The 8 Guitar Chords Every Beginner Needs to Learn First
The internet likes to tell beginners they need to learn 20 chords before they can play a song. That's a scam. You need eight. Seven if we're honest — the eighth is a stretch goal. These eight cover the vast majority of popular songs in every genre, and they're all open-position chords that live in the first three frets.
Learn Them in This Order
- Em (E minor)
- Am (A minor)
- D major
- G major
- C major
- E major
- A major
- F (or Fmaj7 as a stepping stone)
This order matters. Em and Am use the fewest fingers and build hand strength without overwhelming coordination. D and G open up hundreds of songs. C and E expand the chord vocabulary. A completes the core open chords. F is the gateway to barre chords, and the last step before you start exploring the whole neck.
1. Em (E Minor)
Two fingers — middle on the A string (5th) at fret 2, ring on the D string (4th) at fret 2. Strum all six strings. First time you play it clean, it actually sounds like music. That matters when you're starting. Em is how Metallica opens "Nothing Else Matters," it's the haunted minor quality in "Mad World," it shows up in "House of the Rising Sun" and a huge chunk of folk and rock. Easy to play and versatile from day one.
Watch your ring finger — if the G string goes dead or buzzes, it's touching. Arch it up slightly.
2. Am (A Minor)
Three fingers: index on the B string (2nd) at fret 1, middle on the D string (4th) at fret 2, ring on the G string (3rd) at fret 2. Strum five strings — skip the low E.
"Stairway to Heaven" is in A minor. "House of the Rising Sun." Most of the slow, moody acoustic songs people want to play eventually. Once you have Am, C, G, and D together, that's a very long Friday night of actual music covered.
3. D Major
Three fingers. Index on the G string (3rd) at fret 2, ring on the B string (2nd) at fret 3, middle on the high E (1st) at fret 2. Strum only the top four strings — skip the low E and A.
D, G, and C together give you "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," "Wagon Wheel," and most of John Denver's catalog. The frustrating part is your ring finger wants to brush the high E string — it won't after a week. That shape sorts itself out.
4. G Major
Three fingers: middle on the low E (6th) at fret 3, index on the A string (5th) at fret 2, ring on the high E (1st) at fret 3. Strum all six strings.
There's a four-finger version — add your pinky on the B string at fret 3 — that sounds fuller and is actually easier to transition into C from. Most players end up preferring it. Start with three fingers, but try the four-finger version within a month or so.
5. C Major
Three fingers. Ring on the A string (5th) at fret 3, middle on the D string (4th) at fret 2, index on the B string (2nd) at fret 1. Strum five strings — skip the low E.
The trickiest early chord, because your index finger has to arch up enough to not mute the high E. It will mute it, for a while. Keep adjusting. Our chord chart shows the shape, but the feeling of all five strings ringing is how you know you've got it right.
6. E Major
Three fingers: middle on the A string at fret 2, ring on the D string at fret 2, index on the G string at fret 1. Strum all six strings.
E major sounds big because every string rings out. It's also the backbone of E-form barre chords — that same finger arrangement, shifted up the neck with a barre across fret 1, is your F chord. You're already halfway to barre chords without realizing it.
7. A Major
Three fingers crammed into one fret: index, middle, and ring on fret 2, covering D, G, and B strings. It's tight. Some people can never quite get the three-finger version to ring cleanly on the B string; for them, barring across just those three strings with the index finger works fine — just don't accidentally mute the high E in the process.
Both versions are legitimate. Pick whichever gives you five clean-sounding strings when you strum.
8. F (The Final Boss)
The full F is a barre chord — index finger across all six strings at fret 1, three other fingers completing the E-shape. It's genuinely hard for beginners, and there's no shame in using the workaround indefinitely.
The workaround: Fmaj7. Index on B string fret 1, middle on G string fret 2, ring on D string fret 3. Strum four strings (skip the low E and A). Sounds nice, works in the overwhelming majority of songs where F shows up. Use it freely while you build the hand strength for the full barre — our barre chord guide covers that transition when you're ready.
How to Practice These
Pick two chords and switch between them. Don't strum yet — just form chord 1, let go, form chord 2. Clean position to clean position. Twenty reps. Then add strumming. Then a third chord.
The goal isn't knowing chords — it's switching between them. Thirty chords you can't transition quickly is useless. Eight chords you can swap in half a second is how you actually play songs.
Use our metronome at 60 BPM and switch on every click. You'll be late at first — aim for the click anyway and you'll get there. In about three weeks of this, the changes start happening on the beat without you thinking about them. When 60 feels easy, bump it to 63.