Guitar Chords

This deck is designed to help you build a solid foundation in open-position guitar chords, the building blocks of countless songs across many genres. You'll work through the most common major and minor chords (A, C, D, E, G, Am, Dm, Em, F), along with essential dominant seventh chords (A7, D7, E7, G7, B7) that add color and bluesy flavor to your playing. A card on barre chords is also included to introduce you to movable chord shapes that unlock the entire fretboard.

This material is well suited for beginner to early-intermediate guitarists who are just starting out or who want to firm up their chord vocabulary. If you're an absolute newcomer, it's a good idea to keep your guitar nearby as you study so you can physically practice each shape as you review the card. Musicians returning to the instrument after time away will also find the deck useful as a quick refresher on the core open-position chords.

To get the most out of your study sessions, try spacing your reviews across several short sessions rather than cramming everything at once, since muscle memory develops gradually. Pay particular attention to clean, buzz-free fingering and clean transitions between chords, as smooth changes are often more important than the chords themselves in real playing situations. With consistent practice, these shapes will become second nature and open the door to strumming songs, playing along with others, and eventually exploring more advanced chord voicings.

The first chords every guitarist learns are open chords, which use a combination of fretted and open (unfretted) strings to produce rich, resonant tones. The open A major chord is a great starting point: place your index, middle, and ring fingers in a diagonal line across the 2nd fret of the D, G, and B strings respectively, then strum from the A (5th) string down, muting or skipping the low E string. Its minor counterpart, A minor, only changes one note — the index finger moves from the D string up to the 1st fret of the B string, flattening the third to a C note. That same one-note principle shows up across nearly every minor comparison: switching A major to A minor lowers the third; switching D major to D minor lowers the third on the high E string.

Two other foundational chords are C major and D major. The open C uses a stretched shape: ring finger on the 3rd fret of the A string, middle on the 2nd fret of the D string, and index on the 1st fret of the B string, with the G and high E strings ringing open. The open D chord is more compact — index on the 2nd fret of the G string, ring on the 3rd fret of the B string, and middle on the 2nd fret of the high E string — and uses the open D string itself as the root note. For both, strumming only the top four or five strings keeps the bass clean and avoids muddy open strings.

The E family gives players two of the easiest shapes on the guitar. E major places three fingers on the 1st fret of the G string and the 2nd frets of the A and D strings, and is one of the most resonant open chords because you can strum all six strings. E minor is even simpler, requiring only two fingers on the 2nd frets of the A and D strings. The simplified open F major introduces a small barre for the index finger across the 1st frets of the B and high E strings, plus two more fingers on the 2nd and 3rd frets of the G and D strings; the full barre version is more common at intermediate levels. Finally, the open G major chord is played with one finger each on the 2nd fret of the A string, the 3rd fret of the low E, and the 3rd fret of the high E, with the option to add the pinky on the 3rd fret of the B string.

Seventh chords add a bluesy, soulful quality to progressions and are extremely common in folk, country, rock, and blues. They are built by adding a flatted seventh (the ♭7) interval to a major chord. Many of these open shapes are simple modifications of the basic open chords you already know.

For example, the A7 chord in open position uses just two fingers — middle on the 2nd fret of the D string and index on the 2nd fret of the B string — leaving the G string open. That open G string naturally provides the ♭7 note (G is the ♭7 of A major), giving the chord its dominant 7th character. The D7 chord uses the same skeleton as D minor but lifts one finger away: index on the 1st fret of the B string, middle on the 2nd fret of the G, and ring on the 2nd fret of the high E. The fretting of the C (1st fret of the B string) provides the ♭7 that defines D7. The E7 chord is essentially an open E major with the ring finger lifted off the D string, allowing the open D note (the ♭7) to ring.

Other open seventh chords use slightly fuller shapes. The G7 chord requires three fingers spread across the neck: index on the 1st fret of the high E, middle on the 2nd fret of the A, and ring on the 3rd fret of the low E; the F note at the 1st fret of the high E serves as the ♭7. The B7 chord is one of the more complex open-position chords, using all four fingers: index on the 1st fret of the D string, middle on the 2nd fret of the A, ring on the 2nd fret of the G, and pinky on the 2nd fret of the high E, strummed from the A string down. Mastering these shapes rounds out the basic open chord vocabulary.

Once open chords feel comfortable, movable chord forms unlock the entire fretboard. A barre chord is created when your index finger presses flat across all — or several — strings at a single fret, effectively becoming a movable "nut." The remaining fingers then form a familiar chord shape behind the barre. Because only the fret position changes, the same shape produces a different chord name as you slide it up and down the neck.

