September 7, 2023 by Klaus Crow
The Most Important Open Chords for Beginners
Where do you start when you want to learn to play guitar? Well, the first thing you want to do is learn ‘open chords’, a basic strumming pattern and then start practicing some beginner songs.
The chords are the building blocks for your songs, they give you the harmony. The strumming delivers the rhythm and together they are the accompaniment for your or someone else’s singing voice which in turn provides the melody.
The 8 most important chords every beginner guitar player should learn first are: C – A – G – E – D – Am – Em – Dm. (you can memorize the first 5 open major chords by the word CAGED)
Songs with Beginner Chords
With these simple chords alone you can play an endless amount of easy songs. For example there are about a million songs that use this chord progression: G – D – Em – C (also called the I – V – vi – IV progression).
Songs like “I’m yours” by Jason Mraz, “With or without you” by U2 and “She will be loved” by Maroon 5 can all be played with just these 4 chords. Not all of these songs are originally in the key of G but you could easily fix that with the help of a capo
and play it in the appropriate key.
The open chords are also the starting point and components for the more advanced chords that follow like barre chords. All barre chords are derived from open chords. If you’re interested check out The Four Most Essentiall Barre Chords.
How to Play The Beginner Guitar Chords
In the video lesson below I’m going to show you how to play each chord correctly step by step and how and where to put your fingers on the strings.
Check out the 8 most essential chord diagrams below. Learn the chords thoroughly and memorise them to build your most important chord vocabulary.
To learn how to read chord diagrams check out: How to read Chord Diagrams and Other Chord Notation.
The numbers on the dots in the chord diagrams above indicate the finger positioning:
1 = index finger, 2 = middle finger, 3 = ring finger, 4 = pinky
Table of Chord Diagram Contents:
Pick one of the chords in the list below to quickly jump to chord diagram and explanation.
- C Major chord
- A Major Chord
- G Major Chord
- E Major Chord
- D Major Chord
- A Minor Chord
- E Minor Chord
- D Minor Chord
C Major Chord
- The C major chord is played with your first (index) finger on the 2nd string (B-string) on the first fret.
- Your second finger (middle finger) on the 4th string (D-string) on the second fret.
- And finally your third finger (ring finger) on the 5th string (A-string) third fret.
- The 6th string is muted (see X above 6th string), so only hit the lower 5 strings with the strumming hand.
- The little ‘o’ on top of the G and high E-string means these are ‘open strings’.
- The notes of the C major chord are: C – E – G (first, third and fifth notes of the C major scale).
A Major Chord
- The A major chord is played with your first (index) finger on the 4th string (D-string) on the second fret.
- Your second finger (middle finger) on the 3rd string (G-string) on the second fret.
- And finally your third finger (ring finger) on the 2nd string (B-string) second fret.
- The 6th string is muted (see X above 6th string), so only hit the lower 5 strings with the strumming hand.
- The little ‘o’ on top of the A and high E-string means these are ‘open strings’.
- The notes of the A major chord are: A – C# – D (first, third and fifth notes of the A major scale).
G Major Chord
- The G major chord starts with your first (index) finger on the 5th string (A-string) on the second fret.
- Your second finger (middle finger) on the 6th string (low E-string) on the third fret.
- Your third finger (ring finger) on the 6th string (high e-string) third fret.
- The little ‘o’ on top of the D G and B-string means these are ‘open strings’.
- You can strum all the strings with your strumming hand. No strings are muted.
- The notes of the G major chord are: G – B – D (first, third and fifth notes of the G major scale).
E Major Chord
- The E major chord starts with your first (index) finger on the 3rd string (G-string) on the first fret.
- Your second finger (middle finger) on the 5th string (A-string) on the second fret.
- And your third finger (ring finger) on the 4th string (D-string) third fret.
- The little ‘o’ on top of the Low E string and B and high e-string means they are ‘open strings’.
- You can strum all the strings with your strumming hand. No strings are muted.
- The notes of the E major chord are: E – G# – B (first, third and fifth notes of the E major scale).
D Major Chord
- The D major chord is played starting with your first (index) finger on the 3rd string (G-string) on the second fret.
