Alright, open chords are the easier to play chords but that doesn't diminish their credibility in the slightest. They are called open chords because at least one of the strings are played open i.e. Not fretted by a finger. They are usually the first chords to master and it is vital that you learn to change between them with ease and fluidity. So right now we are going to learn reading chord diagrams.
Chord diagrams show you where to place your fingers, what strings to play and what fingers to use. To start off this segment of the guitar lesson, you will be shown an example of a chord diagram and how it works, then you will receive a list of the 8 basic open chords and their diagrams for you to practise off of. Now obviously there are more than just these 10 open chords but to begin with you are going to see these basic ones. Throughout the other lessons you will learn other open chords and their diagrams..plus loads of other chord types. Practise the basics over and over again until you get them right, know them off by heart and can switch between them easily.
Here's the first open chord and its diagram.
0 1 2 3 4 5
e|o|---|---|---|---|---|
B|-|---|-4-|---|---|---|
G|-|---|-3-|---|---|---|
D|-|---|-2-|---|---|---|
A|o|---|---|---|---|---|
E|x|---|---|---|---|---|
Firstly, let's quickly recoup what we learnt in the previous lesson.
This is an example of a chord diagram. The letter on top tells you what chord it is. It is an A a letter of the musical alphabet. There is nothing beside the A which means that it is a major chord. The chord is A Major. The horizontal line of numbers below the A tell you what frets are being shown. 0 is another name for the open strings. 1 is the first fret and so on. The horizontal lines are your strings. The letters to the left of these tell you the name of the string. The capital E is the thickest string on your guitar. A is the one below that and so on. The vertical lines show your frets and the space between them is where you put your fingers. The numbers in these spaces tell you what fingers to use. 1 = index finger (beside your thumb), 2 = middle finger, 3 = ring finger, 4 = pinkie.
Alright so how do you play this chord? First look at the 0 column. The o's at the e and the A mean that you play these strings open. The x' at the E means that you don't play this string. Now look at the 2 column. The 4 on the B string means you put your 4th finger on the B string at the 2nd fret. The 3 on the G string means you put your 3rd finger on the G string at the 2nd fret. The 2 on the D string means that you put your 2nd finger on the D string at the 2nd fret. When you have your fingers in place, strum all the strings except for the E string which we're not meant to play. You've just played an A major chord (way to go newbie... You're on your way).