Easy Guitar Chords

Written by

Dwight H.

April 6, 2023

The 11 Easy Guitar Chords (for Beginners)

Common wisdom says the first steps of any journey are the most difficult. When it comes to playing the guitar, though, they don't have to be.

Chords, for instance, can have many complicated fingering patterns. In some cases, however, they're as easy as holding down two or three fingers on the fretboard.

Today, we're going to concentrate on that latter category. These 11 easy guitar chords we've assembled are as simple as they come, and a great place for a beginner to start:

G Major Guitar Chord

You'll only need three fingers for G Major. While it does present some challenge to younger beginners, older learners pick this chord up with ease:

• Place your 1st finger on the 5th string/2nd fret.

• Place your 2nd finger on the 6th string/3rd fret.

• Place your 3rd finger on the 1st string/3rd fret.

• Play strings 2, 3, and 4 open.

C Major Guitar Chord

C Major is another three-finger chord. It's a feature in many a work of popular western music. You'd be doing yourself a disservice by not learning this one:

• Place your 1st finger on the 2nd string/1st fret.

• Place your 2nd finger on the 4th string/2nd fret.

• Place your 3rd finger on the 5th string/3rd fret

• Play strings 1 and 3 open.

• Mute string 6.

A Major Guitar Chord

Continuing with the theme of three fingers, we have A Major. You'll find this chord on many a beginner list, but not just because it's easy to play. A Major's utility throughout many a song mean it's vital to your progression as a guitarist:

• Place your 1st finger on the 4th string/2nd fret.

• Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd string/2nd fret.

• Place your 3rd finger on the 2nd string/2nd fret.

• Play strings 1 and 5 open.

• Mute string 6.

E Major Guitar Chord

Would you believe there's another major chord you can play with only three fingers? E Major fits the bill here. No strings to mute on this one. You won't even have to contort your fingers to make it work:

• Place your 1st finger on the 3rd string/1st fret.

• Place your 2nd finger on the 5th string/2nd fret.

• Place your 3rd finger on the 4th string/2nd fret.

• Play strings 1, 2, and 6 open.

D Major Guitar Chord

For the last of the major chords on our list today, you'll again be using three fingers. D Major will also require you to mute a couple of strings to get the right sound:

• Place your 1st finger on the 3rd string/2nd fret

• Place your 2nd finger on the 2nd string/3rd fret

• Place your 3rd finger on the 1st string/2nd fret

• Play string 4 open

• Mute strings 5 and 6

D5 Guitar Chord

Also known as the D Power Chord, you can play this one by moving up near your 5th fret. Again, you'll need three fingers:

• Place your 1st finger on the 5th string/5th fret.

• Place your 3rd finger on the 4th string/7th fret.

• Place your 4th finger on the 3rd string/7th fret.

• Mute strings 1, 2, and 6.

A5 Guitar Chord

Let's keep going with power chords, shall we? You can play the A5 Power Chord with, wait for it...three fingers! Here's how to do it:

• Place your 1st finger on the 6th string/5th fret.

• Place your 3rd finger on the 5th string/7th fret.

• Place your 4th finger on the 4th string/7th fret.

• Mute strings 1, 2, and 3.

E5 Guitar Chord

For the last of our power chords, we'll be sticking to two fingers. Come back to the top of the guitar neck for this one:

• Place your 1st finger on the 5th string/2nd fret.

• Place your 2nd finger on the 4th string/2nd fret.

• Play string 6 open.

• Mute strings 1, 2, and 3.

E Minor Guitar Chord

Keep those fingers near the same position, because the E5 Chord and E Minor Chord have some similarities:

• Place your 1st finger on the 5th string/2nd fret.

• Place your 2nd finger on the 4th string/2nd fret.

• Play strings 1, 2, 3, and 6 open.

A Minor Guitar Chord

The popular variation of the A Minor Chord will put you close to C Major, so they're good to practice together:

• Place your 1st finger on the 2nd string/1st fret.

• Place your 2nd finger on the 4th string/2nd fret.

• Place your 3rd finger on the 3rd string/2nd fret.

• Play strings 1 and 5 open.

• Mute string 6.

G7 Guitar Chord

We'll include one "7" chord in the mix -- the G7 Chord. You can also use three fingers to play this one:

• Place your 1st finger on the 1st string/1st fret.

• Place your 2nd finger on the 5th string/2nd fret.

• Place your 3rd finger on the 6th string/3rd fret.

• Play strings 2, 3, and 4 open.

Keep Practicing