3. Open Chords

Things You Need:

Core Topics:

Now that you’ve learned how to tune and read Guitar Tabulature, it’s time to do some playing. The place to start is with what are called “Open Chords” – “open” because they involve using some strings that are not fretted but just plucked and allowed to ring freely. Searching for “guitar open chords” online will provide lots of content.

Below are the open chords that you must know at a minimum. All of these chords are included in the Guitar Board tool. Learn them in whatever order you prefer.

C            G
D           D Minor (Dm)
E           E Minor (Em)
A           A Minor (Am)

Here’s a video to help (leave the F until last, more on that below):

 

Once you know these chords you will be able to play many pop songs. Searches for the song title and the keywords “basic chords” or “easy chords” will usually bring up charts for most songs. Get your fingers moving on a few of the chords and changes between chords, then find some songs that you like that use those chords. The fastest way to master open chords is simply by playing music you like that uses them – turn the work into play.

F Chord: The F chord is one that has caused many people to quit the guitar. It is technically not an “Open Chord”, but a “Bar Chord” due to the fact that one finger frets more than one string. The next Big Idea is about playing Bar Chords – give the following chord a shot and see how you do, the 1st (E) and 2nd(B) strings are fretted by the same finger, as denoted by the straight line beside them:

Do not let it get you down if you can’t get the F Chord to ring out properly right away – this is a skill that comes over time, and it can even hurt while you are learning it. (If you ever feel pain while playing, stop and rest your hands before continuing!) In the next section you will start playing bar chords across 5 or 6 strings – take it slow, be patient, and rest when you need to. Here’s a good video with some pointers (these apply to all bar chords coming up in future sections):

 

Deeper:

  • The Strumming Hand: your right hand (or left hand for you southpaws, sorry for the slight) has not even been mentioned yet in this discussion, but is one of the most important elements about developing a guitar style. Your strumming hand also determines timing – without proper timing you can play the right notes but not put them in the right place. Generally people focus on the hand that fingers the notes as they learn to play, and then shift focus as they become proficient. There are many approaches to plucking or strumming strings, the more that you become comfortable with the bigger your musical vocabulary will become. Search for some of these terms to explore – strumming, timing, phrasing, swing, guitar picking technique, guitar hybrid picking, guitar finger picking, finger picks, tapping.
  • Chord vs Arpeggio: an “arpeggio” is a chord played one note at a time. This is a popular technique – you don’t have to strum all strings at once, and you don’t have to always play all of the notes of a chord. Change up the approach or your strumming hand to add new layers to your music. Listen to some of these recordings for examples: House of the Rising Sun (Am, C, D, F…), Brain Damage (Pink Floyd) (D), Sweet Home Alabama (D, C, G).
  • Coloring Tones: you may see numbers after chord letters on some chord charts. These are sometimes referred to as “coloring tones”. They take the basic chords that you learned above and add different note(s) to it, providing some colour or “spice”. Search online for “guitar chord coloring tones” and you will find lots of content. There is much theory to this, if theory scares or bores you then stay away from those discussions! Some good examples: Brain Damage (Pink Floyd) opens with a D chord to a G7 chord – you could use a plain G chord instead,  but that one note change makes a big difference.  Sus4 chords are another good example of coloring tones- check out Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which features a Dsus4 chord back to a plain D. Again, just one note changing makes all the difference.
  • Capo: this is a tool that is used to shorten the length of all the strings at the same time, in effect moving the nut of the guitar. All the “open” strings now play in higher pitches than they do without the capo. People use this to play the same chord patterns you’ve learned above in different keys. Search for tutorials on using a guitar capo for more.
  • Alternate Tunings: all of the chords we learned above are used when the guitar is tuned to the standard that you learned earlier. There are many other ways to tune the guitar, however, and using different tuning systems will change the shape of chords and open up avenues to new sounds using open chords. Artists like Joni Mitchell are known for inventing their own tunings, often different ones for each song, which directly influences the feel of the songs.
  • Dynamics: how loudly or softly you play, and how this changes, are essential parts of music. Here’s a good place to start:  The Devil’s in the Dynamics
  • Slide Guitar: playing with a slide (combined with or rather than fingers) is a popular method and a topic all its own.

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