Learning Open Chords

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Open chords are the foundation for the rest of guitar. They are one of the first things any guitarist should learn. The first thing to know is this: they aren't easy. They will take a lot of time and practice to be able to play well and change between them quickly. These are my comments and experiences with open chords.

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My first advice is to keep trying to put your hand into these positions and playing the chord, trying to keep your fingers away from other strings and trying to minimize string noise. This will take a bit of practice. Take your time and work on your finger position. Some of the open chords should be relatively simple to get down. C, E, Em, A, Am and Dm shouldn't be too hard. Just keep trying to fit your hand into the positions. G and D, on the other hand, were very difficult for me. My hand just didn't want to stretch that way. The only way to get these chords down is to keep practicing them and trying to stretch out your hand. Practice makes perfect!

Once you can form the chords, you can either try to play random chords and change between them that way, or test them out in some songs. The songs on my Easy Songs Page will be perfect for this. I hope this helps! Good luck, have fun, and keep playing, and if you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me.

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Back to Dansm's Guide to Open Chords
Back to Dansm's Beginner's Guide to Chords

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© 1997 Daniel E. Smith. Last updated 12-20-97