- Your second finger (middle finger) on the 1st string (high e-string) on the second fret.
- And finally your third finger (ring finger) on the 2nd string (B-string) third fret.
- The 5th and 6th string are muted (see X’s), so only hit the lower 4 strings with the strumming hand.
- The little ‘o’ on top of the D-string means it’s an ‘open string’.
- The notes of the D major chord are: D – F# – A (first, third and fifth notes of the D major scale).
E minor Chord
- The Em (E minor) chord starts with your second (middle) finger on the 5th string (A-string) on the second fret.
- And your third finger (ring finger) on the 4th string (D-string) on the second fret.
- The little ‘o’ on top of the Low E, G, B and high e-string means these are ‘open strings’.
- You can strum all the strings with your strumming hand. No strings are muted.
- The notes of the E minor chord are: E – G – B (first, flattened third and fifth notes of the E major scale).
A minor Chord
- The Am (A minor) chord starts with your first (index) finger on the 2nd string (B-string) on the first fret.
- Your second finger (middle finger) on the 4th string (D-string) second fret.
- And your third finger (ring finger) on the 3rd string (G-string) second fret.
- The little ‘o’ on top of the A and high e-string means these are ‘open strings’.
- The 6th string is muted (see X above 6th string), so only hit the lower 5 strings with the strumming hand.
- The notes of the A minor chord are: A – C – E (first, flattened third and fifth notes of the A major scale).
D minor Chord
- The Dm (D minor) chord starts with your first (index) finger on the 1st string (high e-string) on the first fret.
- Your second finger (middle finger) on the 3rd string (G-string) second fret.
- And your third finger (ring finger) on the 2nd string (B-string) third fret.
- The little ‘o’ on top of the D-string means it’s an ‘open string’.
- The 5th and 6th string are muted (see X above 6th string), only hit the lower 4 strings with the strumming hand.
- The notes of the D minor chord are: D – F – A (first, flattened third and fifth notes of the D major scale).
The best way to learn these chords is to apply them to songs to get you all fired up. Start with three chord songs to begin with and later when you feel more comfortable playing and switching between chords you can try some four chord songs.
Beginner Guitar Chord Tips
Here are some pointers to focus on when practicing chords:
– Press the strings with the very tips of your fingers.
– Bend all three knuckles.
– press the strings hard enough.
– Make sure your fingers are as close to the fret as possible.
– If you press a string make sure your finger isn’t touching and muting the string below.
– Rest your thumb on the back of the guitar neck, not on top of it.
– Check each string to see if all the notes sound clean and clear.
– Learn to switch between chords.
– Start practicing three chords songs (G – C – D). and later four chord songs.
– Practice your chords daily.
Have a great day!
“Three chords and the truth, that’s what a country song is” ~ Willie Nelson
If you want to the follow up of this post check out: The 8 Second Most Important Guitar chords
Best Chord Book Recommendation:
If you need an awesome chord book to learn and play any chord you want I recommend the Chord Domination Ebook created by my friend Gianca from FaChords. It includes the most important chord diagrams with finger positions, note names, chord intervals and many voicings across the fretboard. It’s a winner!
Hi Klaus sir,
I like to play open chords . By using chords we can play many songs.The tips you have provided is helpful. I am going to start practicing these chords. It is easier to play . Great post.Thanks for sharing.
Hi Prasana,
Learn to play songs as well. Keep up the practicing.
Best regards,
Klaus Crow
Is there an option for us lefty players to view the chords written for us instead of having to mirror everything?
Hi Michael,
I don’t have the diagrams for left-handed guitar players, but try to see the diagrams as if you were looking right through the guitar neck.(as if the neck were transparent) then it’s easy for the left-handed guitar player to see how to play the chords without having to mirror everything.
I hope that helps.
Best regards,
Klaus Crow
Thanks for giving me some really easy straight forward things to follow. I’m sick of all the complicated guides and would just like to learn some basic chords to start with. I have been playing guitar for a while but just never learnt chords so I figure now is a good time to start. thank you sir!
