10 Essential & Easy Guitar Chords for Beginners (With Video)

So you’ve decided to start playing the guitar and you’re excited to learn some guitar easy chords for beginners. If you started by looking through a chord book or at chord diagrams online, you probably found yourself completely overwhelmed. There are hundreds of possible guitar chords, but this guide will narrow it down to 10 basic guitar chords for you.

You’ll need to know how to read a guitar chord diagram to play these easy chords guitar so if you’re not familiar with how to do that yet, check out this article!

What Guitar Chords Should a Beginner Learn First?

While you may be excited to start playing all your favorite tunes, it’s important to learn basic guitar chords for beginners first. These chord progressions are the easiest to learn and will have you feeling confident to go into more challenging ones. 

In this guide, you’ll learn the following guitar keys and their chords:

If you want to skip reading and go right to playing along, check out this video (or come back to it!):

Key C: Chords C, F, G, Am

These first four easy chords on guitar for beginners will allow you to play most songs that are in the guitar key of C. The C chord is the main chord in the key:

Next, the F chord can be played in one of two ways. This is the hardest of all 10 chords on this list because it requires the use of a barre.

If you have trouble doing a full barre, you might find the first version listed below easier to play.

Here are two forms of the F chord:

The G chord is typically played using the following form:Last but not least, the Am chord adds a little color to any chord progression:

Once you’ve learned these four guitar easy chords you can play most songs that are in the key of C, and with the use of a capo, you can play many other songs. That wasn’t too hard, was it? Only four chords and you are already well on your way to playing the most popular songs.

Here is a simple chord pattern in C that uses all four chords so you can get some practice in.

SEE ALSO: A Roadmap of the Notes on a Guitar

Key G: Chords G, C, D, Em, Am

You have already learned the G and C chords so now you only need to learn two more basic guitar chords easy to play songs in the key of G.

As a bonus, you already know one other chord in the key of G – the Am chord. So learn these two chords and you will be able to play five chords in the key of G!

Here is how to play the D chord in the key of G:

Here is a chord pattern in the key of G that uses all five chords. Make this a part of your practice sessions to get comfortable with the feel of these common chords.

Here is a chord pattern in the key of G that uses all five chords. Make this a part of your practice sessions to get comfortable with the feel of these simple chords.

Key D: Chords D, G, A, Bm7, Em

Once more we only need to learn two more chords to play in the guitar key of D. The first one is the A chord:

Next up is the Bm7 chord. The Bm7 is easier to play than the Bm chord and it can be used just about anywhere you see a Bm chord.

Here is a chord pattern you can practice in the key of D that uses all five chords.

SEE ALSO: The Big List of Easy Guitar Songs

Key A: Chords A, D, E, F#m7, Bm7

And finally, adding two more easy guitar chords for beginners will allow you to play in the key of A. The first one is the E chord:

The F#m7 chord is easier to play than the F#m chord and it can be used almost anywhere you find the F#m chord in a song.

Here is an easy chord pattern to get practice playing all across the fretboard in the key of A.

Easy and Essential Guitar Chords for Beginners: Key Takeaways

Learning these basic and easy chords guitar will allow you to be well on your way to playing your favorite songs. These final tips will help you as you learn the guitar.

• Remember that any time you see a chord with a 7 or 9 after it, you can simply play the easier version. For instance, a G7 chord can be played as a G chord without any problems.
• Most minor chords can be played either with or without the 7. The extended version has a little more color but will usually work fine in the place of the regular chord. For example, if you see a Bm chord, you can usually play a Bm7 chord.
• A suspended chord, written as a sus or sus4, can usually be replaced by the regular chord without the suspension. Everyone playing must make that change, though. Sometimes, the suspension is necessary to fit with the melody line, so the substitution is not always effective.

For help learning these guitar chords for beginners or other keys on a guitar, consider working with a professional guitar teacher!

What guitar goals do you have? Share in the comments below!

Post Author: Jerry W.
Jerry W. teaches classical guitar in Grosse Pointe, MI. He received his Bachelor of Music in Theory and Composition from Cornerstone University and went on to receive his Masters and PhD in Music Composition from Michigan State. Jerry has been making music and teaching for over 30 years.