Open chords

Music Lesson: Open Chords

Hey, guys!

So in today's lesson, we're going to be talking all about open chords. We've got a lot to get through here, and I feel it's going to be a slightly longer one.

Overview of Open Chords

We've got nine shapes that I want to talk you through. These are really, really common, and if you can master these shapes and get comfortably between them, you can literally play hundreds of songs. I'm not joking. These are fundamental chords, and I hope you're going to enjoy them.

A Major Chord

Let's start now with an A major chord:

• Fret the second fret on the D string
• Fret the second fret on the G string
• Fret the second fret on the B string

Use your first, second, and third fingers.

Important: There are chord boxes for all of these chords in the downloadable PDF. For this chord, make sure that we don't strum the bottom E string. We want to avoid that one, so our right hand will strum from open A downwards.

When you're learning these new chords, or any new chords, I always find it helpful to pick down the strings individually. This way, you can immediately tell if one of your fingers isn't quite on its fingertips enough, or if you're not pushing down hard enough.

For example:

• If the B string isn't ringing as it should, ask yourself:
  • Am I not pushing hard enough?
  • Am I not on my fingertips?
  • Is another finger blocking it?

You can usually figure it out this way. If you were to simply strum down, you might get away with a few strings not ringing out. If you're not used to how it's supposed to sound, you might think you've got it when, in fact, it needs a little more work.

I highly recommend practicing by playing the strings individually first, and then strumming once you're sure that you've got all the notes in there.

C Major Chord

Moving on, let's look at the C major chord. This one can be a bit of a stretch:

• First finger on the first fret of the B string
• Second finger on the second fret of the D string
• Third finger on the third fret of the A string

Just like with the A major, you can see in the chord box that there's an X above the E string, indicating we don't want to strum that string. We will strum from the A string downwards as well.

Make sure all your notes are nice and clean. Ensure your fingers are on their fingertips and you're not being flat. If your fingernails are even remotely long, you'll struggle to get on your fingertips, so unfortunately, they need to be nice and short.

D Major Chord

Next, we have a D major chord. This shape looks like a triangle:

• First finger on the second fret of the G string
• Second finger on the second fret of the E string
• Third finger on the third fret of the B string

For this chord, we want to avoid both of the bottom two strings, so avoid the E and A strings with our right hand. We want to hear the open D string, so strum from the D string downwards.

Remaining Chords

Now, I'm going to play through the remaining six chords:

• E major chord
• G major chord
• C add 9: This is slightly different, but I've included it for a reason that will hopefully become clear later. It's very simple, take your G shape and move your top two fingers down. It adds an extra note, making it a nice and common chord.

Minor Chords

Moving on to the minor chords:

1. A minor:

   • It uses the same finger shape as the E major, but the fingers are moved down a set of strings.
   • Fret the second fret on the D and G strings, and the first fret on the B string.
   • Avoid the E string when strumming.

2. D minor:

   • Fret the second fret on the G string, third fret on the B, and first fret on the E string.
   • For this one, play only the top four strings.

3. E minor:

   • This is a two-finger job:
   • Fret the second fret on the A string and second fret on the D string with your first and second fingers.
   • For this chord, you want to strum all six strings.

Practice and Application

Before moving on to the next part of the lesson, spend some time practicing these chords.

• Get the fingerings correct.
• Make sure you associate the right name with the right shape.

Not always will you see the chord box in the music. When learning a song, it might only specify a progression: C major, D major, G major, and that's all the information you're given. So, it's essential to know what these shapes are or how to play a version of them.

Next, we're going to look at joining these chords together, which is where they start becoming useful, allowing us to move towards playing some songs!