Acoustic Guitar Chords You Must Know

It is imperative that beginning guitarists learn a basic group of acoustic guitar chords. These notes form the foundation for most of the music you will play. By learning as few as eight to ten chords you will be able to play thousands of songs. At least three different notes played simultaneously is the definition of a chord. This means three or more strings on a guitar are plucked at once. The most notes are six in a guitar chord since the instrument has six strings. Chords are usually learned as families of three; for example, the "A Family" corresponds to the key of A, and they are typically used to start and end a song. The easiest chords to learn are those in the open position which means one or more strings are not pressed. Be sure to practice the notes in a family by transitioning between the chords. When you are comfortable and your transitions are smooth, move on to the next family.

Most acoustic guitar chords can be found on diagrams or charts that are basically drawings of the first four to five frets. Circled numbers show the strings where the fingers press down for each note. Your hands and fingers should be trained and limber. Only your fingertips should be used so that you avoid muffling neighboring strings that are to be played open. Keeping your thumb at the back of the neck of the guitar helps with using only the fingertips. Probably the easiest chords are those in the A family or key of A, because they use just three fingers. The key of A includes three chords: A, D and E. The key of D includes four chords: D, Em (e minor), G and A. You already know two of those if you learned the key of A thoroughly. These are also easy because Em uses two fingers and the others use three. The key of G uses five chords: G, Am, C, D, and Em. If you learned A and D the only new chords are C and Am, both played with three fingers.

There are many more acoustic guitar chords, but you have enough to play many basic songs. A couple of songs that can be played in the key of D are My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean and Twist and Shout by The Beatles. It should be easy to find the order of the notes online. There are also many more three chord songs that can be found on the Internet. Just keep practicing until you have this mastered.