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The Nine Basic Guitar Chords

There are nine basic guitar chords that are essential for every guitar player to know, and when I say every guitar player, I literally mean EVERY guitar player. These chords are used every day by even the most advanced guitar players and for a lot of guitar players these are the only chords they know, which is ok, because these nine chords you are about to learn are that useful.

These nine chords are also called open position chords, meaning that they are played in open position... down by the nut on the guitar neck. The first chord has already been seen in the lesson on How To Read Guitar Chord Diagrams which if you haven't already, should read before continuing.

All of these chords will be demonstrated through the aid of guitar chord diagrams so it is important that you fully understand how to read these diagrams correctly to make this learning process easier.

C Major, G Major and D Major



Instructions for C Major


Place your 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the 5th string, your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the 4th string and your 1st finger on the 1st fret of the 2nd string. The 3rd and 1st strings should remain open while the 6th string should be avoided.

basic chords g major

Instructions for G Major


Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd fret of the 6th string, your 1st finger on the 2nd fret of the 5th string and your 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the 1st string. All other strings should remain open.

basic chords d major

Instructions for D Major


Place your 1st finger on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string, your 3rd string on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string and your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the 1st string. Play the 4th string open. The 6th and 5th string should be avoided.

E Minor, E Major, A Minor and A Major


basic chords e minor

Instructions for E Minor


Place your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the 5th string and your 3rd finger on the 2nd fret of the 4th string. All other strings should be played open.

basic chords e major

Instructions for E Major


Place your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the 5th string, your 3rd finger on the 2nd fret of the 4th string and your 1st finger on the 1st fret of the 3rd string. All other strings should be played open.

The difference between an E Minor and E Major chord is one change. Can you find it?

basic chords a minor

Instructions for A Minor


Place your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the 4th string, your 3rd finger on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string and your 1st finger on the 1st fret of the 2nd string. The 5th and 1st string should be played open. Avoid the 6th string.

Notice the fingering for an A Minor chord is the exact same as an E Major chord but moved up one set of strings.

basic chords a mayor

Instructions for A Major


Place your 1st finger on the 2nd fret of the 4th string, your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string and your 3rd finger on the 2nd fret of the 2nd string. The 5th and 1st strings should remain open while the 6th string should be avoided.

D Minor and F Major


basic chords d minor

Instructions for D Minor


Place your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string, your 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string and your 1st finger on the 1st fret of the 1st string. The 4th string should be played open while the 5th and 6th strings should be avoided.

basic chords f major

Instructions for F Major


Place your 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the 4th string and your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string. For the 2nd and 1st string, barre your 1st finger across the 1st fret. To learn more about a 'barre' read the section on barre chords.

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