Welcome To The Guitar Chord Library

This is a free online resource to help guitar enthusiasts learn guitar chords. chord theory, and easy songs to practice to. 

Here you'll find all the essential chords including major chords, minor chords, power chords, open chords, bar chords and more

Click on the buttons for a deep dive on each chord and discover easy ways to play the chord, more advanced voicings ,and theory behind how to use them.

Different Types Of Guitar Chords

There are many types of guitar chords and many ways to play them the guitar. Below I'll provide the most common chords and how they are written below using "A" as an example: 

How To Read Guitar Chord Diagrams

Easiest Guitar Chords To Learn First

Start with learning the Em chord (E minor) which is by far the easiest chord for beginners to learn on guitar first. 

Next I'd recommend the Am chord (A minor). Notice that its very similar to Em, just down a string and then one finger added. Be sure to use the correct fingers as using the wrong fingers will make smooth chord changes much harder.

The 3rd chord I'd recommend is the G Chord, as it is extremely popular, goes well with the Em and Am, and is a totally different hand position for you to begin practicing.

If you need help with learning your first chords or your basic chords are slow and sloppy check out my free PDF download and video training on "How To Speed Up Your Chord Changes In Less Than 30 days."

If you wan to play rock music or heavy metal you may want to start with powerchords as they are also very easy and are the backbone of these music styles.  

How To Read Guitar Chord Charts

Reading charts is essential to becoming a good guitarist. Below, I will break down how to read a simple guitar chord chart.

The horizontal lines where music is written is called a music staff. The staff is divided into bit-size chunks by vertical lines called "bar lines," and those bit-size chunks are called measures or bars. Same thing.

The strange symbol at the beginning of the music is called a clef. In this case, a treble clef or sometimes called a G clef. There are a few types of clefs, but we, as guitarists, only read this one.

Depending on what clef is used determines what the notes will be on the staff. For example, the bass guitar reads a bass clef, sometimes called an F clef. As guitarists, we don't read this as the notes played are too low.

A time signature consists of 2 numbers on top of each other. e.g., 4/4. The top number means how many beats per measure. The top number can be anything, but the bottom number represents a specific rhythmic value. When the number 4 is on the bottom, it means the quarter note is equal to 1 beat.

The chords you play are at the top of the measure. Notice it says to play the C chord. It doesn't say WHICH C guitar chord to play. You could play the C in the open position, a bar guitar chord, or any other voicings you can think of. 

It's up to the artist's interpretation, so you, the musician, can use your skills and knowledge to interpret the chart as you see fit. If a specific chord is required, there will be chord diagrams above the chord or at the top of the chart.

Song sections

These are used to help you know where you are at in the song. Rock and pop songs will use an introduction, verse, chorus, etc. Sometimes, you may see them labeled "A," "B," or "C."

Guitar Chord Chart Rhythms

In this chart, I used a few simple rhythms. For the introduction, I used a whole note rhythm. Notice how all the other measures in the introduction don't have a rhythm? It's assumed you just keep doing the same rhythm, which helps avoid clutter.

In the Verse, we have a half note plus 2 quarter notes, so you'd strum on the 1st beat (let it ring out on the 2nd beat), then strum down again on the 3 and 4th beats.

The chorus uses 8th notes, so you will be strumming down each beat and then up between the beats. e.g. 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &.

The outro is using quarter notes. All you do is strum down on each beat.

Measure numbers

The first of staff you'll see a number, this is the measure number. So if we were jamming and I said hey will you play the 11th measure again, you don't have to count them one by one.

Ending

At the very end of a piece of music, there will be a bar line followed by a thick bar line. When this happens, the song ends.

Getting good at reading charts is one of my little secrets for getting players (even beginners) to learn entire songs in minutes instead of months

In the Guitar GPS Method academy, we have over 150+ charts made ranging from AC/DC to Greenday to Metallica. All leveled so you know what would be a good song to tackle next! 

The 3-Step Process For Learning Chords

When beginner guitarists learn their guitar chords they often go about it all the wrong way.

First, they try to learn chord voicings that are too difficult for their hands, then they focus on trying to get them to sound perfect. This slows the learning process, causes frustration, and possibly self doubt.  YES, you can learn the guitar, it's actually quite easy you just have to go about it the right way.

Do the following in the order below. 

Step 1: MEMORIZE the chords

If your mind is distracted by trying to remember what to do it will be very difficult to improve and build coordination. Instead of burying your head in a book full of chord diagrams and needing a "reference," trying to just a few and getting them memorized. 

Step 2: SPEED UP the chords

Next, you'll want to focus on speeding them; how quickly can you remember where your fingers go? etc etc. It's recommended you start with popular chords that are EASY so you can quickly apply them to songs and have fun while you learn.

