Beginner guitarists usually begin by learning the C chord. Its easy playing opens up many musical possibilities!
To play this chord, place your index finger on the first fret, middle finger on the second fret and ring finger on the third fret. Additionally, add Cmaj7 or C6 notes for added color!
Open Position
Open chords form the basis of most songs on guitar. They’re simple to learn and can be used both acoustically and electric guitars; switching between their forms doesn’t involve moving your fingers too often either!
They are known as ‘open’ tunings because they utilize only unfretted strings (those you do not fret with your finger) in their construction, creating a sound that is both warm and pleasing on an acoustic guitar.
Open chords also tend to sound more subdued than barred ones due to not muzzling the open strings as much.
Acoustic guitars are ideal for use with an acoustic amp. Additionally, they can be played using a capo for greater access to other keys – perfect for writing original music or accompanying someone in playing songs like Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day.
1st Position
Most guitar learners begin their studies with 8 open chords that can easily be fingered using just two fingers and that let all strings – fretted as well as open ones – sound out their musical note.
As you play chords that include D, you can mute it by resting the index finger of your fretting hand on its surface – this creates a more muted sound than leaving it unfretted.
Chords can be enhanced by adding other notes from their key to them, provided that it fits harmoniously within their harmony. For instance, Cmaj7 chords include an extra minor seventh note to complete its overall chord structure.
Some chords, known as bar chords, require using your third finger (ring finger) to fret all of the strings at once in a specific position – these chords are more challenging to play than open chords but can be learned through practice; an example would be C-G-D chord progression found in many songs.
2nd Position
As your guitar playing develops, you will discover different chord shapes on both ends of the fretboard. By combining these, different chords may be formed that share a similar root note as their respective original chord.
Certain guitar chords contain an additional note in their base which creates what’s known as an altered chord, such as C7#9 which is basically an E7 chord with its 7th note flattened by one semitone.
Other cool chords to try include the slash chord (read as C over G) and 13 chord. I advise leaving out the 5th as it does little more than add muscle note tension.
Sus chords also work beautifully – these chords consist of major or minor chords without a third note – made up of only the 1st, 4th, and 5th notes from your scale. While you can play these alone or when played before or after parallel chords such as Dsus2 and Dsus4, they work especially well together to give a piece of music its signature sound and ‘finished’ appearance.
3rd Position
A skilled guitar player should be able to hear chord progressions and use fingerboard knowledge to identify the shape of chords being played on the fretboard. However, this ability should only be utilized alongside reading sheet music.
Chord shapes can also be altered up and down the neck for different voicings and sounds. For instance, an open C major chord could be moved down one finger position to form a Cm7 chord which still sound similar but with different tones.
Diminished chords take this one step further by providing four chords in one. For instance, a C/G chord is identical to a C major chord but includes G at the bottom of its bass note, making an interesting passageway between other chords to create harmonic motion; also known as cadential six-four chord.