The chords I’m going to talk about below are the best ones to start with. Why? For two reasons: 1) they’re the easiest chords to remember and physically play and 2) so many songs use some combination of these chords.

There are three basic ways to play each chord: open (usually the standard way to play a chord, but not always), barred, and as a power chord.

Open chords sound open and lush. The strings ring out with each strum. Open chords are usually the standard way you play each chord (more on that when we cover the individual chords).

Barre chords are when you use your index finger to create a bar across all or some of the strings on the same fret. These are a bit more difficult to play, and usually beginners avoid them at all costs. That’s not a bad idea, although you will have to learn barre chords at some point.

A power chord is a two-note chord that’s neither minor nor major. You usually use just two or three fingers, the third finger playing the lowest note an octave up.

In the above image, you’ll see what guitar diagrams look like. They’re viewed as if you’re facing the guitar, so the string all the way to the left is the low E string.

The dots represent which frets you place your fingers on. Some diagrams put numbers inside the dots that correspond to each finger:

• 1 is your index finger
• 2 is your middle finger
• 3 is your ring finger
• 4 is your pinky

And if you see a line going across all the strings on one fret, that’s a bar chord. The line is where you press down all the strings under the line with the side of your index finger.

There’s another way to write and read chord layouts. It also uses numbers, but in this case the numbers represent the fret you play – “0” meaning you play the string without pressing on any part of it, “X” meaning you don’t play the string at all. Like this…

E Major:
e | 0
B | 2
G | 2
D | 2
A | 0
E | X

Below are the best chords for beginners to learn. With these chords, you can learn most popular songs.

Standard finger placement:

e | 0
B | 2
G | 2
D | 2
A | 0
E | X

Barred:

e | 5
B | 5
G | 6
D | 7
A | 7
E | 5

Power chord:

e | X
B | X
G | X
D | 7
A | 7
E | 5

Standard finger placement:

e | 0
B | 1
G | 2
D | 2
A | 0
E | X

Barred:

e | 5
B | 5
G | 5
D | 7
A | 7
E | 5

Power chord:

e | X
B | X
G | X
D | 7
A | 7
E | 5

Standard finger placement:

e | 3
B | 0
G | 0
D | 0
A | 2
E | 3

Barred:

e | 3
B | 3
G | 4
D | 5
A | 5
E | 3

Power chord:

e | X
B | X
G | X
D | 5
A | 5
E | 3

Standard finger placement (barred):

e | 1
B | 1
G | 2
D | 3
A | 3
E | 1

Barred (alternate):

e | 1
B | 1
G | 2
D | 3
A | X
E | X

Power chord:

e | X
B | X
G | X
D | 3
A | 3
E | 1

Standard finger placement:

e | 0
B | 0
G | 1
D | 2
A | 2
E | 0

Barred:

e | 7
B | 9
G | 9
D | 9
A | 7
E | 0

Power chord:

e | X
B | X
G | X
D | 9
A | 7
E | 0

Standard finger placement:

e | 0
B | 0
G | 0
D | 2
A | 2
E | 0

Barred:

e | 7
B | 8
G | 9
D | 9
A | 7
E | 0

Power chord:

e | X
B | X
G | X
D | 9
A | 7
E | 0

Standard finger placement:

e | 2
B | 3
G | 2
D | 0
A | X
E | X

Barred:

e | 5
B | 7
G | 7
D | 7
A | 5
E | X

Power chord:

e | X
B | X
G | 7
D | 7
A | 5
E | X

Standard finger placement:

e | 0
B | 1
G | 0
D | 2
A | 3
E | X

Barred:

e | 3
B | 5
G | 5
D | 5
A | 3
E | X

Power chord:

e | X
B | X
G | 5
D | 5
A | 3
E | X

Standard finger placement (barred):

e | 2
B | 3
G | 4
D | 4
A | 2
E | X

Barred (alternate):

e | 7
B | 7
G | 7
D | 9
A | 9
E | 7

Power chord:

e | X
B | X
G | X
D | 9
A | 9
E | 7

Using all the info you just learned, there are two websites you need to bookmark.

Ultimate Guitar has the guitar tabs and chords for nearly every song you’ll ever want to know. This site will also show you how to play each chord. But just in case you want to only look up how to play chords separate from a specific song, ChordFind is your go-to resource.