There is often a lot of confusion as to where to begin or which chord to learn first when you start learning the guitar. As a beginner who just got newly introduced to chords, it’ll be nice to learn easy chords that are commonly used in songs to enable you play some simple songs the very minute you start your chord lessons. Among the chords to learn is the C major chord, A major chord, G major chord, E major chord and D major chord (you can simply call them CAGED for easy memorization). Other chords are the E minor chord, A minor chord and D minor chord. Three or more of these chords are found in almost every song there is and a combination of these chords in the right order can make up an entire song from start to finish. To play any chord at all, it is helpful to number your fingers (except your thumb of course!) so that you can easily position your chord shapes according to your finger numbering. In the chord diagrams below, the shaded circles represent the placement of your fingers on your fretboard if your guitar was to be standing upright/vertically with the fretboard facing you, the thick line above represents your guitar nut, the ‘x’ indicates which string should be muted while the ‘o’ represents an open string.

1st – index finger
2nd – middle finger
3rd – ring finger
4th – pinky or little finger

Now, let’s learn how to play each of these chords.

The C Major Chord

This chord takes the shape ‘C’ and is by far the most commonly used chord. It is played this way:

  • Place your index finger (first finger) on the first fret of the 2nd string (B string)
  • Place your middle finger (second finger) on the second fret of the 4th string (D string)
  • Place your ring finger (third finger) on the 3rd fret of the 5th string (A string)
  • Strike from the 5th string down, mute the 6th string (low E string)

The A Major Chord

An A chord is a must-know-how-to-play for every beginner because there are numerous songs with this chord and it would be a good thing to add it to your chord vocabulary. It looks like a very simple chord shape but is a little bit complex because it requires you to fit all three fingers into one fret (the 2nd fret). It is played this way:

  • Place your index finger (first finger) on the 2nd fret of the 4th string (D string)
  • Place your middle finger (second finger) on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string (G string)
  • Place your ring finger (third finger) on the 2nd fret of the 2nd string (B string)
  • Strum from the 5th string down, mute the 6th string (low E string)

The G Major Chord

This chord may look like it is difficult to learn at first, but again, it is an important chord in many common songs. It is played this way:

  •  Place your index finger (first finger) on the 2nd fret of the 5th string (A string)
  • Place your middle finger (second finger) on the 3rd fret of the 6th string (low E string)
  • Place your ring finger (third finger) on the 3rd fret of the 1st string (high E string)
  • Strum all the six strings, no strings are muted.

The E Major Chord

A simple chord to play but needs a little but of stretching from your index finger. It is played this way:

  • Place your index finger (first finger) on the 1st fret of the 3rd string (G string)
  • Place your middle finger (second finger) on the 2nd fret of the 5th string (A string)
  • Place your ring finger (third finger) on the 2nd fret of the 4th string (D string)
  • Strum from the 6th string (Low E string) all the way down; no string is muted.

The D Major Chord

One of the basic chords every beginner should know how to play even if they are just being woken from sleep. It is played this way:

  • Place your index finger (first finger) on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string (G string)
  • Place your middle finger (second finger) on the 2nd fret of the 1st string (E string)
  • Place your ring finger (third finger) on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string (B string)
  • Strum from the 4th string downwards, mute the 5th and 6th strings

The D Minor Chord

A very easy-to-play chord, has little stretches and is comfortable enough for every beginner guitar player. It is played this way.

  • Place your index finger (first finger) on the 1st fret of the 1st string (high E string)
  • Place your middle finger (second finger) on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string (G string)
  • Place your ring finger (third finger) on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string (B string)
  • Strum from the 4th string downwards, mute the 5th and 6th strings

The A Minor Chord

You already know how to play the Am chord if you have mastered the E Major chord already. It takes the exact shape as the E Major chord; the only difference is that its entire shape is moved directly below where the E Major was played. Look at the chord diagram above and compare it with the chord diagram of the E Major, you’ll get it. It is played this way:

  • Place your index finger (first finger) on the 1st fret of the 2nd string (B string)
  • Place your middle finger (second finger) on the 2nd fret of the 4th string (D string)
  • Place your ring finger (third finger) on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string (G string)
  • Strum from the 5th string down, mute the 6th string (low E string)

The E Minor Chord

This is so far the easiest of all the basic chords to play, it requires only two fingers to play; the good thing is that there are no muted strings, all six strings are strummed. It is played this way:

  • Place your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the 5th string (A string)
  • Place your ring finger on the 2nd fret of the 4th string (D string)

To master these chords, insert them into songs, compose new songs with the formation of three or more of these chords, make sure you practice them regularly and search out other inversions to play them in; that’s how you can improve. Check out my beginner’s series on YouTube
https://youtu.be/Km8T1dMFd48

Related articles:
Things I wish I had known as a beginner guitarist
Common mistakes beginners make when learning guitar
How to write your first song
How many hours should I practice guitar daily?
Expand your music vocabulary
8 Steps to musically train your ears

0 Shares:
4 comments
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like