Guitar / first chords
Beginner guitar chords, in the order that gets you playing songs
Eight open chords cover an enormous amount of repertoire. Learned in the right order, with the right two changes drilled first, most adults are playing recognisable songs inside a fortnight.
The standard advice is to learn the open chords alphabetically, which is a poor order because it puts the two hardest shapes early and gives you no playable song until you have four of them. The order below is chosen so that every new chord unlocks songs immediately.
The eight chords, in order
| Order | Chord | Why here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | E minor | Two fingers, no muting problems. The easiest honest chord on the instrument. |
| 2 | A minor | Same finger shape as E major, moved. Pairs with Em immediately. |
| 3 | D major | Introduces the small triangle shape and the three-string strum. |
| 4 | G major | Awkward stretch, but unlocks a huge amount of folk and pop. |
| 5 | C major | The G to C change is the one worth drilling hardest. |
| 6 | E major | One finger added to A minor’s shape. |
| 7 | A major | Three fingers crowded into one fret. Cramped, not difficult. |
| 8 | D minor | Completes the set and opens up minor-key songs. |
Drill changes, not chords
This is the single most common beginner mistake. People practise forming each chord in isolation, get comfortable, and then find they still cannot play a song, because a song is made of changes. The chord is a static shape; the change is the skill.
Set a timer for one minute and count how many clean changes you can make between two chords. Write the number down. Do this daily on one pair at a time. Progress on this metric is fast and visible, which matters when motivation is the real constraint.
- Start with Em to Am. Only one finger moves.
- Then G to C. This is the change that appears everywhere and the one most beginners fudge.
- Then C to D, then G to D.
- Once those four pairs are clean, almost every three-chord song is available to you.
The three things causing your buzzing
- Fingers too far from the fret. Press just behind the fret wire, not in the middle of the fret. This fixes most buzzing on its own.
- Flat fingers muting the string below. Curl the knuckles and come down more on the fingertip. If your nails are long, that is the actual problem.
- Pressing too hard. Excess force pulls the string sharp and tires you out. Press until the note rings, then stop.
The change-per-minute drill is a specific instance of deliberate practice: a narrowly defined task, an immediate quantitative feedback signal, and difficulty held just beyond current reliable performance. Practice designs lacking a feedback signal produce markedly slower skill acquisition even at equal time invested.
Ericsson & Pool, Peak, ch. 4.
What to play once you have four
With G, C, D, and Em you can play a very large slice of folk, country, and pop. Try the common major progressions using those four; I–V–vi–IV in G is G–D–Em–C, which is several hundred songs on its own.
Use a metronome from the start, slowly. Changing chords in time at 60 bpm is worth more than changing them quickly out of time. Metronome practice for guitar covers how to set that up.
Barre chords come later
Do not rush F. The full barre F is a strength and technique problem that resolves much more easily once your hand has three months of open chords behind it. Use the three-string Fmaj7 voicing in the meantime; nobody will notice.
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