Playing Guitar for Beginners: The Open Chords

Last week, we talked about the parts of the guitar. By knowing this, you will be able to know the position of the hand when doing a chord or set of chords for a song.

So in this article, we will talk about chords. Guitar chords are the ones that give life to the sound of your guitar.

For beginner, you have to know that in music, the first seven letter of the alphabet are being used as names for major chords that we are going to talk about today.


As you can see in the chart, there are seven Major chords with names A, B, C, D, E, F, G.

These are the first things you need to know in playing the guitar and even if you became a professional, you will still be using these chords.

5 of these chords can be played with open chords (A, C, D, E, G) and two are played with bar chords (B, F).

There are also ways to play B and F without using a bar but we will talk about that in future articles.

THE OPEN CHORDS

In this article, I want to talk about the open chords first. Why? Because these chords are the easiest chords in guitar playing and you can master these within just a few hours.

1. THE A CHORD

A MAJOR

You can execute this by using you middle finger (1), ring finger (2), and pinky (3).

A MINOR

This is played by putting you index finger (1), middle finger (2) and ring finger (3).

2. THE C CHORD

C MAJOR

Here, you have to use your index finger (1), middle finger (2), and your ring finger (3) to execute this chord.

(The C minor is a bar chord so I will not show it here.)

3. THE D CHORD

D MAJOR

One of the most used chord in guitar playing, the D chord can be played by placing you index finger (1), middle finger (2) and the ring finger (3). You only have to strum the first four strings of the guitar.

D MINOR

This is done by putting your index finger (1), middle finger (2) and ring finger (3).

4. THE E CHORD

E MAJOR

The E chords is played bu using your index finger (1), middle finger (2), and ring finger (3). You must strum all six strings of the guitar.

E MINOR

Probably the easiest chord for beginners to know, using only two of your fingers to execute this chord. The E minor chords is played using only your middle finger (2) and ring finger (3). Just like the E major chord, you have to play all the strings.

5. THE G CHORD

G MAJOR

The G Major chord is also one of the most commonly used chords. The G Major chord is played by using your index finger (1), your middle finger (2) and your ring finger (3).

(The G minor chord uses a bar so it will not be tackles in this article.)

In the next article I will show you some of the songs that uses only open chords.

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Playing Guitar for Beginners: Knowing the Guitar

I shared this blog on facebook and I found a comment saying that she wants to learn how to play guitar.

Well if you want to learn how to play guitar, then that means you are a complete beginner. And in this topic I will try to teach you the basics of guitar playing for absolute beginners.

Let's start by knowing the parts of the guitar.

The Head Stock

The head stock is the one that holds the tuning keys. Here is where the other end of your strings will be attached.

Tuners/Tuning Keys

These keys are very important in your guitar. By the name itself, tuning keys are the ones used in tuning your guitar strings. Without them, your guitar will possibly be just a messy sound with no harmony in it.

The Nut

The one that serves as a fixed bar and plays a very important role in you guitar. And what role is that? It holds your stings in place. Why is that very important? So that your sound will be under control. Without it, vibration of the stings will be too much, and your sound will be in a complete chaos.

The Strings

Well, the guitar is a stringed instrument so this is one of the most important or maybe the most important part of the guitar. You can call this the heart of the guitar for without this, your guitar is dead/useless.

The strings can be played in may different ways and as a guitar player, you can just go around and experiment with it. Strumming is the most common way of playing it, and the other one is plucking. Lead Guitarist uses a method called shredding but that will not be a part of this article. (Maybe in the future we can talk about it.)

The Fretboard

The fretboard is the wooden section of a guitar that holds the frets. It is the place where you will do your chords and finger styles and shreds.

The Frets

The frets are the metallic bars that are located at the fretboard. Their purpose is to change the pitch of each string as your finger moves farther or closer from the nut or the head stock.


The Neck

Well, it's not different from our body structure. The neck is the one that separates the head and the body of the guitar. It also serves as a fretboard holder.

The Body

The body of the guitar is hollow part of the guitar the holds other smaller parts. They come in different sizes and styles. Some are bigger that the other, depending on what type of guitar you are using.

The Bridge

The bridge is where the other end of your strings are located. With holes to put the strings and string pegs as covers, the bridge plays a very important role on the guitar.

The Saddle

Located at the bridge, the saddle is the other end nut for the strings (sort of). It function is to hold the string in its place and keeping the tight so that the strings won't over vibrate.

The String Pegs

String pegs are pins that holds the strings in their place. Their function is like the tuning keys on the other end.

The Sound Hole

Can be seen only on acoustic guitars and electro-acoustic guitars (but not on electric guitars), the sound hole is where the vibration from the string reverberates. It enhances and amplifies the vibration creating a clean melodic sound.

The Pickguard

Most guitars have this, some don't. This serves only one purpose and that is to guard the guitar's finish from scratches due to heavy strumming.

On the next topic, I will talk about the basic chords, and chord progressions for beginners and also some basic hand exercises to enhance you hand's playing ability.

Next time we will tackle about the basic chords and basic chord progressions for beginners to learn.

Please leave your comment below and don't forget to follow this blog for updates.

Thanks.

How to start a band

If your passion is music and you love playing instruments, or you are just a talented singer and you not into a solo career, you should consider forming a band. You can be a member of a cover band or a band that create original songs. Either way, you will be able to enjoy it and what's better is you can earn from it. But how are you going to start a band. Here are the tips that can get you started on you way to rock and roll.