Beginner guitar chords

Beginner guitar chords

Not all the chords here are beginner guitar chords, but they are the first chords you should learn to play.
To make things a little easier for you, I’ll tell you which are the easiest chords to begin with, later you can go ahead and practice playing the rest.

The easiest beginner guitar chords are?
A major, C major, D major, E major, G major, A minor, D minor, E minor, A 7th, B 7th, C 7th, D 7th, E 7th and G 7th. They’ve got a star next to them

How to play guitar chords

When playing guitar, one places the fingers just behind the fret being played.
Sometimes though, when playing certain chords, it’s just not possible to have all your fingers lined up perfectly.
As a general rule, anywhere from just behind the fret to inbetween the frets should work out fine.
The idea is to make sure the note sounds properly.
It also helps to have your fingers as perpendicular to the fretboard as possible.

Here is a picture of the beginners guitar chord D to illustrate the point.

So where should the thumb go?

Most guitar teachers would tell you that the thumb should be in the middle of the back of the neck,
but I find that a bit impractical.
As long as your thumb is at the back of the neck and all the notes sound, you’ll be fine.
With some guitar chords, like those shown in the videos, your thumb creeps out over the top.
If it feels uncomfortable, change it till it feels best for you.

How to read these guitar chord pictures

1.) The chord finger numbers: These show you which finger to put where behind which fret. The pictures are drawn in such a way that the view is the same as you would see when looking down onto your fretboard.
2.) The X’s at the nut: These show you which guitar string mustn’t be played (or strummed). The nut is that slotted (saddled) thing that the strings go through, inbetween the fretboard and the tuning machines on the head.
3.) I’ve placed a star next to the easiest ones to learn, so take that as a good starting point.

Major beginner guitar chords

The abbreviation for major is maj, but this is usually used for more complex chord descriptions.
When the chord is a straight major, then usually it is simply described as A or B or whatever major chord it is

Minor beginner guitar chords

The abbreviation for minor is simply a small m and all minor chords are written with the suffix m, eg: Am, Bm etc. I’ve placed a min after each minor chord here just cos it’s easier to remember it’s a minor.

7th beginner guitar chords