Starting To Learn Guitar Chords? Practice Basic Open Chords First

Yes, get these chords under your belt and you are on your way to play many songs and impress your friends! You cannot call yourself even a beginner guitarist if you don’t know these chords.
Mastering chords gives you the license to play your guitar alongside a singer. Some beginners think that playing guitar only means being able to play a tune of their favorite songs. That is just one side of the coin… er… guitar. Chords, as the definition will tell you, is a combination of three or more notes played together. So, instead of just plucking a particular string, you would strum multiple strings.
Without further ado, let me get straight into the basic open chords.
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Easy Major Chords

The D major is a very easy chord to play. Just ensure that you don’t strum the 5th and 6th string. That would sound real bad. A little bit of practice and it would become second nature to leave those strings.
If you want your chords to sound good, always remember which strings have to be hit and which have to be left. 🙂

I don’t think you would find a more easy chord to play except maybe its minor version. In this chord you don’t have to worry about any string to leave as all the strings need to be strummed.

This chord can take you some time to get comfortable with. The fingers get crammed thereby making it difficult. Though it might seem tougher to play at first, it is quite easier than it seems. Our fingers are very dexterous and adjust quickly with practice. So, practice!
There is an alternative way of playing this chord by barring the three strings, but this is advanced way of doing it and if you are starting out with chords, I would suggest the previous way.
Easy Minor Chords

The easiest chord in the world of Guitar. Similar to E major with the first finger lifted.
Since the requirement is of pressing only two frets and we have four fingers at our disposal, you can choose any two fingers you are comfortable with. It usually depends upon the chord which follows next while playing any song.

Exactly like the E major chord but all moved downwards a string. Ensure you don’t hit the sixth string. Well, it won’t destroy the song if you did hit the sixth string, but I am just trying to make you Mr. Perfect! 😉

Personally, during my small guitaring experience, I have used this way of playing the chord fewer times than others. But that’s just my style. There is an alternative barre chord which is more common. But it pays to know this as well, so practice it.
The beautiful and My Favorite G Major Chord!

Yes, it is my favorite chord. Really don’t know why. Probably a result of some weird connection between ear and heart! 🙂
This chord brings an interesting stretch to your fingers. Again, the dexterity of your fingers will make it easy with practice. This is a very important chord to learn as it opens up lots of good songs for you. So practice it hard and make sure you play each note individually as well.
Some people do not play the note on the 2nd string. Your wish… for me, it makes the chord sound fuller with that note than without.
The Most Popular C Major Chord

Seems to creep in every other song that I play! You have got to master this. And it’s easy too.
A few important things to note about this chord. The sixth string should not be played for the chord to sound correct. You can use the third finger to mute the sixth string by lightly touching it with the tip. Also, ensure that the first finger doesn’t touch the third string even slightly else it won’t sound properly.
The Fearsome F Major Chord

