Basic Guitar Chords: This Is a Good Starting Point for Beginners

Here’s some easy basic guitar chords for you beginners out there. I know that learning guitar online can be challenging as I am myself a guitarist, I’m going to show how to play these chords with both tabs and chord charts to make it as easy as possible for you.

Basic Guitar Chords

1) A Major

The A Major chord is arguably the easiest to play for any beginner. If you practice playing it enough, you can play it using just one finger if you are comfortable with it. Here’s what an A Major chord looks like:

E|-0-
B|-2-
G|-2-
D|-2-
A|-0-
E|—

The A Major chord is constructed with the notes A, C#, and E. This is important to take note of when you are soloing over top of the chord because you cannot solo over it in the C major scale because of the C# note in the A major chord.

2) E Minor

Playing the E Minor chord is more basic than even the A major and is played in a similar way. Here’s how you play an E minor chord:

E|-0-
B|-0-
G|-0-
D|-2-
A|-2-
E|-0-

Unlike A Major, you can solo over the E minor chord with the C major scale because the notes in E Minor (E,G,B) all fall into the C major scale.

3) G Major

This basic guitar chord will be a bit trickier than the first two we’ve played so far, but the G Major chord is one of the most commonly used chords around. This is what the G major chord looks like:

E|-3-
B|-3-
G|-0-
D|-0-
A|-2-
E|-3-

The G Major chord is also a part of the C major scale because it is comprised of all natural notes ( G,B,D). I know this chord can be hard to play at first so take your time practicing it.

4) F Major

The F Major chord is another challenging chord to play for a beginner. Remember to be patient and try not to get frustrated when playing this chord.

E|–1–
B|–1–
G|–2–
D|–3–
A|–3–
E|—–

The F Major chord is another basic chord that fits into the C major chord progression because of the notes it is comprised of (F,A,C). This is a common chord because it is the IV chord in the C major progression. We will learn more about what I just mentioned later in the chapter as it is a bit advanced for a beginner at this point in the lesson.

5) D Minor

This is another tough basic open guitar chord in the C major progression that every beginner guitarist should learn how to play. Here’s what the D minor chord looks like:

E|–1–
B|–3–
G|–2–
D|–0–
A|—–
E|—–

With the D Minor chord, it is still in the C Major progression since it is comprised of all natural notes (D,F,A). This chord can be tricky when changing into it during a progression.

6) C Major

C Major is a very common chord that every beginner should know how to play. Playing the C major chord is similar to playing the F major chord.

E|–0–
B|–1–
G|–0–
D|–2–
A|–3–
E|—–

Practice With Basic Guitar Chords

Here are a couple of different chord progressions using the chords that we just took a look at. We will be practicing with chords that are in the C major progression only. Practice each of these exercises as many times as possible. Try to play it a little faster and cleaner each time until you can play the progression and create your own rhythm with the chords