Open Position Chords For Acoustic GuitarOne of the best things to learn if you’re just strating out with an acoustic, is to learn how to play some open position chords. These chords can be used to make your own songs or play many popular songs – and they’re also easier to play than barre chords – especially on an acoustic. Scales are an important thing to understand when it comes to comes playing guitar. Scales and chords are the building blocks to all music, no matter what instrument you decide to play. |
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This is because chords are BUILT on the scales. However, we’re going to start off by learning some basic chords, first. Chords are very important when it comes to guitar, because you will spend a lot of time working with them as a guitarist. By learning a few chords you can also get up and running by performing a few simple songs, or making your own music. We’ll start with some of the most common “open-position” chords.
We’ll start with C: In case you’re not familiar with chord diagrams: The “x” mark means don’t play that string. The 0’s mean play that string open (without holding down a string). The number mean hold down that number fret on that string. (Also, for this particular diagram, it means use that number finger to hold it down). Another open position chord used in guitar playing is G. Here it is:
-------------------3------------------------------ <-- High E Next we will learn a variation of the G chord, which is the G7 chord. This is basically the same fingering as the G chord, but (for the people who understand music theory) the root is lowered to the 7th interval.
Here’s how it looks: Next we will learn the D chord. Here it is:
-------------------2------------------------------ <-- High E Another open position chord used in guitar playing is G. Here it is:
-------------------3------------------------------ <-- High E Next we will learn a variation of the G chord, which is the G7 chord. This is basically the same fingering as the G chord, but (for the people who understand music theory) the root is lowered to the 7th interval.
Here’s how it looks: Next we will learn the D chord. Here it is:
-------------------2------------------------------ <-- High E So it’s now time to carry on and learn a few more open position chords. So far I’ve covered C, G, G7, D, and Dm. Next we will teach you another very popular chord, the E chord. Here’s the diagram:
-------------------0------------------------------ <-- High E Next we will learn Em. (m means minor). Here’s the diagram:
-------------------0------------------------------ <-- High E As you can see, it’s just the same as E major, but you only need to use two fingers down, as the rest of the strings are played open. Now let’s learn A. Here’s the diagram:
-------------------0------------------------------ <-- High E And then there’s the minor version of A. Here’s the diagram for A minor:
-------------------0------------------------------ <-- High E The next chord to learn is the A7 chord. Here’s the diagram for it:
-------------------0------------------------------ <-- High E The next chord I have for you is the E7 chord. Here it is:
-------------------0------------------------------ <-- High E And finally, we have the D7 chord. Here’s the diagram:
-------------------2------------------------------ <-- High E And that’s all there is to it! W hope you’ve taken the time to learn these chords well. Not just memorize them, but also practice moving from one to the other. Take it slow at first, give your fingers a chance to learn the positions, then gradually increase the speed… but not at the expense of accuracy. Experiment with which chords should good together. This will also help to train your ear, which is a great advantage for a guitarist. |