If you’re new to guitar, you should probably start by learning chords. Most guitarists would agree on that. But which ones? In this post, I’ll go over the first chords to learn on guitar. I recommend these 5 chords for a number of reasons: they’re easy to play, they’re found in a ton of songs, and, most importantly, they sound great!

These chords might give you trouble at first. However, you should remember that you won’t learn guitar in a day. You’ll need time to get used to each chord shape and build up callouses on your fingers.

Consistent practice is the key to progress, but your sessions don’t need to be long. In fact, they can be as short as 5-15 minutes! You don’t need a full hour to practice guitar effectively. If you’re curious, you can find more practice tips here.

I won’t beat around the bush any longer. The first 5 chords to learn on guitar are C, A, G, E, and D. These are all major chords, and they’re all found in a ton of music. In fact, you can play hundreds of songs with these chords alone! You can find the chord charts for each of them below:
 

Not sure how to make sense of the above chart? I’m happy to break it down for you.

Each diagram represents a section of the fretboard, with the nut of your guitar at the top.

Each horizontal line marks a fret. In the C major chord, for instance, you’re fretting a note on the first fret.

Each vertical line represents a string. Moving left to right, you get the sixth string (low E string), fifth string (A string), fourth string (D string), third string (G string), second string (B string) and first string (high E string).

You’ll be fretting the notes represented by the black dots on the grid. The numbers within these boxes identify which finger I recommend you fret them with (1 = first finger, 2 = second finger, 3 = third finger, 4 = pinky).

Finally, the X’s and O’s above certain strings on the grid indicate which strings you should play. As you can see, you don’t want the 6th string to sound for the C major chord. However, the open first and third strings should ring out.

A chord is a group of two or more notes played together. A three-note chord (the most common type) is called a triad. Even if we’re strumming across all 6 strings (and thus playing 6 notes at once), we’re still playing a triad if only three different notes are represented.
 

The Anatomy of a Chord

Each chord contains a root note, which also names the chord. You should imagine the root note functioning like the roots of a tree, holding a harmonic structure together. The note C is the root of the C major chord, for example.

We build the remaining two notes in a chord above the first note. The second note is a major third above the root, while the third note is a perfect fifth above the root.

Major thirds and perfect fifths are called intervals. They represent the vertical (pitch) distance between notes. A half-step is the smallest interval in Western music, spanning one fret on the guitar. For this reason, you might find it useful to think of the larger intervals in terms of half-steps, much like you can make sense of a molecule based its atomic structure.

A major third contains 4 half-steps, while a perfect fifth contains 7 half-steps. You should get a sense of these intervals for yourself by choosing a root note anywhere on the fretboard and trying to find its major third or perfect fifth.

For instance, if you start with the low F on the 1st fret of the 6th string, you’ll find a major third by going up 4 frets to A (on the fifth fret), and you’ll find a perfect fifth by going 7 frets up to C (on the eighth fret).

If some of the above is new to you, then you might consider learning music theory! I can personally say that learning theory made a huge difference in my playing. If you want to get started with theory, check out this post I wrote.

We can make our lives a whole lot easier with good technique. Fortunately, the best guitar playing practices are highly intuitive.

First, you want to keep all of your joints in the middle of their range of motion. That isn’t to say you won’t need the occasional extreme finger or wrist position, but you shouldn’t make those positions the norm.

Second, you want to relax as often as possible. Be sure to monitor the amount of tension you’re feeling at any given moment, allowing yourself to release as often as you flex. Without proper relaxation techniques, you’re likely to build up tension as you play, causing stiffness or injury.

Third, you should take your time and be patient. If you’re a new player, your fingers will feel tight and strained holding even the basic chords above. Remember that your fingers will need time to learn the new shapes and gain some flexibility.

In the event that these chords feel difficult, just spend a few minutes every day holding them in the left hand, and soon they’ll be second-nature.

If you need help changing chords, or you’d simply like to change chords a bit faster, you should check out this post I wrote. It details a ton of helpful practice strategies that I wish I’d encountered years ago. You may know what 5 chords to learn now, but you’ll also benefit from knowing your way in and out of them.

Lastly, I want to cover a few easy chord progressions using these 5 chords. They could even be the basis for a song you write!
 

1. A – D – E
2. G – C – D
3. D – G – A
4. A – E – A – D
5. G – D – G – C
6. D – A – D – G

Taken together, I think that should be enough to get you started.

You can practice these progressions with any strum pattern you like. Personally, I would start with a really simple strum, such as four downstrokes per chord. That way, you can focus on smoothing out your left-hand changes. Once your left-hand feels more at home, you can throw in any crazy strum you like.

One great way to practice these progressions is by using a metronome. This device will force you to stay in time, which in turn drives you to perfect your movement between chords. You don’t need to practice with a metronome every time, but using it frequently is smart if you want to improve quickly.

If you don’t already have a metronome, you can find my favorite one right here. If you’re curious about the other gear I use, or what guitar books I love, you should head to my recommendations page.