The two classic movable shapes come from E and A open chords. The E-shape barre chord lays the index finger flat across all six strings at the target fret, then places the middle, ring, and pinky on the A, D, and G strings in the classic E major pattern. The root note of this shape sits on the 6th string under the barring finger; for example, barring the 3rd fret with an E shape produces a G major chord. To turn an E-shape major into a minor, drop the barre at the chosen fret and place your ring finger on the A string plus your pinky on the D string, each two frets above the barre. Barring the 1st fret gives F minor. To convert an E-shape major barre into a dominant 7th barre chord, simply lift your pinky off the D string; this opens the ♭7 interval on that string. For the A-shape barre, the same idea applies — bar across all strings, form an A major shape on the higher frets, but the root note now lives on the 5th string. Barring the 3rd fret of the A shape, for example, gives you a C major chord. Cleanly fretting these chords requires placing your index close to (not on top of) the fret wire, using the bony edge of the finger, and keeping the thumb centered behind the neck.

Power chords strip harmony down even further to produce the chunky sound heard across rock and punk. A power chord contains only the root and the fifth — no third — making it neither major nor minor. The simplest two-note version places the index finger on the desired fret of a low string for the root and the ring finger two frets higher on the next string for the fifth; for instance, index on the 5th fret of the low E and ring on the 7th fret of the A string gives you an A5. A three-note version adds the octave of the root by placing the pinky two frets up on the next string over (same fret as the ring finger). The lack of a third is exactly why power chords work so well with distortion — the interval that creates dissonance when overdriven is missing entirely, and the simple voicing cuts cleanly through a loud mix. They can be played on any adjacent string pair (6-5, 5-4, 4-3) using a two-fret spacing, but a crucial detail: between the G (3rd) and B (2nd) strings the standard guitar tuning changes, so the fifth must be placed three frets up instead of two.

Chord diagrams are the most common visual shorthand for learning new chords, and understanding their conventions is essential. On a standard diagram, vertical lines represent the six strings, and horizontal lines represent the frets. The thinnest string (high E) is string 1 and is drawn on the far right, while the thickest string (low E) is string 6 on the far left — this matches the way the strings appear from the player's viewpoint.

Above the nut line (the top horizontal line), two important symbols give string-by-string information. An "X" above a string tells you to skip or mute that string entirely — it should not sound when you strum. An "O" means play that string open, with no finger on it. Frets below the nut are numbered beginning with the space between the nut and the first metal fret wire as the 1st fret, and the count increases as you move toward the body. If a chord is positioned higher up the neck, fret numbers inside or beside the diagram tell you which fret the diagram starts at.

Inside the diagram itself, black dots show exactly where to place your fingertips, positioned in the open space between fret wires. Many diagrams include numbers inside or below the dots to indicate which finger to use: 1 is the index, 2 the middle, 3 the ring, and 4 the pinky. A curved line — or a thick bar — that spans multiple strings at the same fret indicates a barre, the technique of pressing one finger flat across several strings simultaneously. This is the visual cue for movable barre chord shapes and is one of the most important symbols to recognize.

Once chords are in your hands, the right hand adds rhythm and texture. The simplest strumming pattern is all downstrokes on every beat (1-2-3-4), creating steady quarter notes that are common in punk rock and beginner playing. To make it sound musical, keep your wrist relaxed and your arm moving in a smooth, even pendulum motion rather than a stiff up-and-down chop. Adding upstrokes on the "ands" between beats gives you a basic down-up pattern in 4/4 time (D-U-D-U-D-U-D-U), the foundation on which nearly every more complex pattern is built.

From there, the variations multiply. One of the most popular is the D-D-U-UDU pattern, which hits on 1, 2, 2&, 3&, 4, and 4&; it appears in countless acoustic pop and folk songs because of its flowing, syncopated feel. The reggae-style island strum — D, D-U, U-D-U — emphasizes the off-beats for a bouncy, laid-back rhythm. The folk/country boom-chuck pattern splits the role of the right hand: the thumb plays the bass note (root) on beats 1 and 3, while the fingers strum the upper strings on beats 2 and 4. For more advanced rhythms, 16th-note patterns divide each beat into four subdivisions (1-e-&-a) with the arm moving twice as fast, creating funkier grooves in R&B and pop. Accenting select strums adds dynamics — accenting beats 2 and 4 produces a backbeat groove, while a shuffle or swing feel uses long-short eighth notes (da-DUM, da-DUM) essential to blues and jazz. Travis picking is a special fingerpicking technique where the thumb alternates between two bass strings (root and fifth) while the fingers pluck melody notes in between, creating independent bass and melody lines popular in country and folk.

