Basic Guitar Chord Charts -
making sense out of them

Confused by guitar chord dictionaries with pages full of tiny diagrams? The basic guitar chord charts in this lesson are all you need to get started playing basic chord guitar today.

Here's a "heads up". Most of the guitar chords listed in those massive guitar chord libraries? You'll never use them. Or if you DO use them, you'll likely be advanced enough to be able to create them for yourself.

You're far better off being able to play a handful of chords well. Don't drive yourself crazy trying to memorize a bunch of abstract shapes. Get to know these few guitar chords well and you'll surprise yourself with what you can do. You'll be making music :-)

Here's where to begin...

If you have little or no experience with a musical instrument , start with the Absolute Beginner basic chords listed below. After 2 or 3 days of practicing those, move to the Beginner basic guitar chord charts. Give yourself time with these ones. They will be at the core of your guitar playing for the rest of your life :-)

The basic guitar chord charts on this page, along with a couple of other skills, are all you need to play most of your favorite songs. You'll eventually need to learn a few guitar bar chords and some guitar playing techniques, but there's no hurry is there? Enjoy...

ABSOLUTE BEGINNER

When you look at the guitar chord charts above, the vertical lines represent the strings and the horizontal lines represent the frets. The number at the top of the chart tells you which area of the guitar neck you're at. And the numbers underneath the chord chart tell you which fingers to use. Don't count your thumb ;-) As you can see, the chords on this page are all located down by the first fret.

These fingerings are only suggestions in order to eliminate any confusion. Use them for now to get started on the right foot. As you advance you may find other ways to "grab" the chords. The black circles indicate where to put your fingers and press down on the string.

Absolute beginner: Try playing the Gma to the G7 and then to the Cma. After a few days or so start on one or two of the chords from the beginner's list. As always, be patient and persist. Have fun :-)

Practice Exercises

Here are some basic chord progressions to practice with. For now, don't be overly concerned with how you strum. Keep it simple and strum downwards only. You can "loop" these over and over!

||: Ami | Ema :||

||: Emi | Dma :||

||: Gma | Cma | Gma | D7 :||

||: Ama | Dma | Ama | Ema :||

Chord Practice Guidelines

Some simple practice guidelines to follow that will help you progress more quickly and enjoyably are:

• practice switching back and forth between two chords while paying attention to which fingers are changing strings and/or frets. Notice if any fingers stay in the same place.
• practice one chord only and check to see if all the notes are ringing through clearly. You can do this simply by playing one string at a time while you are fretting the chord. If a note is not sounding, check to see if another finger is touching the string. Or perhaps you need to press down with more precision.
• Stay on one chord until you're ready to switch. WITHOUT stopping strumming, change to the next chord. Don't worry if you miss! Adjust your fingers while continuing to strum. Soon you'll be switching with no hesitation :-)

Now you're set...
You won't be wasting unnecessary time with chord dictionaries. If you really need to find that one chord - OK fine. Go get it and get out. Back to strumming your guitar :-) That's where the real learning happens. Thanks for joining me. Best in guitar and Life,

Dave

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