Easy Open Chords | E Chord, A Chord, C Chord & F Chord

Open Chords Guitar (Major and Minor Chords)
  E Chord, A Chord, C Chord and F Chord

In this post you will learn about different Open chords on Guitar and their pattern such as E Major Chord, Em Chord (E Minor Chord), A Major Chord, Am Chord (A Minor Chord), C Chord and F Chord on Guitar. There are different types of chords available such as Open chord, Barre Chord (Bar Chord), Suspended Chord, Power Chord etc. Open Chords are the most basic chords available in this chord series. Since open chords are easy to play and are best example to set your basics on different Notes and position on Guitar. We should know how to read Chords of Guitar Chart (Guitar Chord Chart also know as Guitar Chord Diagram). Chart of Guitar Chords is just a representation of Chords. It tells about the position of each finger so as to help you to place your fingers on the right fret and string in order to play any specific Chord.

Hope you have gone through my previous post ‘learn Guitar basics’ and already know what is a chord including other basics.  let’s begin with the Chords of Guitar Chart and you can say how to play guitar part two in this post one by one.

At high level Chords are distinguished into two parts-

1.      Major Chord- Give you a HAPPY feeling while listening.

2.      Minor Chord- Give you a SAD feeling while listening.

And of course the Position of your fingers is also different while playing same chord in both Major and Minor. E.g. E Major Chord and E Minor Chord.

Whenever you are practicing and following Chords of Guitar chart for the first time just make sure your fingers should point to the correct fret and String.

We are not using any suffix while representing major Chord unlikely using suffix (m) for Minor chord. E.g. E represents E Major chord and Em represents E Minor chord.

Hope this is clear, Let's start discussing OPEN CHORDS GUITAR.

Open Chords Guitar:

Open Chord is the Open Positioned chord that includes one or more strings which are not fingered. In an open chord the unfingered strings are undamped so unfingered string vibrates freely, whereas a fingered string will be partially damped and produce chord sound.

This is for advance learner, guys do you know there is a technique to identify the correct chord position and pattern of all Barre chords with the help of these Open guitar Chords. So start practicing all these open chords correctly.

If you want to learn the Technique to identify Guitar Chords and their correct Position then check post 'Guitar Chords and Position Technique'.

Here is your first Open Chord on Guitar:

E Major Chord and Em Chord (E Minor) Chord:

Em Chord or E Minor Chord

E Chord is one of the most popular Chord and frequently used chord in most of the songs. 

The Em Chord or E Minor chord is simple to play on Guitar, requiring only two fingers, and all the other strings are played open.

E Major Chord

E Major Chord requires three fingers to play. In this Guitar Chord chart Horizontal lines/ section represents FRETS and Vertical lines/ section represents Guitar Strings. E Chord is one of the most famous Chord and actually easy to play.

How to Play E Major Chord and Em Chord (E Minor Chord) on Guitar:

1.      You need to place your both fingers tip correctly on the string as mentioned in the Guitar chord chart in E Chord shape.

2.      Count to four (1,2,3 & 4) which comprises one Beat, Strumming at the end of each beat. E.g. Count 1,2,3 & 4, 5,6,7 & 8, 9,10,11 & 12, 13,14,15 & 16

Well here you need to strum on 4,8,12 & 16 (Don’t play on ‘AND’ however you need to include & in between last to count this make Beat complete).

3.      You need to remove both the finger after completing one beat or two. And again try to place them in proper place and repeat. ( My personal SUGGESTION here is to please don’t stop counting when you will remove your finger after completing one beat, keep counting and try to adjust and place your fingers again before reaching end of next beat and STRUM). 

This suggestion will help you to master Open Chords on Guitar quickly. Also, this suggestion is for all the Open Chords you are learning in this post.

A Major Chord and A Minor (Am) Chord :

A Major Chord and Am Chord (A Minor Chord) both of these are common and frequently used guitar chords in all style of music.

To play A Major chord you need to inline and compress your 3 fingers together, I will suggest compressing last three fingers in sequence including smaller finger (removing your index or pointer finger). 

Rest depends on the Guitarist!!

To form Am Chord (A Minor Chord) pattern, you need to inline your middle finger and ring finger and place it on second fret on strings 3 and 4 fingers together and index finger on first fret on string number 2.

Fig- Representation of A Major Chord and A Minor (Am Chord) Chord

How to Play A Major and A Minor (Am) Chord:

1.      You need to place your fingers tip correctly on the string as mentioned in the above Guitar chord chart in A Chord shape.

2.      Repeat steps 2 and 3 mentioned in ‘How to play E Chord’ section.

C Major Chord and C Minor (Cm) Chord:

As C Chord includes 3 frets so you need to stretch your all three included finger which is making this chord little challenging for beginners but remember that practicing it daily will make you master to play this chord in Guitar.

C chord also have majorly two alternatives as C Major chord and C Minor (Cm) chord. In this post we are going to cover C Major Chord only as C Minor (Cm) chord is a Barre Chord and will be shared in upcoming post with detailed procedure.

Fig- Representation of C Major Chord 

How to Play C Major and C Minor (Cm) Chords:

1.      You need to place your all three fingers tip correctly on the string as mentioned in the above Guitar chord chart in C Chord shape.

2.      Repeat steps 2 and 3 mentioned in ‘How to play A Chord’ section.

F Major Chord and F Minor (Fm) Chord:

Must say F Major Chord is one of the toughest chord in the Guitar chord chart as you need to press first two strings (Barre) from your first finger and need to stretch other three.

Sound complicated right?

No matter how complicated it looks like this is one of the basic chord and every Guitarist plays it as this chord is made for them only. So you will also not going to face any issue after practicing it so No Worries!!

Fig- Representation of F Major Chord 

Above representation is complete F Major chord.

Please try it multiple times them if in case you are facing any trouble while playing this one then we have a small alternate here, Let me make it simple for you guys.

F Major Simplified Chord Simplified 

In the beginning leave first string as well if you are facing trouble in playing with barre on first two strings from first finger.

F Minor Chord (Fm Chord):

Coming to Fm i.e. F Minor Chord (Fm Chord). Well it’s a barre chord but we can play it as an open chord just to start practicing it. 

So this one is for beginners, please find the Chord of Guitar chart below,

Fm Chord Simplified (F Minor Chord) 

You can choose this to play as well in the beginning as an alternative option.

However you need to again stretch your third finger again but this structure will help to play an alternative and almost same sound.

How to Play F Major Chord Guitar:

You need to follow previously mentioned procedure to play F Major Chord on Guitar.

Repeat all steps mentioned in ‘How to play E Chord on Guitar’ section.

Believe me there were lots and lots of things I want to share on these chords but just to keep it simple, short and relevant for Open chord I have discuss these Beginners open chords only in one post.

• Hey guys if you want to go through the basics of Guitar such as Types of Guitar, Body parts of Guitar, What is a Chord to know your guitar, don't forget to check the previous post How to play Guitar Lesson 1. All basics are well explained there!!

Conclude:

All Open Chords explained in this Post are Open Chords and easy to play. You have learnt E Major Chord, Em Chord (E Minor Chord), A Major Chord, Am Chord (A Minor Chord), C Chord and F Chord on Guitar. Try to play all Open chords and let us know if in case of any issue in Playing these Open Chords on Guitar.

There is lot more to share, Keep in touch and stay happy.

Happy Open Chords Guitar Learning!!!