Fingerpicking lets individual fingers pluck strings independently, producing multiple simultaneous voices. The technique uses Spanish notation: p = pulgar (thumb), i = índice (index), m = medio (middle), and a = anular (ring finger). The thumb handles bass strings (4th, 5th, 6th), while the index, middle, and ring fingers cover the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st strings respectively. A classic beginner arpeggio pattern is p-i-m-a-m-i, where the thumb strikes the bass note and the fingers pluck higher strings in sequence, then reverse back down for a harp-like sound. In 3/4 time, a popular waltz pattern is p-i-m, p-i-m, with one bass note and two finger plucks per measure. To play cleanly, the picking hand should rest with the thumb on a bass string, fingers naturally curled toward the treble strings, wrist slightly arched, and forearm supported on the upper bout of the guitar. The key distinction from flatpicking — which uses a pick — is that fingerpicking allows multiple voices simultaneously and produces a softer tone ideal for fingerstyle arrangements.

Standard guitar tuning from the thickest string to the thinnest is E-A-D-G-B-E, easily memorized with the phrase "Eddie Ate Dynamite Good Bye Eddie." Most adjacent strings are tuned a perfect fourth apart, but the interval between the G (3rd) and B (2nd) strings is a major third — an irregularity that affects every chord, scale, and arpeggio on the instrument. Knowing the open-string names is fundamental because the same two E notes (low and high) are two octaves apart, and they anchor how you read chord roots.

Several alternate tunings open up new sonic landscapes. Drop D lowers just the 6th string from E to D, giving D-A-D-G-B-E; this enables full-sounding power chords with a single finger across the bottom three strings and is popular in rock and metal. Open G tuning is D-G-D-G-B-D — strumming all six open strings produces a G major chord, famously used by Keith Richards. Open D tuning (D-A-D-F♯-A-D) likewise yields an open D major chord when all strings are played open, ideal for slide guitar. DADGAD (D-A-D-G-A-D) creates a modal, Celtic sound that produces a Dsus4 chord when strummed open, used by Pierre Bensusan and Jimmy Page. To tune by ear using the 5th-fret method, play the 5th fret of each string and match it against the open string below it — except between G and B, where you use the 4th fret of the G to match the B. Clip-on chromatic tuners, which detect all twelve chromatic notes, are especially valuable for alternate tunings and noisy environments.

Navigating the fretboard relies on a few key landmarks. On the low E string, the natural notes from open to the 12th fret are E, F (1st fret), G (3rd), A (5th), B (7th), C (8th), D (10th), and E (12th, an octave above open). Note that natural half steps occur between E-F and B-C — there is no sharp or flat between those notes. On the A string, landmark frets are A (open), C (3rd), D (5th), E (7th), and A (12th). On the G string, the same pattern gives G (open), C (5th), D (7th), and G (12th). Octave shapes make it easier to find the same note in different positions: a note on the 6th string has its octave two strings over and two frets up on the 4th string, and the same relationship connects the 5th string to the 3rd. The 12th fret is the midpoint of the vibrating string and produces a note one octave higher than the open string — it is why the 12th fret is marked with double dots as a visual reference.

A capo is a clamp placed on the neck at a chosen fret that shortens all vibrating strings uniformly, raising the pitch and effectively transposing the guitar. Placing it on the 2nd fret raises every sound by two half steps, so a G-shape chord sounds as A, a C shape as D, and a D shape as E. With a capo on the 3rd fret, a G-C-D progression actually sounds as B♭-E♭-F. The capo is the tool of choice when you want the bright, ringing open-string character that barre chords cannot provide, and it is also faster than rewriting chord shapes to change keys between songs. A common application: place the capo on the 2nd fret and play G, C, and D shapes to perform in the key of A, taking advantage of the natural resonance of G-family open chords.

Chords combine into progressions, and progressions are the structural backbone of virtually every song. The most fundamental relationship is the I-IV-V progression, where I is the tonic, IV is the subdominant four steps up, and V is the dominant five steps up. In the key of G major, this is the famous G-C-D progression — one of the first formulas beginners learn because it appears in countless pop, rock, country, and folk songs. In E major, the same I-IV-V-I is E-A-B-E, and the I-IV-V7-I version (E-A-B7-E) leans into blues territory. The 12-bar blues is built on this same I-IV-V structure: in E it is E-E-E-E, A-A-E-E, B7-A-E-B7, and in A it is A-A-A-A, D-D-A-A, E7-D-A-E7. Each chord symbol represents one bar of music, and the B7 turnaround in the 12th measure pulls the ear back to the top of the form. Because A, D, and E7 are all friendly open chords, the 12-bar blues in A is a wonderful starting point for beginners.

