Acoustic Guitar Chords Part 1 – Learning Open Chords

Time to learn your acoustic guitar chords. There are two types that we will focus on. Open chords and Bar chords. Open chords are the easier of the two so we will start there.

Open chords are chords that use open string along with fretted notes. All of the fretting takes place in the first three frets with a few small exceptions. The ones you will need right away are A A- C D D- E E- F and G. Just knowing these chords will allow you to be able to play thousands of songs. Plus you will be able to go jam with people and pick up even more songs from them.

One of the best ways to practice these acoustic guitar chords is to pick one. We will use the A chord.

• First thing to do is memorize the chords pattern. Be able to get your fingers to where they need to be without having to look at a chart
• Make Sure that your fingers are curled and you are on the tips
• If any part of your finger is touching another string, then it won’t make any sound. So make sure each finger is up and over all the strings it’s not playing
• Push down firmly but not too hard or the pitch will be sharp
• Now take your hand of the chord and try to get back to it as soon as possible

Now that you have that chord going, lets move onto E. Again, follow the five steps above until you have the E chord ringing. Now combine the two chords. Practice changing form to E to A over and over for about 4 or 5 minutes. You should feel it start to get a little easier. At this point learn the D chord. You know what to do next. Remember to keep repeating. Repetition is the key here. You can play Wild Thing By strumming 2 of each in this order: A D E A

The next day you should aim to review these three chords. Don’t worry about getting any new chords down until you have got these three going smoothly. If you have them going good, pick a new chord and go through the steps. At this point you should be able to practice the above list of acoustic guitar chords