8 Guitar Chords a Beginner Should Learn First

There is this saying “One must break his fingers to learn how to play the guitar”. Although it shouldn’t be taken literally, in reality, it happens – there are instances where a guitarist might break his fingers for playing the guitar. Nonetheless, one should be able to play the guitar smoothly (and not break his/her fingers)

That is why in this article, we will be introducing to you the 8 most basic guitar chords that a beginner like you should learn first before jumping into the complex ones in your guitar journey.

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1. A Major

The Chord A Major is also recognized as “A chord”, may be a little challenging, especially for beginners since all 3 fingers should fit exactly on its second fret on adjacent guitar strings at the same time.  Make sure that 1st string should sound correctly as you twist your 3^rd (ring) finger.

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2. A Minor

The A minor can be easily executed once you have mastered playing the E major. All you have to do it to move the chord arrangement over one string. Also, don’t forget that your 1^st finger should be correctly curled to make the 1^st string sound properly. In some situations, there is a call to reverse the 2^nd and 3^rd fingers to play Am chord but it is very rare since the open 6^th strings should not be strummed in this case.

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3. C Major

The C major chord also known as the “C chord”, happens to be the first chord beginners tend to learn. This chord is more on direct fingering – by concentrating on how you curl your first finger, you make its first string sound exactly as it should.

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 4. D Major

D major chord also known as the “D chord”, is also very basic for beginners and should be done perfectly in just a few practices. Although to fully achieve this chord, you need to be very focused where to place your fingers. Curl your 3^rd finger on 2nd string to guarantee that the 1^st string will sound exactly as it should as well as carefully strumming the first 4 strings and not the 6^th and 5^th strings.

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5. D Minor

One of the simplest minor chords is the D minor but for some reason, beginners are having a hard time to execute it properly. The secret is just to focus primarily on the top 4 strings to achieve the D minor chord by also making sure that your 3rd finger is correctly curled in order for the 1^st string to sound as it should.

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6. E Major

The Chord E major is also known as the “E chord”, should not be a major problem at all just like any other chords. Just see to it that the 1^st finger that holds down the 1^st fret and on the 3^rd string is curled correctly because it will highly affect the sound of the 2^nd string. Although there are instances that will require reversing the 2^nd and 3^rd fingering when using this chord, strumming all the strings should not be a problem.

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7. E Minor

The Em chord will be the easiest chord to use as it merely needs 2 fingers. Just keep in mind that when playing this chord, both fingers should not touch the guitars open strings because it will greatly impact their rings. There are instances where you need to reverse the position of your two fingers by making 2^nd finger on the 5^th string and your 3^rd finger on the 4th string in order to achieve this chord.

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8. G Major

The G major chord also known as the “G chord”, depends primarily on how you curl your 1^st finger in order to make the 4^th strings sound as it should while strumming all six strings. Moreover, playing G major chord can also be easily switched to C major chord by placing your 3^rd finger on the 6^th string and your 2^nd finger on the 5^th string while your 4^th finger is placed on the 1^st string.

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Conclusion

It may sound cliché but patience is the key to learn how to play the guitar. Without patience, you might get intimidated by these slow and small progressions. But you have to understand and keep in mind that these little and slow progressions make up all the big ones, and besides, little and slow progress is better than no progress at all, right?

Go ahead – grab your guitar, follow these basic chords, and sing your heart out!