The 8 Guitar Chords You MUST Know - Beginner Chords on Acoustic Guitar

Learn how to play the 8 guitar chords that you need to know as a beginner guitar player. These beginner chords for acoustic guitar are essential no matter your goals. Every guitar player should know these (and learn them first!) as they will allow you to play all those easy acoustic guitar songs everyone should know how to play! And it's not just about memorizing the beginner chords - I want to show you a neat way to play and switch between them so you can USE them fast!
► Worksheet included on page 17 of FREE EBOOK! Get your copy here:
goodguitarist.com/learn-rhyth...
► Need help with the basic chords and strumming? My beginner guitar course will help you build a solid foundation one step at a time:
goodguitarist.com/beginner-gu...
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 - INTRO
0:41 - The 8 Must Know Chord Shapes
1:38 - Using The Correct Fingers
2:24 - How To Play The E Chord
3:24 - Making Clean Accurate Chords on Guitar
5:06 - The E minor Chord (Em)
6:24 - Drag It Down To Play A minor (Am)
7:22 - Move 1 Finger To Play C
8:34 - The C Chord is HARD!
9:20 - The D minor Chord (Dm)
11:05 - The Difference Between Major vs Minor
13:13 - Muting Excess Strings
14:12 - How To Play The G Chord
15:27 - The A Chord
17:11 - Switching Tips & Tricks
The 8 shapes all guitarists should know are: C A G E D Am Em Dm. The lesson begins with our fingers - knowing where to put them and how to place them. From there we learn the E chord, which is the easiest "real" chord on guitar.
We work on some strategies for making clean chord shapes (placing your thumb properly, pressing close to the fret, posture, and all that good stuff) and then move on to the Em chord. From there, we drag our shape over and add a finger to make Am.
Changing 1 finger gives us C - and before we go further I'd like to point out that C is one of the toughest "beginner" chords on guitar. We discuss some strategies for avoiding fret buzz with the C chord, and then we "transform" it into our next shape: Dm.
Dm transitions into D with just a 1 note difference, but based on the fingering we need to change a few things around. This is a great time to talk about the difference between major and minor chords. They are usually 1 finger different because those chords are just 1 note apart!
We also discuss muting excess strings, which is one of the most important tools for successful strumming, before moving on to the D, G and A chords, which are some of the most useful out of the bunch.
The lesson concludes with a chain of chord shapes that you can play, that'll help you memorize them all. Each is 1 movement or 1 finger away from the next, and it cycles around so you can play it over and over again and build that muscle memory.
If you want a written version of everything we do in this lesson, you'll find it on Page 17 of my free eBook: goodguitarist.com/learn-rhyth...
Enjoy!
-James
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/ goodguitarist
#beginnerguitar #guitarlesson #guitartutorial

[@Good_Guitarist]

Out of all these 8 shapes, which one do you find you have the most trouble with?

[@PankajKumar-rv6py]

D major chord. G maj to D maj, C maj to D maj. Even E maj to D maj. Finger number 3 keeps killing me.

[@JackKirbyFan]

Ah the memories. Ya, I still remember those early days and D major, I had such a problem with. C wasn't bad. E and A weren't bad at all. D minor - no big deal as was the g chords and their 7ths as well. D major, man for whatever reason gave me headaches. That was then. Now my guitar teacher is having me do all the barre chord shapes in the caged system to learn them. As you may have guessed the D major barre chord is once again the bane in my existence -> but the g major barre chord one isn't that far behind. Of course he makes it look easy. I had no idea you had to stretch that much - but I do now! Here I thought the e shaped barre chord was tough - I was wrong :)

[@rdtaino4293]

Thank you so much for this video!! I’m an absolute beginner. Great lesson, you are a great teacher. I have the most trouble with the D and G Cord

[@JackKirbyFan]

@@rdtaino4293 Ah the dreaded d chord. I know the frustration. Keep at it. It's just practice and you will soon play it with ease!

[@hooskerdu1]

A Major is the most difficult for me, because my fingertips are pretty wide. So I've found that I have to use my index finger on the G string, and my middle finger on the D string. 😊

[@jamesdilts277]

Thank you so much, your making this so much easier for me to put it all together.

[@joanna-000]

Thank you for this video and the resources. You are a great teacher.

[@inayatsama6059]

Great lesson, Love this, well explained, thank you James for sharing. 👍🤘🤘

[@respectfulremixer]

Really helpful, thanks!

[@gordbarr3118]

Thanks James, excellent!

[@NanaLeeAnn]

I have been struggling with the C chord, and thanks to this video I can finally do it! It was all about the wrist pivot going from an Am to the C. This is the clearest instruction I've ever seen on doing a C chord. And that whole bit about the wrist... game changer for me! I can't emphasize enough how in all instances, having these little tips... move your thumb up or down, pivot your wrist, dip the wrist, keep the palm parallel to the fretboard... can help. It's as close one can get with online learning to having an in-person lesson where the instructor can literally take your fingers and hands and show you what to do with them. Thank you a million times!

[@nadineinc]

Thank you so much for this video!! I’m an absolute beginner 😁🕺🏻🎸✨

[@rubenarellano3959]

Great overview video! Suggestion - that image of the hand "from your perspective", it makes more sense to me for it to be flipped so I'm looking at the palm of my left hand.

[@dnestorjr]

Can you please do a video of switching between open and barre chord? I really struggle with this thanks and love the videos

[@musicmusic7209]

Excellent video..thank you so much. Can you tell me why strumming Is so difficult?

[@Deuces-l3w]

Thanks James!

[@Relaxandlearnguitar]

Good beginner lesson to get folks started!

[@ericplant5169]

Excellent

[@furkanahmedofficial5858]

I'm from Bangladesh I like your video Your video is very good 👍

[@andypunzalan8328]

Playing by ear helps a lot too.

[@didocrypto727]

I couldn't find the link to the 2 and 3 chord songs

[@61cheezil]

Wow no F ...Awesome :)

[@johnmcnamee739]

song Hallelujah

[@prasadsiriwardhana8099]

❤❤❤

[@nirmalamarak9386]

🙏

[@mylovesjo1529]

👏🏻💕

[@cihanlost]

Instead of C i have a problem with D and Dm ☺

[@mistergrendel32]

I am having trouble with the A chord and my fat fingers. The chord rings out better using fingers 2, 3, and 4. 😜

[@kimsachan]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🌹

[@nirmalamarak9386]

Dm is too difficult for me to hold.

[@Good_Guitarist]

This might help kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3iQdmaCZb2CqaM

[@KALOKOHAN1234]

❤️❤️❤️🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭

[@kimsachan]

The C chord is killing me.😔

[@ivanmagbato9050]

First ❤️

[@paulwagner9931]

This is too fast