Hi Geiger,
You’re welcome. These 8 chords are a great start and essential for everything that follows.
Best regards,
Klaus Crow
Good Afternoon, Could you send me a Tabs for 5 Pentatonic Scale….. Please send it to my email-add THANK YOU… I hope you will hear me soon ^_^
Great post as always. I think you can play almost any song with these chords.
Playing the Guitar is much more necessary as singing..so it has been given on and all equal importance…For the Beginners level we have to completely understand the tips and have to play the guitar accordingly…Great Article..This article will be very much helpful for understanding the chords…Thanks.!!!!!!!!
Hi,
I am a beginner and I’m facing one major problem. Whenever I put my finger on a fret, the succeeding string gets muted. Please help.
Hi klaus,am too beginner but i was practicing just like a jok but for those chords am gonna make sure to keep up serious practice.thx!
Thanks for the tip. I’m going going to memorize and blast away on these 8 chords until they feel completely natural. I’m learning on an epiphone Les Paul special 2 and continually have the issue of muting the high e #1 string. Any suggestions Sir?
Hi klaus,
I have recently restrung my guitar, it played really well for a few weeks but now it sounds very dull. Any advice?
thanks a lot…. im gonna be a guitar lord someday ^_^
sir wht vl be next step after learning the Fingerboard
1 more thing sir how should we prevent our guitar by getting it bend many times i face a problem bcoz of it i m unable to practice as much i can
Sir which is C# fullshape chords? Or c# easy but most playing chords? Help me sir.
Love the straightforward reminder of using the basics for a foundation. The user comments are great, too, even if some of them are off the wall or lose meaning in interpretation. Great work! Keep playing, folks!
Thank you for coming up with this easy cords for me to play guitar.
Finger chords of torete
I am a new guitarist but an old singer ;) I also thank you for the help.I am.getting better every day. And i have calluses now! WooHoo :)
NINE CHORDS!!!… How could you possibly not include D7??!
I am comfortable with A, E, C and D. I don’t have shifting problem with this Chords. I hate D chord. I have so many shifting problems with D chord.
Upgraded drag systems, updated bearings and high performance drag oil are just a few of the several upgrades
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Do you have any advice on chords to learn for the 80s and 90s hair bands. I would like to get some of these chords.Thank you
its great
I can finally understand the chords
Thanks a lot
Indeed! Also I’ve found that learning the notes on the fretboard is a priceless advice. Especially the 6th and fifth which are used constantly on the barre chords.
Thank oh much for the information, I’ve been searching and searching for this type of beginners guitar chord information simply simple THANK YOU and THANKS A MILLION
Thank you for the Tips what are the X and O on the diagram? Which strings to strum?
Thank you for such a clear and easy to understand layout of the C-A-G-E-D system for learning to play basic chords! This is better than what two local experienced guitar teachers even showed me so I am considering after a few months more of lessons just continue to learn on my own to save money.
Very useful guitar chords for anyone beginning on the guitar. Thanks.
Hi
I am finding a problem when strumming, can you give me an advice please? Thanks very much for your help.
Nice article! I would also like to share this blog, I find it very helpful for those who are beginning to learn guitar :)
How to Learn The Important Guitar Notes for Beginners
https://play-guitars.com/guitar-notes-for-beginners/
how do you know which fret to play the chords?
It’s very important for every guitar player. A beginner can start from here. Thanks for the article.
With the help of capo its easy to make every chords open. Now days maximum guitarists are using guitar capo.
Tips provided in the article are very useful. To learn guitar its important to be passionate about music and the desire to learn should never die. Its only then when you can learn and become expert in all the chords of guitar. Ed Sheeran Perfect song is a perfect song for beginners to learn the Chords.
Excellent share Klaus! I wish this post could help a lot of newbies out there!
This is actually amazing am a beginner player but I follow you up alot for most of the applications and chord lessons and am growing slowly thank you the lessons are really helpful but I don’t just have a guitar to practice them on
Hi Ubongabasi,
Maybe you know someone who has a guitar and you can borrow it for a while,
until you saved enough money to buy your own.
Hope that helps.
Best,
Klaus