HitJerker Songwriting: Guitar Chords for Beginners

Monday, September 19, 2011

Guitar Chords for Beginners

There are some guitar chords for beginners that are easy to learn and master. These are the chords that you should start practicing as soon as you can put your hands on a guitar. If you can play these basic chords, you'll be able to play many songs right away.

Examples for basic, well-known songs you'll be able to play:

✓ Ode to Joy, Jingle Bells (using C and G7 only)
✓ When The Saints Go Marchin' In (using G, D7, C, D)
✓ America The Beautiful (G, D7, E7, A7, D, Am, C)
✓ Home On The Range (C, F, G7, G, Am, D7, Fm)

There will be two types of guitar chords for beginners below:

• Basic open chords: open chords are the kind of chords that are not fingered or fretted. They are the opposite of a barre chord.

• Barre chords: barre chords are chords for which you use one or more fingers to press two or more strings on the fretboard. In some cases you might encounter the expression "movable chords". They are just another name for barre chords. They are sometimes called movable because it's easy to move your hand up and down the guitar neck in only one movement.

Basic Open Chords

Open A Chords

Open B Chord

Open C Chords

Open D Chords

Open E Chords

Open G Chords

Barre Chords on the 5th String

Barre Chords on the 6th String

I borrowed the images of the chords from the Learn and Master Guitar lesson book. It's an awesome DVD/CD/lesson book course that has helped many beginners and more advanced players become really good. The way the instructor, Steve Krenz explains theory and practice is clear and easy to understand. Since I'm a pianist, I haven't tried the guitar course but I've heard it's amazing. But I can easily believe it because I have the Learn and Master Piano course and it has done wonders for my piano playing. It's also great for beginners or more experienced players who would like to deepen their knowledge with the help of a Grammy winner pianist, Will Barrow.