9 easy guitar chords for beginners (with diagrams)

For beginner guitarists: nine open chords that will let you play an enormous number of songs. Open chords are called that because you leave several strings ringing untouched — which makes them easier to grip than barre chords and gives them a full sound straight away.

Learn four or five of them and you can play your first song tonight.

How do you read a chord diagram?

The diagrams below represent the neck of your guitar, seen from the front:

• Vertical lines are the strings. The rightmost line is your thinnest string (high E).
• Horizontal lines are the frets.
• Dots show where to place a finger.
• Numbers show which finger: 1 = index, 2 = middle, 3 = ring, 4 = little finger.
• A cross above a string means: do not play this string, or mute it with your finger.

The six major chords

Major chords sound open and cheerful.

C major

Bright and friendly. Found in countless pop songs.

A major

Sunny and versatile. All three fingers land on the same fret — a bit of a squeeze at first, but simple after that.

G major

Big and full. One of the most used chords on acoustic guitar.

E major

Deep and resonant, because all six strings ring. Widely used in rock and blues.

D major

Light and playful. Note: only strum the bottom four strings.

F major

The hardest of the nine, because you have to press two strings with one finger. Everyone struggles with this at first — that is part of the deal. Keep at it, because F is indispensable.

The three minor chords

Minor chords sound darker and more emotional. They often differ from their major version by just one finger.

A minor

Sensitive and melancholic. Perfect for ballads, and only one finger away from C major — an easy switch.

E minor

The easiest chord of all: just two fingers. If you are starting today, start here.

D minor

Sad and expressive. Again: only strum the bottom four strings.

Start with these three progressions

Individual chords are not yet music. These three progressions sit underneath hundreds of well-known songs:

• G – D – Em – C — probably the most used progression in pop music.
• C – Am – F – G — the classic fifties progression, still everywhere.
• Em – C – G – D — the same chords as the first, different order, completely different mood.

Play each chord for four beats, then switch. As soon as that runs smoothly, you are playing.

Four tips to progress faster

• Practise the change, not the chord. Gripping a chord takes a day to learn; moving smoothly between chords is the real work. Switch between two chords slowly, and only speed up once it sounds clean.
• Keep your fingers upright. If you accidentally mute a neighbouring string, it is almost always because your finger is lying too flat.
• Press just behind the fret. Not in the middle and not on top of it — just before it takes the least force.
• Short but daily. Fifteen minutes a day beats two hours on Sunday by a wide margin.

About sore fingers and breaking nails

In the first weeks your fingertips will hurt. That passes as soon as you build calluses — playing through it is the answer here.

If you fingerpick instead of using a pick, you run into something else: your nails. They wear down faster, crack or catch on the strings. File them in one direction with a fine file instead of clipping them, and keep them flexible with nail oil. That saves a lot of hassle.

Get started

Begin with Em, G and C. Those three alone already give you a handful of songs. Then add D and Am, and finally A, E, Dm and F.

Pick up your guitar, tune it, and start. Enjoy.