Simple Guitar Chords That Every Beginner Guitarist Must Commit to Memory

To start playing songs on your guitar you’ll want to first learn some of the easy guitar chords available to you. Later on you’ll have a chance to add to your repertoire but for now we’re going to stick with the 4 simplest chords available to you.

In the first two weeks of learning the basic guitar chords my students will often fight me tooth and nail over trying to get their fingers into position and making their chords ring true and clear, not to mention trying to change from one chord to another to the beat of the metronome or backing track. I’m going to show you how to overcome these problems right from the start.

We are going to cover the E Major, G Major, C Major and D Major guitar chords, I’m also going to teach you a simple song using just 3 of these chords and give you a practice routine so that you can master your finger positions and changing between the chords. Let’s get started.

EMaj Open Chord

The EMaj Open Chord uses the notes E, B and G#. The Low E String is played open to give you the E, the A String is fretted by your 2nd finger at the 2nd fret to give you the B note, the D String is fretted by your 3rd finger at the 2nd fret to give you another E note, and the G String is fretted by your 1st finger at the 1st fret to give a G#. The rest of the strings are played open to give the final B and E notes.

GMaj Open Chord

Place your 1st finger on the 2nd string from the top, 2nd fret. Your 2nd finger on the top string 3rd fret, and your 3rd finger on the bottom string on the 3rd fret.

The C Major Open Chord

The open chord C Major uses just 5 of the strings on your guitar, be careful not to use the Low E String when strumming this one. Place your 1st finger at the 1st fret on the B String, your 2nd finger at the 2nd fret on the D String and your 3rd finger at the 3rd fret on the A String. The Root Note is C which is played as the A String fretted at the 3rd fret.

Open Chord: D Major

The DMaj Open Chord uses the notes D, A and F#. The Low E String and A Strings are not played. Start from the Open D String to get the D Root Note. The G String is fretted by your 1st finger at the 2nd fret to give you the A note, the B String is fretted by your 3rd finger at the 3rd fret to give you another D note, and the High E String is fretted by your 2nd finger at the 2nd fret to give a F#.

There’s nothing like putting this theory to a real world example. Knocking on Heavens Door by Guns N Roses uses the G, D and C chords above. You will be playing two bars of four beats per bar. On the first two beats play the open chord G Major, followed by two beats on the open chord D Major, and finally four beats of the open chord C Major, returning the start of the first bar with the G Major.

Let me show you a simple practice routine you can add to your practice sessions to improve muscle memory and changing between chords. Use just the 4 chords outlined above, randomize their order for each session, and play each chord in sequence for a count of 4 beats before moving to the next chord. To start with these changes may take you minutes to complete, but before long (usually 2-4 weeks) you’ll be able to move seamlessly from one chord to another.

To really get a grasp on changing between chords and increasing the flexibility in your fingers it is essential that you change the sequence of the chords in this practice routine each time you come to use it. Today you might choose D, C, E then G, tomorrow you should change this order for maximum effect.

By doing this practice routine consistently you will be increasing your finger strength and flexibility by changing to chords in a different order each day and by spending 10 minutes on this you will increase your muscle memory. Results will appear like magic.

Master the easy guitar chords for beginners under the watchful eye of Adam Summers. Once you’ve completed this lesson, check out the b chord guitar guitar lesson to understand more about this controversial chord.