Easy Guitar Chords for Beginners

It’s interesting for the beginner guitarist, you’re always going to be taught the Open position of chords (that is some strings are played without you placing a finger on any fret) I find it a funny situation because once you learn how to play barre chords you need to remember less, but it’s harder on your fingers. Open chords are easier on your fingers, and help to build your strength and dexterity but can be harder to change between and remember.

This guide on Easy guitar chords for beginners covers how to read chord diagrams and the easiest of the Open Major Chords. For a full set of guitar chords check out my Learn how to play guitar chords guide.

Wrapping up the week

Hi all,

Another great week over here in Christchurch, it’s been snowing for a second time this winter.

I’m just waiting for it to clear up a little before I take my son out tobogganing.

When you’ve got snow, you don’t need much else to be having a good time.

Somebody said to me, ‘But the Beatles were anti-materialistic.’ That’s a huge myth. John and I literally used to sit down and say, ‘Now, let’s write a swimming pool.’
- Paul McCartney

Here’s some weekend reading to queue up on your iPad

Learn Minor Pentatonic Scale Patterns Fast – 5 patterns of the A minor pentatonic scale.

Practice Tips for Beginner Guitarists – Purpose, consistency, warming up, working hard and finishing with a bang.

The I-IV-V Chord Progression – What is it? Why does it sound so good? Get this theory under your belt now so you’re not stuck learning it 3 years from now.

Losing my Religion – Easy guitar song for you to learn over the weekend, it’s easy to play and is distinctive enough so that even if you hit a few dead notes people will easily pick up on what you’re trying to play them :)

Easy Guitar Songs – Losing my Religion

As a beginning guitarist, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with talk of scales, chords, progressions and so on. We could talk theory until your eyes glaze over. But while some basic theory knowledge is necessary to get you going as a beginning guitarist, the best way to get better is to actually play your guitar (revolutionary concept, isn’t it, haha).

So with that in mind, I want to give you some examples of songs to play that are easy enough for a beginner to manage with a little practice so you can feel like you’ve had some fun and accomplished something.

The I-IV-V Chord Progression

Songwriting is all about choosing the right chords to make your song sound just the way you want it. But you might be surprised to learn that choosing chords at random is not the best way to make a tune sound good. There are standard and not so standard chord progressions that you can use as you write a song and harmonize it.

The single most common chord progression you can learn is the I, IV, V progression. You can hear this progression all over the place in songs of just about any style.