THE MOST COMMON GUITAR CHORDS
How to Play a C chord on Guitar
The C chord is one of the most common guitar chords. It's found in songs from the Renaissance all the way to the present. It is a "major chord," which gives it a strong, bright, positive sound in most contexts.
The C chord uses three fingers and two open strings. We usually do not play the low 6th string. It can be strummed or plucked in patterns (arpeggios).
The most common chords we find with the C chord are G, G7, F, D, and A minor.
How to Play a G chord on Guitar
The G chord (G major) is one of the most common chords that uses all four fingers.
All six strings ring together to make a rich and full sound. It does this through a combination of open strings and fretted notes.
We also see this chord with the 2nd string open. Both ways are correct.
The G Chord is often played with the chords C, D, and E minor. Take a look at a number of popular songs in the last 100 years and you will surely find the G major chord in many songs.
Download Your PDF Chord Sheets
Click the button below to get printable resources for chord mastery. You'll get the Primary Chords Guide, and the "Chords That Play Nice Together" Cheatsheet.
How to Play a D chord on Guitar
The D chord (D major) uses fingers 1, 2, and 3 to form a “shape” that resembles a sideways triangle. The addition of the open D string allows the chord to ring fully.
From Bach to Brahms to Led Zeppelin to Lady Gaga, many musical artists have written music that make use of the D chord.
Normally, the D chord can be found alongside the G chord, and the A chord. You may also notice the similarities between the D and B minor chords.
How to Play an A chord on Guitar
The A chord (A major) is a fun and interesting chord to play on guitar. All the notes are found on the same fret, along with an open 1st, and 5th string. We usually do not play the 6th string in the A chord.
You can use different fingers to play the chord, all of which are explored in the video above.
Known as a “bright” chord, it’s popular in jazz, blues, rock, and classical music. Many pieces by Miles Davis, Mozart, Beethoven, and others use the A chord as the tonal center of their pieces. Many of Paganini’s guitar sonatas are in the key of A and use this chord.
The D chord, and E chord are most often found before or after this chord. But you are also free to experiment with any chord you wish!
How to Play an E chord on Guitar
The E Chord is perhaps the most played chord on any type of guitar. Electric guitar, acoustic guitar, or classical guitar. If you haven't already heard (or learned) this chord, now is the time.
The E major chord uses all the strings of the guitar. The root note (E) is the lowest note on the guitar in standard tuning. So this chord can sound powerful and rich.
The sound can be described as “happy”, “singing”, or “jolly.”
How to Play an F chord on Guitar
The F Chord is one of the more challenging chords for beginners. We need to form a small “barre” with our first finger, covering both the 1st and 2nd strings.
A safe hand position and the right amount of pressure will help. Many guitarists press too hard and end up hurting their hands.
Tip: Stay with it - this one may take some time to play cleanly.
If you are starting out with guitar chords, save this one for a little later and focus on the easier chord shapes. That will help build up strength, and you can come back to the F chord later with some experience and fresh fingers.
How to Play the A-minor Chord on Guitar
The A minor chord uses 5 strings to give us one of the most recognizable groups of notes in all guitar music. The flexibility of this chord makes it a popular choice to create songs, pieces, and more.
Its shape is also shared with the E major chord, though the sound is noticeably different. “Sad” and “melancholy” are used to express the sound of minor chords like this one.
Common chords that you’ll hear around the A minor chord are D minor, E, E7, or E minor chord. The C chord is also a pleasant lift alongside the A minor.
How to Play the E-minor Chord on Guitar
The E minor is often one of the first chords players learn on guitar.
You can strum or pluck all six strings while fretting the fourth and fifth string at the second fret. With four open strings ringing, this is a very resonant chord.
With this chord, we can play songs by Metallica, Francisco Tarrega, and others. Talk about flexibility!
The video above breaks this chord down and shows why it’s so important.
