Chords You Need To Know

The guitar is one of the few instruments that can play more than one note at a time.

For this reason, we’re very fortunate!

This also means A LOT of chords to learn. In this lesson, I’m covering the open zone chords that you need to know for most songs.

Any chords that you don’t see here will be covered in Lesson 7 as barre chords.

Major/Minor Chords

    Em       E        G       C       Am       A        D       Dm
E |--0-------0--------3-------0--------0-------0--------2--------1--|
B |--0-------0--------0-------1--------1-------2--------3--------3--|
G |--0-------3--------0-------0--------2-------2--------2--------2--|
D |--2-------2--------0-------2--------2-------2--------0--------0--|
A |--2-------2--------2-------3--------0-------0--------------------|
E |--0-------0--------3---------------------------------------------|

Dominant 7 Chords

     E  7    G7       A7       C7      D7      B7
E |--0--------1-------0--------0--------2-------2--|
B |--0--------0-------2--------1--------1-------0--|
G |--1--------0-------0--------3--------2-------2--|
D |--0--------0-------2--------2--------0-------1--|
A |--2--------2-------0--------3----------------2--|
E |--0--------3------------------------------------|

Minor7/Major7 Chords

    Em7      Am7      Dm7    Cmaj7      Amaj7     Fmaj7     Dmaj7
E |-----------0--------1-------0----------0---------0---------2--|
B |--3--------1--------1-------0----------2---------1---------2--|
G |--0--------0--------2-------0----------1---------2---------2--|
D |--2--------2--------0-------2----------2---------3---------0--|
A |--2--------0----------------3----------0----------------------|
E |--0-----------------------------------------------------------|

Want To Learn More …

See how fun & easy teaching yourself to play guitar really is with the help of A Beginners Guide To Guitar.

Did you know the reason why most beginner guitarists put learning guitar in the “too hard basket” is because they choose lessons without structure.

These beginner guitar lessons cover the basics and move into more intermediate topics in the correct order.

Pick up your guitar, dust off the cobwebs and learn guitar today with Elmore Music.