Some chords are easier to learn than others, you might have seen the chord charts before but I want you to go through this entire lesson, and learn each of the four easy guitar chords. Once you’ve had a chance to master these in your practice session you can add others into the mix.
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.
I don’t think any guitar lesson is complete without applying the theory to a real world example and a practice routine you can use by yourself. We will cover a simple song using just three of the four chords you are about to learn and I will provide a routine for you to add to your daily, or weekly practice schedule that will help solidify this knowledge.
The E Major 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.
Open Chord: G Major
The open chord G Major uses all of the strings on your guitar again. Place your 1st finger at the 2nd fret on the A String, your 2nd finger at the 3rd fret on the Low E String and your 3rd finger all the way down at the 3rd fret on the High E String. The Root Note is G which is played as the Low E String on the 3rd fret.
The C Major Open Chord
The CMaj Open Chord uses the notes C, G and E. The Low E String is not played at all, we start with the A String fretted by your 3rd finger at the 3rd fret to give you the Root Note C, the D String is fretted by your 2nd finger at the 2nd fret to give you an E note, the G String is left open, the B String is fretted by your 1st finger at the 1st fret to give another C. The final High E string is left open.
DMaj Open Chord
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#.
Now let’s learn a simple chord progression that you can play as an endless loop for good practice. We’ll be using the I-V-IV turn around progression as seen in Knocking on Heavens Door by Guns N Roses. Start with the GMaj for a count of two beats, move to the DMaj for a count of 2 beats, then the CMaj for a count of 4 beats and finally resolve back to the GMaj and start again.
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.
The key to this practice routine is to change the order of the guitar chords each time you practice it. You might do the same loop for 15 minutes one day, but the next time you come to it try the chords in a different order.
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.
Adam Summers is out to bust the myth that you need money to learn how to play guitar. What you really need is sound advice and time to practice. Check out some more quality articles on beginner guitar chords at InstantGuitarist.com.