Download Your PDF Chord Sheets
Click the button below to get printable resources for chord mastery. You'll get the Primary Chords Guide, and the "Chords That Play Nice Together" Cheatsheet.
How to Play the D-minor Chord on Guitar
The D minor chord is a slight change from its counterpart, the D major chord. Only one note is different, but we need to change the fingering to make it work.
Practicing the chord change between a D minor and D major chord can be a fun exercise.
“Sorrowful”, “gloomy”, and “mournful” can describe the emotions that this chord may conjure. Pair the D minor chord with A minor, A7, and a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon.
How to Play the B-minor Chord on Guitar
To play a B minor with the root in the bass would require a barre chord. So this version of the B minor has the open D string in the bass. All the other chords on this page have the root (chord name note) as the lowest note.
This chord shares notes with the D major chord. And we often see these two chords together in pieces of music.
To play this one, we can use fingers 1, 2 and 3, OR fingers 2, 3, and 4.
How to Play the C7 Chord on Guitar
7 Chords imply an added note that changes the sound of the chord. More on this here, but it's recommended that you start with these basic ones before moving on.
The C7 chord is a slight modification of the C major chord. This time around we add the pinky on the 3rd string, 3rd fret.
This gives us a “bluesy” sound, especially when paired with G7 and D7. But it most often precedes the F chord.
How to Play the A7 Chord on Guitar
We can find the A7 chord in styles of music from smooth jazz to modern classical guitar music.
It’s a fun chord that is easy to play on the guitar. The top 5 strings of the guitar are played and use only 2 fretted notes on the 2nd and 4th strings. We don’t play the 6th string.
For any chord that has more than one note on the same fret, it helps to move the wrist slightly toward the tuning keys. This lets us approach the frets at an angle. And the angle helps us get both fingers to their best positions, just behind the frets.
And be sure to download the PDF chord sheets.
How to Play the G7 Chord on Guitar
Commonly played with the C major chord, the G7 chord is often one of the first chords that guitarists learn.
All 6 strings are used and we fret the 1st, 5th, and 6th string. The video and diagrams found here give a clear and understandable visual for this chord. We can think of this shape as an “exploded C chord.”
The stretch required for this chord makes it challenging. But with a bit of practice it comes to feel more natural.
Bonus Tip: Try these exercises for improving your stretch and reach. Working on this will help us play music with ease and breeze through complex passages (or chords)
How to Play the E7 Chord on Guitar
Form the E major shape, take away the 3rd finger, and boom! You have the E7 chord.
Chords re-use many different fingering patterns or “shapes.” This one is similar to the E major and the A minor chords.
The E7 chord is commonly played with the A major and A minor chords. With these two chords, you can already play many songs in different styles.
How to Play the D7 Chord on Guitar
The D7 chord is a mirror of the D major shape. If we could backflip our 3rd finger, we could keep the same position. But instead, we change the finger to make the D7 more comfortable.
In music, we often find the D7 leading to the G chord. C major is a frequent playmate of this one as well.
How to Play the B7 Chord on Guitar
The B7 chord shape is both fun and challenging. We can think of a D7 moved over two strings, with the little finger added on the first string.
Not so many of the “cowboy chords” use the pinky, so this is a nice one to add to the rotation.
There are hundreds of chords on the guitar, played in myriad ways. These basic chords are the best place to start. As you progress to learning other chords, you'll find they are based on these primary chord shapes.
Tip: Experimenting with the wrist position can be helpful when practicing chords. We can toy with wrist position to find the points of most ease and benefit.
For more chord tutorials, click here. You'll go to the chord lesson library.
Or click here to browse the full site index. You'll find hundreds of lessons and articles, plus links to the sheet music library, with more than 1000 PDF guitar pieces you can download for free.
Download Your PDF Chord Sheets
Click the button below to get printable resources for chord mastery. You'll get the Primary Chords Guide, and the "Chords That Play Nice Together" Cheatsheet.
