Guitar lessons for Beginners chords

Let’s start with the G major chord. First bring your hand up to the guitar and pretend you’re holding something shaped like an apple, which helps you with your posture when making chords. Put your thumb on the back of the guitar, and make sure to relax and release any extra tension you may have.

When you’re making the G major chord, you can use your first, second, and third fingers, or you can use your second, third, and fourth fingers. I encourage you to start with your second, third, and fourth fingers, and I’ll show you why in a bit. Try it, and if you find it’s too hard for you now, you can always switch.

Put your third finger on the third fret of the low E string, and be sure to come down on the very tip of your finger. Don’t let your fingers get lazy and accidentally brush against any other strings. You also want to make sure that your fingers are placed right behind the fret.

For the second note of the G major chord, place you’re second finger on the second fret of the A string. To finish the chord, place your fourth finger on the third fret of the high E string, and then strum all six strings. If this is feeling uncomfortable, you can make this shape with your first, second, and third fingers, but I really encourage you to use your second, third, and fourth fingers if you can.

Let’s move on now to the C major chord, and another tip I want to give you here is not to bend your wrist too far forward, because that can hurt after a while. The shape for this chord is great for letting you know if you’re coming down on the tips of your fingers.

Place your third finger on the third fret of the A string, your second finger on the second fret of the D string, and your first finger on the first fret of the B string. When you strum, leave the low E string out and just strum the top five strings.

As I strum that chord in the video, you can hear that it sounds good with clear notes and no buzzing. If I slightly adjust my fingers though, moving off the tips of my fingers, you can hear that all the notes in the chord disappeared because my fingers were accidentally muting them. The C major chord will always be a good way to check if you’re on the tips of your fingers enough.

Now the reason I wanted you to make your G chord with your second, third, and fourth fingers is because you’ll be switching between a G and a C chord a lot when you play. You can see in the video that making the change with my second, third, and fourth fingers is a pretty quick, close change. Using my first, second, and third fingers though makes it much harder to switch between the two.

The next chord we’ll look at it the D major, and another tip I have for you here is to cut your fingernails. If you keep your fingernails short, it’s much easier to come down on the tips of your fingers. A lot of new guitar players can have trouble memorizing chords, so after I teach you this chord, I’ll show you some easy ways to remember chords.