Interesting enough, many players mistakenly practice their chords in such a way that causes slow chord changes 🤯  (then they wonder why they have slow chord changes. 🤔

My free download on "How To Speed Up Chord Changes In Less Than 30 Days" will fix this once and for all. 

Step 3: CLEAN UP the chords

As you can see, most (if not all) beginner guitarists do the exact opposite. They first focus on trying to make the chords sound clean. This is like a child trying to pronounce a word perfectly when learning to speak or taking the perfect first step. This is not how it's done, and it won't work and has never worked.

Once you can play a few chords from memory and can play in time, now is when you shift to make the main focus to get them to sound right. 

Do all the correct notes ring out?
Are you muting strings you shouldn't
Are you pressing on your finger tips?
Are you squeezing hard enough?
Are you strumming the notes you need?
Are you playing sloppy and strumming notes you aren't supposed to?

For example, if you are playing an Em chord you simply strum all the strings (easy) but if you are playing an Am chord you should not play the low E string.

If you are playing B5 that uses two strings (string 4 & 5) are you only strumming those two strings or are you playing more?

This 3 step process can be used for any guitar chord, whether they are open chords, power chords or barre chords, and if you learn new chords in this order, you'll learn new guitar chords fast!

Major Guitar Chords

Major chords tend to be one of the most basic guitar chords that a beginner guitarist can start with. The most popular chords would be A, C, D, E, and G, played in the open position, meaning you use an open string as part of the chord shapes.

When any major chord is written just the capital letter will suffice, however, you could write a G major as G, Gmaj or G major. 

What is a Major chord?

A major chord is derived from its corresponding major scale. For example,  C major chord is derived from the C major scale, the G major chord is derived from the G major scale, etc.

If you take the notes played for the C major scale, we have notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and then if we number them starting at C, we'll take the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes.

C  D  E  F  G   A   B

These 3 notes are what make up the C major chord! It's that easy!

These 3 notes can be called chord tones. In other words, they are the notes or tones of the chord. All major chords use the 1st, 3rd, and 5th same note of their scale. No more, no less.
Sometimes this is called a TRIAD. Meaning, a three note chord. 

But the open C chord has more than 3 notes

Yes,  you are playing 5 notes.

-0----E
-1---- C
-0---- G
-2---- E
-3---- C
------ 

As you can see, the notes REPEAT. This would be a C major chord NOT a C triad (triad you only get one of each.) 

Major chords are found in all genres and styles and are important for acoustic guitar and electric guitar.  They are generally associated with a "Happy feeling" 🤗 so if you want to write a song about sunshine, unicorns, and rainbows major chords will be the way to go

Minor Guitar Chords

Click the buttons below for a deep dive on each chord

Minor chords are the most basic chords between major and minor chords. These guitar chords are used in many songs and are essential to playing in different styles. Like major chords, minor chords are great for beginning guitarists as they are used in many songs. As mentioned above, they are played the same way, whether you play on an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar.

When any minor chord is written it will be written with a capital letter followed by a lower case "m" e.g. Am. But you could also write it as Amin, A minor.

What is a minor chord?

If you take the notes played for the E minor scale, we have notes E F# G A B C D and then if we number them starting at E, we'll take the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes.

E   F#  G  A  B   C   D

These 3 notes are what make up the E minor chord! It's that easy!

Sometimes you'll hear reference that you take the root b3 and 5th notes and this is due to it referring to the E major scale

e.g. 
E Major  E  F#  G#  A  B  C#  D#
E Minor  E  F#   G    A  B   C    D

For minor scales the 3rd, 6th and 7th have been flattened (lowered).  
So if E major uses notes E G# B, E minor uses notes E G B (the 3rd which is the G has been lowered from G# to G) 

Although the sound of minor guitar chords can vary slightly depending on the different variations and voicings, minor chords tend to sound more dramatic and sad.

So if you wanted to write a song about your love life you'd probably want to use minor chords. 😭 Lol I'm just kidding!

Open Chords

An open guitar chord is when you play a chord that uses open strings. While there are advanced versions of open chords, beginners start with learning easy versions of open chords such as Em, G, C, Am, and D.

To give a bit more in-depth explanation for open chords, the standard tuning on a guitar is E A D G B E. So if the notes that make up a chord you want to play using any of those notes, we can play them open.

For example, Em uses notes E G B. This is why when we play Em we play the low string open as well as the G string open, B string open, and high E open. All these notes are part of the guitar chord.

-0-----E
-0---- B
-0---- G
-2-----E
-2-----B
-0-----E 

This is also why some chords, such as Bm, tend to be a bit hard for beginners to learn because there is no open position for this chord in standard tuning. The notes that make up Bm are B, D, and F#. While there is a string tuned to the B and D notes, it would be very awkward for the hand to find a combination of these notes to make a chord.

