Your first open chords

Four chords, and thousands of songs open up. The shapes take an afternoon — moving between them is the real work.

This is the step where you stop learning about the guitar and start playing songs. Four chords, and thousands of songs open up.

This is step four of the guitar path. It assumes you can read a chord diagram and that your thumb is behind the neck.

The four to start with

Em, Am, C and G. Not because they are the easiest four in isolation, but because they belong to the same key and therefore sound good together — which means you can play actual music with them almost immediately.

numbers are fingers · ✕ means do not play that string · click any dot to hear that string

Em first

Two fingers, every string rings out, and there is nothing to mute. Middle finger on the second fret of the A string, ring finger on the second fret of the D string. Strum all six.

It is the easiest full chord on the instrument and it sounds enormous. Start here on your first day.

Then Am

The same two fingers move down a string each, and the index finger joins on the first fret of the B string. Do not play the low E — start your strum from the A string.

Then C

Ring finger on the third fret of the A string, middle on the second fret of the D, index on the first fret of the B. Again, skip the low E.

G last

G is the awkward one because your hand has to stretch across five frets of the neck. Middle finger on the third fret of the low E, index on the second fret of the A, ring on the third fret of the high E.

It will feel impossible for about a week and then it will not. That is not encouragement, it is just what happens.

The actual skill is changing

Here is the thing nobody tells beginners clearly enough: learning the shapes takes an afternoon. Learning to move between them takes weeks.

Almost everyone practises this the wrong way round — they drill each shape until it is perfect, then discover that a song requires getting from one to the next in a fraction of a second, which is a completely different skill they have not practised at all.

So practise the changes, not the shapes.

Look for the finger that does not move

Most chord pairs share something. Between Am and C, the index finger never leaves the first fret of the B string — it is a pivot, and the other two fingers rotate around it.

Find that shared finger in every change and the movement stops being a leap and starts being an adjustment. It is the single biggest shortcut in early guitar.

The one-minute change drill

Pick two chords. Set a timer for one minute. Change between them as many times as you can, strumming once per change, counting the changes.

Write the number down. Do it again tomorrow. That is it — no scales, no exercises, just the specific movement you actually need, measured so you can see it improving.

Most people go from around ten changes a minute to sixty inside a fortnight. Seeing the number climb is what keeps you doing it on the days you do not feel like practising.

When a string sounds dead

It will, constantly, at the start. Three causes, in order of likelihood.

A finger is leaning on its neighbour. Come down more vertically, on the very tip.

The finger is too far from the fret. Slide closer to the metal wire — not on top of it, just behind it.

You are pressing too softly, or too hard. Too hard bends the string sharp and tires your hand. Find the minimum that rings cleanly.

Diagnose one string at a time. Play each string of the chord individually, find the dead one, then fix that finger. Strumming the whole chord and hoping tells you nothing.

What to do with four chords

Those four are all in the key of G, which means any order sounds reasonable. Try G, Em, C, then back to G. Or Am, C, G, Em.

That second one is a progression you have heard several hundred times without knowing its name. Play it slowly, four strums per chord, and you will recognise it. The chord progression tool will loop it for you in any key, at any tempo.

You do not need more chords yet. You need these four to be automatic. If you want to know why these four belong together, that is chords and the circle of fifths.