beginner guitar chords

Whenever someone mentions or you see the term beginner guitar chords what’s usually being pointing to is something called Open Chords. These are chords with lots of open strings and are mostly played down near the nut of the guitar. They include common beginner chords such as E minor, D and G. The other main classification of chords are called Barre Chords and these are harder to master as they require a lot of finger strength. Often when beginners first try to play Barre Chords they are surprised at how much pressure needs to be applied and on first attempts it’s often the case that very notes will actually sound. This is due not only to a lack of development of strength in the left hand but also to the fact that you must stretch your fingers in ways which they are not commonly used to.

Some students will get an early mental block against Barre shapes and make a decision to stick only to open chords if possible for all their song playing. This is O.K but if you truly want to have freedom in the kinds of songs you can choose to learn then going the extra mile past open chords and into the moveable Barre shapes will be worth the time and practice. Remember that you only have to master them once, after that you have them for life.

Learning the shapes of beginner guitar chords is not difficult and in fact, most students are able to learn all the basic ones in just a few lessons. If that was there was to playing guitar then it would be very easy however it is not. The real challenge lies in two key area’s…

1. Being able to hold the chords correctly so that every note sounds cleanly
2. Being able to change from one to the next quickly enough to keep up with songs

It is these two points which account for all the practice you’ll need to do when learning guitar chords for beginners. Firstly there is no point in strumming along to your chords if they are not sounding correctly. Many times beginners will be holding the correct shapes however due to not applying enough pressure or incorrect positioning of the fingertips very little of the chord is actually sounding when they strum. In the early stages you have to play a lot of attention to all the little details. A good exercise is to hold a typical open chord and start by picking each individual string from low to high, every string should ring out clearly. For the strings which do not take a closer look as to what may be preventing them from doing so and adjust your hand accordingly. Repeat the exercise for all the chords you have learnt so far.

After running through this exercise a few times you’ll begin to see some real improvement in the quality of all you beginner guitar chords and you’re playing will have gone up a notch in how good it sounds. The second point of being able to change from chord to the next is also extremely important. Once you are able to play your chords cleanly then that is the next step to concentrate on. The best way is to set yourself little practice progressions and use the drum tracks provided in the Practice Module to drill the progressions over and over. As you get better keep pushing to a higher tempo until the changes between all your chords are fast and easy to perform. Guitar lessons can show you what to do but from there's it's up to you to practice and perfect it!

Continue onto Improving Your Acoustic Guitar Chords