So, instead, we play bar chords.

Bar Chords

Bar chords, sometimes spelled barre chords, are when you lay a finger across multiple strings, and they act like a "bar" holding down multiple strings. These types of chords are generally on the intermediate side of playing guitar and are not recommended for beginners.

That being said, there are easy, intermediate, and hard versions of bar chords. It should also be noted that any guitar chord can have a barre chord shape, and the nice thing is, once you get good at a one-bar chord shape, that same finger motion can be used for all the rest!

Yes, you read that right! The "shape" your hands make to play a G major bar chord on the 6th string is exactly like the A major bar chord on the 6th string- you just slide up a full step (2 frets on the guitar). Because of this barre chords can also be considered "moveable chords" because you can move the shape of your hands around. 

Power Chords

Click the buttons below for a deep dive on each chord

Power chords are the easiest chords to learn and are the bread and butter for rock and metal music. Of course, power chords are found in all genres, but due to how they sound (powerful), they are extremely important for hard rock and heavy metal.

The technical term for a power chord is actually a 5th chord written as A5, E5, B5 because you take the first note of a scale and the 5th note.

For example, in the key of A major, the notes are A B C# D E F# G# where the A is the 1st one (the root), and the E is the 5th note in the scale. 

A  B   C#  D   E    F#  G#
1    2   3     4   5    6      7

A5 consists of the A note and the E note. Check you out learning some music theory! 

Minor 7th Guitar Chords

Click the buttons below for a deep dive on each chord

Like the name implies a minor 7th chord of m7 is a type of minor chord. Think of it as a minor chord with a little special sauce on it.  They are used in many different styles and have a sort of sweet quality to them.

Like all the other guitar chords, these any chord chord can played as a minor seventh. 

The chord formula to make an minor 7th chord is a 1 b3 5 b7. That means if we have a scale such as a minor we take the 1 b3 5 ad b7 notes to make the chord. 

A   B   C     D    E    F      G
1    2   b3    4    5    b6   b7

Thus we'd end up with notes A C E G.
To simplify it, think of just playing a minor chord and adding the b7.

Using the minor 7th chords is a fun and easy way to spice up your playing and break out of strumming the same minor chords all the time.

Dominant 7th Guitar Chords

Dominant 7th chords are a type of major chord with a little extra spice on it. These are typically written as G7 or B7. This particular chord is a great way to add a lot of tension as the chord really wants to resolve back to the tonic chord.
 
The chord formula for this type of chord is 1 3 5 b7 which you would apply to its corresponding scale. If we used the key of G, the notes are G A B C D E F#, so a G7 chord would consist of notes G B D F.

G   A   B    C    D    E     F
1    2    3    4    5    6   b7

As you can see the 7th scale degree (the F) is flatted down from F# to the F which is why this chord works with other chords in the key of C because all the chords that fit in the key of C can't have any sharp or flat notes. 

As mentioned above, This particular chord is a great way to add a lot of tension as the chord really wants to resolve back to the tonic chord.

For example, in the key of C major, the basic chords are  C Dm Em F G Am Bdim. 
The only time you can play a dominant seventh chord and still be in key is if you play it on the 5th chord of a key. In this case, its the G. (C is one, Dm is 2 etc) 

When you play a G7, this is going to add massive tension, and to resolve the tension you play the C chord next (the tonic or root chord), it will give a sense of finality.

This is the most basic way it is used and is often used at the end of a song because of how powerful it is.

However, when playing the blues, you may find an I IV V chord progression being I7 IV7 and V7, which adds a lot of tension and dissonance. This would mean you play C7, F7, and G7 in the key of C major.

Major 7th Guitar Chords

Major 7th chords are another type of 7th chord and are also built from the major chord (like the dominant 7th chords). Think of them like a major chord with a little extra spice, however, they are no where near as intense as the dominant seventh chords. 

The major seventh chords are typically written as AM7 or Amaj7 and consist of notes 1 3 5 7 of a scale. So for example, in C major: 

C   D   E    F    G    A    B
1    2    3    4    5    6   7

A Cmaj7 chord uses notes C E G B and if you know your fretboard you can simply play an open C major and then lift off your first finger (which is on the second string first fret) because this will give you a B note!

-0----E
-0--- B
-0--- G
-2----E
-3----C
------

Sus2 Guitar Chords

The suspended second chord or "sus2" for short are a type of chord that really adds flare and interest to your chord progressions.

The chord formula for a sus2 chord is 1 2 5 . So if you take the notes of the C major scale and number them with C being the first. A Csus2 would consist of notes C D G.

C    D   E   F    G    A  B
1     2    3   4    5    6  7

For a chord to be major or minor the chord must use the third degree of a scale as part of its formula. Where the second degree has replaced the third degree this chord type is neither major nor minor! 

