Guitar lesson
Basic Guitar Chords for Beginners
The 8 basic guitar chords every beginner should learn first — with diagrams, fingerings and practice tips.
Start with eight basic guitar chords: C, A, G, E, D, Am, Em and Dm. These open shapes work on acoustic and electric guitars in standard tuning. Learn which strings to strum as well as where to put your fingers, so each chord starts with a clear bass note.
Practise two shapes at a time before joining them into a song. The diagrams above show the finger positions; the exercises below connect them with a steady strum and show how a capo changes the sounding key.
Acoustic guitar chords: strumming and capo
These eight open shapes work on acoustic and electric guitars in standard tuning. On an acoustic, start with G–D–Em–C, one bar per chord in 4/4. Set the metronome to 60 BPM and play four even downstrokes per bar. Let the strings ring. Start D on string 4 and C on string 5; a six-string sweep adds bass notes those shapes do not need.
When the changes stay in time, keep your hand moving down and up to count
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &. Try the strumming patterns
at the same slow tempo before speeding up. If a string is muted, pluck each
string separately and move the finger touching it, rather than squeezing harder.
A capo lets you keep these acoustic guitar chord shapes in a higher key. At fret 2, G–D–Em–C shapes sound A–E–F♯m–D. Count fingering frets from the capo and check tuning after fitting it. The capo calculator shows other positions; Fender’s capo explanation describes how the clamp raises open-string pitch.
The order to learn them in
Do not learn them alphabetically. Learn them by how many fingers they need and how easily the shape sits under the hand:
| # | Chord | Fingers | Fretted strings | Why here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E minor | 2 | A, D | Both fingers on the same fret, all six strings ring |
| 2 | A minor | 3 | D, G, B | Move C’s ring finger to G string fret 2 |
| 3 | E major | 3 | A, D, G | Same cluster as Em with one finger added |
| 4 | D major | 3 | G, B, high E | A tight triangle on the top three strings |
| 5 | A major | 3 | D, G, B | Three fingers in a row on fret 2 |
| 6 | C major | 3 | A, D, B | The first real stretch, ring finger out to fret 3 |
| 7 | G major | 3 | low E, A, high E | The widest stretch of the eight |
| 8 | D minor | 3 | G, B, high E | Lower the high E note from fret 2 to 1; refinger |
Two weeks of ten minutes a day gets you through the first five. The last three take longer, because each one demands a stretch or a finger position that feels backwards at first.
The five major chords
Major chords sound bright and resolved. These five — C, A, G, E and D — are the backbone of almost every beginner songbook.
E major (0-2-2-1-0-0). Middle finger on the A string fret 2, ring finger on the D string fret 2, index on the G string fret 1. All six strings ring. This is the friendliest major shape because the fingers sit in a tight cluster with nothing to stretch.
A major (x-0-2-2-2-0). Three fingers in a row across the second fret of the D, G and B strings. The classic beginner problem here is squeezing the fingers together until they mute each other. Leave a hair of space between them and arch the knuckles.
D major (x-x-0-2-3-2). A triangle on the top three strings: index on the G string fret 2, ring on the B string fret 3, middle on the high E string fret 2. Strum only the top four strings — the low E and A are marked X for a reason.
C major (x-3-2-0-1-0). The first chord that asks for a genuine stretch: ring finger to the A string fret 3, middle on the D string fret 2, index on the B string fret 1, low E silent. If your C sounds thin, the ring finger is almost certainly lying flat and muting the open G string.
G major (3-2-0-0-0-3). Three fingers spread across the widest gap in the eight. There are three common fingerings and no single correct one; the two-finger version (3-x-0-0-0-3) is a legitimate voicing and the fastest route to a clean sound, though you should move to the full shape once your hand can span both E strings.
The three minor chords
Minor chords sound darker and more emotional, and in practice they are easier than their major counterparts.
E minor (0-2-2-0-0-0). The easiest chord on the guitar: two fingers, both on fret 2, on adjacent strings. If a beginner could only play one chord, it should be this one.
A minor (x-0-2-2-1-0). The C major shape with the ring finger lifted off the A string fret 3 and moved to the G string fret 2. Keep the middle finger on D2 and the index on B1; let the A string ring open and leave low E silent. Fender’s Am fingering lists the same D2, G2 and B1 finger positions.
D minor (x-x-0-2-3-1). Compared with D major, the high E string note drops from F# at fret 2 to F at fret 1. Refinger the shape: index on high E1, middle on G2 and ring on B3. Strum from the open D string. Lowering the third changes D major into D minor; it is not a slide of the same index finger.
The eight chords in real songs
This is the part that matters. The linked charts put these shapes into practice; some add another chord, such as G7 in Amazing Grace:
| Song | Key | Chords | What it drills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three Little Birds | A | A, D, E | Three majors, no minors, slow changes |
| Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door | G | G, D, Am, C | Your first four-chord loop |
| Country Roads | G | G, Em, D, C | Major-to-minor changes at a walking pace |
| Stand By Me | G | G, Em, C, D | The I-vi-IV-V doo-wop loop |
| Zombie | Em | Em, C, G, D | A minor-key loop with one hard change |
| Ain’t No Sunshine | Am | Am, Em, G, Dm | Every minor chord you know, in one song |
| Take It Easy | G | G, D, C, Em, Am | Five of the eight, at tempo |
| Amazing Grace | G | G, G7, C, Em, D | Your first seventh chord |
Start with Three Little Birds and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. Both move slowly enough that you hear the change coming before you have to make it.
How to practise basic chords
- Fret cleanly. Place each finger just behind the fret wire, not on top of it, and press with the fingertip.
- Check every string. Pluck the strings one by one. Any buzz or dead note means a finger is touching the wrong string.
- Use the “hover” drill. Form the chord shape, strum, release, and hover just above the strings. Form it again from scratch. This builds muscle memory faster than holding the chord down.
- Change between two chords. Pick any pair — G and C, or Am and E — and switch back and forth with a metronome at 50 BPM, then speed up.
Diagnosing a chord that buzzes
| What you hear | What it usually is | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| A dull thud on one string | A finger is lying flat and touching the neighbouring string | Arch the knuckle and fret with the tip |
| A rattle that stops when you press harder | Finger too far behind the fret wire | Move up until you are almost touching the fret |
| One string missing from the chord | You are strumming a string marked X | Check the diagram before blaming your fingers |
| The whole chord sounds thin | The lowest string in the shape is muted | Play the strings one at a time to find it |
Buzzing is almost never a strength problem. Nine times out of ten it is position, and the fix takes ten seconds once you know where to look.
The basic chord chart
The diagram wall at the top of this page is the one to save, print, or memorise. Once you can play all eight chords and change between any pair of them, you are officially no longer a beginner.
Want it on paper? Download the printable chord chart PDF (36 chords across three A4 pages), or print a stack of blank chord boxes to write your own shapes into.
What to learn after the eight
The eight open chords are a complete vocabulary for hundreds of songs, but they run out in two places: keys that need F, Bb, Eb or Ab, and any song that moves up the neck. Both problems have the same solution — barre chords, which turn two shapes into every major and minor chord in existence.
Before that, though, spend a week on changing chords smoothly. Speed of change, not the number of chords you know, is what makes a beginner sound like a player. The easy chords guide covers the drills that get you there.