Open Chords You Need to Know

Open Chords You Need to Know

These 20 chords are the basic building blocks of most guitar chord playing. It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing songs with friends, sitting in with a band, or playing for the Grammy awards. These are the chords every guitar player needs to know. You can’t call yourself a guitarist and not be familiar with these common chord forms.

This is not meant to be an extensive list of every possible chord, but it can be a simple reference of the chords you need to know because you’re going to see them a lot in all guitar styles.

These chords are referred to as “Open” chords because they use at least one open string. The chords are grouped into families by key and common shape so they’re easy to remember.

Check out the Open Chords Workout in the Power Workout section to get the practice you’re going to need to play these chords.

Work out the forms and memorize them and you’ll be able to strum along with countless songs. Have fun learning and incorporating them into your playing. - Steve Krenz

Steve plays a Vintage Sunburst J-45 Standard in this lesson.

Check out Gibson's Learn & Master Guitar course for more great instruction.

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