Side note: sometimes you'll hear the second scale degree referred to as the major second in reference to the intervals. This is another layer deeper in music theory. Please see discussion on intervals.  

Click the buttons below for a deep dive on each sus2 chord

Sus4 Guitar Chords

Click the buttons below for a deep dive on each sus4 chord

The suspended fourth chord or "sus4" for short are a type of chord that really adds flare and interest to your chord progressions.

The chord formula for a sus4 chord is 1 4 5 . So if you take the notes of the C major scale and number them with C being the first. A Csus4 would consist of notes C F G.

C    D   E   F    G    A   B
1     2    3   4    5    6   7

For a chord to be major or minor the chord must use the third degree of a scale as part of its formula. Where the fourth degree has replaced the third degree this chord type is neither major nor minor! 

Side note: sometimes you'll hear the fourth scale degree referred to as the perfect fourth in reference to the intervals. This is another layer deeper in music theory. Please see discussion on intervals.  

Augmented Guitar Chords

Augmented chords are built from a major chord but they are a bit different. To use them you're going to have to really understand music theory, keys, and your fretboard because they sound pretty strange.

As the name implies, something is getting bigger or augmented, which happens to the 5th scale degree. If a C major chord uses notes C E G, an augmented C chord would be C E G#.

C    D   E   F    G#    A   B
1     2    3   4    5+    6   7

An augmented chord is written with a "+" or "aug" after the note, such as C+ or Caug. 

Diminished Guitar Chords

Diminished chords are a special type of chord where we'll lower the 3rd note like the minor guitar chords but also lower the 5th.

The diminished chord can be written in a few ways, using the B diminished chord it can be written as Bdim or B˚.  

If we use the B major scale, we have B, C# D# E, F# G#. To extract the Bdim chord from the scale we'll take the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes, but will lower the 3rd and the 5th notes, giving us B D F.

B    C#    D     E     F      G#   A#
1      2      b3   4     b5     6      7

Now that we're left with note B D F there are no sharps or flats which is why it works with the chords in the key of C major which are C Dm Em F G Am Bdim. 

The easiest way to use the the diminished chord is to have them help drive the music back to tonic chord.

Simply put, play the Bdim then play the C major chord to resolve the tension!

How To Know If You Are Ready For More Advanced Chords?

When it comes to learning more advanced chords, beginner and intermediate guitarists alike often make the same mistakes, which I'll try to resolve here. There are 2 main problems that come up when learning more difficult guitar chords.

Problem #1 Players try to play chords that are too technical too soon. Think of beginner guitarists trying to learn a barre chord. 🤦‍♂️ Not only would it be extremely frustrating, but it will greatly slow progress; you'll lose motivation, and very often, players think they just don't have natural talent when, in reality, they just skipped steps in their development.

Problem #2Players lack real musical skills and knowledge to go along with their chords, so when they get bored of basic chords, they think they need to learn new, more advanced chords. 🤦‍♂️This is why my holistic approach to learning and mastering the guitar is so critical. While you learn your chords you'll also be learning about rhythm and strumming, how to apply cool rhythm guitar techniques such as arpeggios and chucking, chord theory, keys, what chords work together, how chords flow, how to learn strum patterns and chord progressions by ear.

Chords are like musical words, and even though you may know how to pronounce (play) the chord, it doesn't mean you understand how to use it. |This is why so many songs use basic guitar chords. They know how music works and what's really going on under the hood, so they can make great music with simple chords. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 4 main chord types?

The 4 main chord types are major, minor, diminished, and augmented. These chords are the building blocks for other chord types like dominant and minor 7th guitar chords.

As a beginner guitarist which chords should I learn first?

A good place for A beginner guitarist to start learning easy chords are major and minor chords in open position.  You can also start with learning power chords if you are more into rock and heavy metal music.

What are the 5 basic major guitar chords?

The 5 basic major guitar chords you will be playing a lot are C major, A major, G major, E major, and D major.

Which chord type is the hardest to learn?

Bar chords are the hardest to learn for a beginner because they require you to strum multiple strings at the same time using one finger. It is highly recommended to not learn barre chords until you can easily play your open chords and power chords. 

Conclusion

Learning to play guitar chords is only a fraction of what you need to play guitar. 

If you'd rather skip all confusion and overwhelm and 10x your guitar skills over the next 90 days check out my online guitar academy called Guitar GPS Method. 

Beyond mere video lessons, The Guitar GPS Method trains you through the process of building your skills, knowledge, and creativity as you progress through a leveled system of gamified courses. Not only is it fun to get points and see how everything is coming together but it solves the #1 problem all guitar players have which is knowing what to practice next .

Click here to learn more