful beats provide structure and rhythm to songs; eventually you may even learn to change chords while staying within this same rhythm!
4. Picking
Knowledgment of guitar chords will enable you to progress to strumming and playing songs, yet picking is a skill that requires practice – you must listen closely and accurately record music into your brain, in order to recreate its sounds on your instrument – otherwise, chances are good you’ll end up creating something which sounds good but doesn’t match what’s on record.
Learning to pick can be frustrating at first, and many beginners give up too soon because their fingers don’t work efficiently enough for chord picking. The key is to persevere until your fingertips find their groove – practicing is the only way you’ll truly master picking!
Step one of your practice should involve selecting easy songs with open chords – those which do not require you to place any frets with your fingers – such as Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison which uses only three chords and uses an open C chord throughout its entirety.