As a beginner, you only need to learn a couple acoustic guitar chords to start playing your favorite songs. In fact, there is a great book of 50 songs,
The Guitar 3 Chord Songbook
by Hal Leonard that uses only three guitar chords:
chord C, chord D and chord G.
Try these simple three chord guitar songs.
Reading Chord Diagrams
Below are diagrams of all seven major guitar chords. The frets 1, 3 and 5 are indicated on the diagrams for your reference. The "X" means that the string should not be strummed. The numbers within the black circles represent the fingers to be used. A guitarist's fingers are numbered 1 (index finger) thru 4 (pinky), as shown in the diagram below.
Major Guitar Chords
Also, check-out this free, printable
chord chart
that includes minor and 7th chords, helpful in expanding your chord repertoire. Or, search the
chord libary
for print-outs of individual guitar chords.
Watch this video for more detailed information on how to read acoustic guitar cord diagrams, chord maps, and scale maps.