Beyond I-IV-V, a few other progressions dominate popular music. The vi-IV-I-V progression (Am-F-C-G in the key of C major), sometimes called the "pop-punk" or "sensitive" progression, mixes minor and major colors for an emotionally complex feel — that melancholy comes from opening on the minor vi chord. Songs like "Let It Be," "No Woman No Cry," and "With or Without You" use variants of the I-V-vi-IV progression (G-D-Em-C in G), prized for its satisfying blend of major brightness and minor depth. In jazz, the king of progressions is ii-V-I, which in C major is Dm-G-C; the ii chord provides smooth voice leading into the V, which then resolves cleanly to the I.

Every chord you play in a song usually belongs to the key's chord family — the set of chords built from each scale degree of the major scale. The pattern of qualities is fixed across all major keys: I, IV, and V are major; ii, iii, and vi are minor; vii° is diminished. So in G major the family is G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em, F♯dim; in C major it is C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim; and in D major it is D, Em, F♯m, G, A, Bm, C♯dim. Knowing the chord family of a key lets you predict likely chord changes, transpose progressions to other keys quickly, and even improvise harmonically. Once you understand the family pattern, you can construct the family of any major key by stacking thirds and applying the same major/minor/diminished pattern.

Beyond rhythm, the guitar is a versatile lead instrument. Legato techniques let you play sequences of notes smoothly without picking each one. A hammer-on sounds the second note by slamming a fretting finger down onto a higher fret while the string is still ringing from the previous pick; it is notated in tablature with an "h." A pull-off is the reverse — fret two notes, pick once, and pull the higher finger off with a slight sideways plucking motion to sound the lower note, notated with a "p." Slides ("/" for up, "\" for down) involve moving a fretting finger along the string while maintaining pressure to produce a continuous pitch change. Legato runs — chains of hammer-ons and pull-offs — are central to the styles of players like Joe Satriani and Allan Holdsworth.

Bending and vibrato techniques add expression to single notes. A string bend pushes the string sideways (usually upward) after picking, raising its pitch by an interval; a half-step bend raises pitch by one fret (one semitone), while a full bend raises it by two frets (a whole tone). Using multiple fingers behind the bending finger gives strength and control. Vibrato is a rapid, subtle oscillation in pitch created by repeatedly bending and releasing a fretted note slightly, adding warmth and expressiveness; even, controlled vibrato is one of the hallmarks of an experienced player. A pre-bend bends the string before picking it, so the picked note appears bent from the start and can be released down to its natural pitch — useful for imitating a descending note. Bend-and-release combines an up-bend held briefly with a controlled return to the original pitch, creating a "cry" effect.

Palm muting is a foundational rhythm technique: rest the edge of your picking hand's palm lightly on the strings near the bridge while strumming or picking, producing a percussive "chug" widely used in rock, metal, and punk. Harmonics are bell-like overtones produced by lightly touching — not pressing — a string directly above fret wires such as the 12th, 7th, or 5th and lifting the finger immediately after picking. Pinch harmonics (artificial harmonics) are created when the thumb slightly touches the string just after the pick strikes it; combined with distortion, they produce the high-pitched squeals common in rock and metal solos.

Understanding the guitar itself helps everything else make sense. The main sections are the headstock (which holds the tuning machines), the neck (a long wooden piece topped by the fretboard or fingerboard where the frets sit), and the body (with its soundboard, sound hole, back, and sides). The nut is a slotted piece at the top of the fretboard that spaces the strings and sets their height at the first fret; the bridge anchors the strings at the body end and, combined with the nut, defines the scale length. Inside the neck, a truss rod counteracts string tension and can be adjusted to set neck relief and action. On an electric guitar, single-coil pickups deliver a bright, twangy tone but pick up electrical hum, while humbucker pickups pair two coils out of phase to cancel that hum and produce a warmer, thicker sound. The pickup selector switch chooses which pickup(s) are active: the neck pickup sounds warm, the bridge pickup sounds cutting, and combining them gives a balanced tone. The six strings from thickest to thinnest are E (6th), A (5th), D (4th), G (3rd), B (2nd), and E (1st); the lower strings are wound, the higher strings are plain steel.

Finally, tablature and fingerpicking notation. Guitar tablature (TAB) uses six horizontal lines representing the six strings (thinnest on top, thickest on bottom) with numbers that indicate the fret to play — 0 means open. Numbers stacked vertically are played together as a chord, and the page reads left to right. Beyond the numbers, TAB letters denote techniques: "h" = hammer-on, "p" = pull-off, "b" = bend, "/" = slide up, "\" = slide down. Alternate picking, the technique of strictly alternating down and up strokes for every successive note, builds speed efficiently and is the standard right-hand discipline for fast passages. And remember the core distinction: chords are notes played simultaneously to make harmony, while scales are notes played in sequence — chords are literally built from the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of their corresponding scale.