A nightmare for every beginner! No use fearing it… go straight at it!
The tough part here is holding both the first and second string frets with your first finger. In other words, you have to bar the frets. It is a precursor to the barre chords which will come later. I prefer the barre version of this chord but it is recommended to start learning with this one.
Keep your arms relaxed while practicing this chord, a stiff arm hinders practice along with more pain (which we wrongly attribute to practicing guitar!
Ok, so above are all the basic Open Chords which you must know to call yourself a beginner guitarist. Notice that the major chords exhibit happiness whereas the minor chords sounds melancholic. Can you feel it?
Hii. . I am a late beginner but hope wil make it big some day.
great man…good facts along with a clear description of the chords..
you are great abhinav sonkar and ur website is also so greattttttttttttt
You are teriffic Abhinav and your blog is really very helpful.
Abhinav.. you are fantastic…..I have started playing guitar and i m truly inspired by your work…keep it up.
Abhinav you are great…
This is very amazing and lot of helpful…
Very grateful to for this precious lessons….
thank u very much abhinav sir..i had lost interest in learning guitar by referring to books and blogs..but ur blog really inspired me to resume my learning …i am a just a beginner and ur lessons r very helpful.
There is power in simplicity and this post is proof.
At the risk of sounding cribby, i’d want 2 ask another favour. Could suggest a few songs that I can play *completely*using only the above chords?
I can play DEA Major/minor and the CGF Major chords well enough.
I have been trying to play “Give me some sunshine(3 idiots)” as you pointed out on this blog. I got the C and G chords right. Tried the Fbar and got that right with practice as well. But the next challenge is to change quickly and correctly on the last beat (I read your post on that topic as well ) which I know will take practice.
I believe there must be some song that does not need such rapid (for me) changes.
Sincere thanks.
awesome help.thanxx a lott abhinav !!
it helped me really enough !!
lovely post man…..really helpful for d ones who r very first at guitar like me….thank you
Great work Abhinav….can u suggest me a song which can be played with the help of these basic chords and yes also suggest an easy strumming pattern that goes with that song…Thank you :))))
I always dream to play guitar & this site is helpful for me.thankxxx abhinab.
It is really motivating…..thank you.It will be great if you can post some video for strumming.
ye Dil mange more….
really really helpful!!!
keep posting!
Hi. Sir, I am a being fan of yours. I have started learning guitar 2months ago and have mastered major chords and some minor chords. Can u suggest me any simple tune which I can play using the above chord. It would be of great help sir! Any simple tune which I can play using the chords given above.I am havin some problems in strumming . If u could help me in posting a video of basic strumming.
Thank you sir.
How to play strings with chords. I m new at guitar
I have a doubt. Why are is the 2nd, 3rd, and the 4th finger being used for A major? Can’t it be done by 1 2 and 3? Any particular reason for it?
You can use the 1st, 2nd and 3rd fingers as well. Whatever suits you.
Because when you need to play it fast you need to stop 6 strum with your 1 finger\
i want some help like i wanna be a singer but i am not getting a teacher to teach. i want a teacher who should daily teach me and i wanna blow the stage like all the professional singers plzz help if can
i am from India (Mumbai,Maharashtra)
This is very good job sir !even for musicians too! keep it up…
hiii…
i hav jst started to learn….now i m trying to learn chords frm ur site nd itz amazing site 4 beginer
plz snd me some notation of give me sum sun shine ….
Hi there Abhi,
So many Indian songs posts. So I am assuming you are an Indian.
Its actually really relief to finally find an Indian is teaching guitar, not because I don’t like English songs. (I love them actually) its becoz it is easier to relate and learn when you are learning with songs which you are totally familiar to.
Thank you Abhi and Happy learning to my websitemates!!
Thanks Prashant and Happy Guitaring!
I have one word for your Website, ” EXCELLENT ” :):):)
Simply awesome. Struggling with night mare F major. Some pointers could help 🙂
plz mujay ay btaiay ki ay a b c d e f g ay guiter me kha hote h
or ay antra’muhkda kya hota h
hey abhi don’t u think G major chord have some error i.e 3rd finger????
The G major chord has 2 versions: one with the 3rd finger and one without. Both are fine. Play whatever you prefer.
its great
i loved guitar a lot
this will be really helpful
that g 7th also have 5th string C in it
<3 <3 <3
Thanks Christy!
sorry made a mistake not g 7th f major
you are welcome sir
The F major shown here is the open chord position. In this the 5th & 6th strings are not played. The C note comes from the 2nd string.
There is another way to play F major using barre chords. In that position the 5th string C note is also played. You can see a diagram here: https://www.abhiguitar.com/guitar-chord-book-sheet/ (look for F chord under barre chords section).
i know the basic chord & also F
but tell me the first song that i can play on guitar with very simple strumming pattern…
when i try to humm a song the pattern goes wrong in guitar…PLZ hlp me.
You have got the numbering on A major chord wrong, its 123 not 234.
Both are right. Personal Preference.