Learning the guitar often requires you to play chords, and within music theory, you know how to read them. Reading and playing guitar chords is something that should come pretty easily to any player, but as a beginner, all of the tabs, lines, symbols, and more than chord charts show can be a bit confusing.
While the guitar is similar to the piano in some ways, instead of playing keys, you play strings. Guitar chords are made up of two or more strings that are played together in a strum.
Reading and playing guitar chords and deciphering chord diagrams can be easier than you may think. If you’re new to playing the guitar, here is all you need to know about reading and playing chords so you can pick up and advance your skills in learning the guitar.
How to Read Guitar Chords for Beginners
Beginners on the guitar can quickly feel overwhelmed by the number of guitar chords they learn. Instead of learning as many as possible and making it more difficult for yourself, it’s better to start with just three or four chords until you can master them. You’d be surprised how many songs only use this many chords in total!
What is a Guitar Chord Diagram?
Guitar chords are often shown as chord diagrams, with horizontal lines and vertical lines in a box. It can sometimes also be called a guitar tab, chord box or chord chart, and it looks like this:
The visual representation resembles what you would see on your guitar’s fretboard. It represents where you’ll put your hands or fingers on the strings to play the chord. When you’re reading guitar chords, this is how you’ll look at them on paper most of the time.
Parts of a Guitar Chord Diagram
The first row of the small boxes refers to the first fret of your guitar, the second row of boxes is the second fret, and so on.
Before getting into what all those numbers, dots, and letters mean, let’s take a look at a blank diagram. So when you are reading the guitar chords, you’ll read it going down like this:
It’s easy to understand once you know what you’re looking at when it comes to the frets on your guitar. The vertical lines represent the strings of your guitar, and the horizontal lines are the fret bars. This simple breakdown of looking at the frets is something that every beginner on guitar should know.
How to Read a Guitar Chord Diagram
Now that you’re familiar with the frets and what the chord diagram looks like, you can begin learning how to read them. When you read the chord chart, you’ll see the picture as if your guitar is being held straight up and down.
The line to the far right on the chart represents the first string on the guitar, and all the way left is the sixth string. Depending on whether you play the guitar with your right hand or with your left hand, you should be able to figure out how to place your fingers on your guitar strings with this simple diagram.
The very top horizontal line is thicker and is often called the nut, which is located at the end of the fingerboard and elevates the strings over the fretboard:
The vertical lines going down are the strings on your guitar, which look like this:
Now that you’ve seen the example thoroughly on a blank chord chart let’s explore how it would look when you add in the actual chords.
Numbers on the Guitar Chord Diagram
The numbers represent your fingers when you play the guitar and are usually called finger numbers on the tab. Each number goes like this:
1 – Index Finger
2 – Middle Finger
3 – Ring Finger
4 – Pinky Finger
Sometimes, you’ll see a “T” symbol instead of the numbers on chord diagrams or charts. If you see that, it indicates that you should use your thumb to fret that note.
Black Dots or Red Dots on a Guitar Chord Diagram
You may see black dots or red dots on the chord chart diagram. The dots indicate what fret and string you are pressing on and show you which finger to use. The numbers could also be at the bottom of the chartor inside the dots to show you what fingers are on what strings, like this:
X’s and O’s on the Guitar Chord Diagram
Hugs and kisses don’t exist when playing guitar, so don’t become confused when you see X’s and O’s on the chord chart. You may see them above the top of the chart, or sometimes, they are placed in the row of numbers at the bottom.
The O’s indicate that you play that open string without pressing down on anything. The Xs mean you don’t play the string within the chord. You should always see an X or O to represent any string that doesn’t have a number so you know where your finger is going.
Here’s an example of what it might look like:
So, this tab tells you to play strings one, two, three, and four (open). Strings five and six have the “X” above, so you mute or avoid strumming them.
So, this tab tells you to play strings one, two, three, and four (open). Strings five and six have the “X” above, so you mute or avoid strumming them. The letter directly above the top of the chart tells you the chord you’re playing, so in this case, you’re looking at a D chord.
How to Read Guitar Chords on Sheet Music
To read guitar notes on sheet music, you must focus on identifying the lines and spaces representing different notes or pitches. Guitar chord charts are more of a specific way to notate guitar chords and can be much more straightforward than sheet music.
Sheet music can be understood across different instruments, though. So, if you’re interested in learning piano or playing the trumpet, understanding music theory, and knowing notes and keys for songs, you can work with sheet music that looks like this:
The two parts to learning how to read the sheet music involve understanding the rhythm of the notes, such as the key signature, and identifying the notes themselves. A lot is going on in this sheet music, and some of it involves the following:
- 8th notes
- time signature (4/4)
- rest symbols
- treble clef
- two bars or measures
- Notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B
There are notes on the lines, in between (or on) lines, and then above the staff. The time signature 4/4 means four beats per measure/bar, and each quarter note gets one beat. The 8th notes mean they each get a half of a beat, so it takes twice as many (8) for one measure.
A whole note has a value of four beats so that it would be on its own for one measure:
So the way that the 8th notes become divided looks like this when you count it out:
How to Know Which Fret to Play
In sheet music, you can look for the note name followed by a number, which indicates the fret you play on. For example, a D note played on the 3rd fret of the E string would be notated as D3.
You can also use the o”one finger per fret” rule that helps you determine which fret to play. So you basically go in order: your first finger plays the first fret, your second finger plays the second fret, and so on.
The Five Basic Guitar Chords to Learn First
Beginning with any kind of chord that has an open string played will allow you to learn quickly since open chords don’t require a lot of fingering or use of the guitar pick to execute properly. There are 5 basic guitar chords that you should learn first because of their use of open chords.
The chords are A, E, D, G, and C, wh. The guitar chord diagrams look like this:
These are considered essential beginner chords because they can be played without any barre technique, and if you combine them, you can play hundreds of songs. It would be best to spend most of your time at the beginning of your learning guitar chord charts working with these five chords.
Once you have mastered these chords, you can learn some easy guitar riffs. Some riffs may require you to utilize your guitar pick since they require more complexity than strumming. Guitar-picking exercises can help you learn how to hold a guitar pick properly.
How to Play Guitar Chords as a Beginner
Playing guitar chords doesn’t have to be challenging; as a beginner guitarist, there is a simple way that you can guide yourself through playing. If you start by learning some of the major chords and rhythm patterns, you’ll quickly learn how to make the sounds that guitarists make.
How to Read and Play the G Chord
The G major chord is as follows:
To read it, you can see that your first finger goes to the second fret of the fourth string, and the second finger goes to the third fret of the fifth string. Place your third finger on the third fret of the first string, and if you can hold that finger, strum all of the strings together, which creates the G Chord:
How to Read and Play the D Chord
The D chord is next. To play this, remember that it has a triangle shape, which can help you commit certain chords to memory as you gain more skills.
With the D major chord, you use your first two fingers on the E and G of the second fret and hold down on the B note on the third fret with your third finger. When you strum them all together, it should sound like this:
How to Read and Play the C Chord
The C chord on the guitar is another well-utilized pattern since it uses the C, G, and E notes, which are all major and pleasant sounding, as well as an open chord without complexity.
You align your second and third fingers in a slanted pattern across the frets as you can see in the guitar tab above. It can take a little work stretching your fingers or doing some stretching exercises to achieve this arch over the strings. Here’s how it goes:
How to Read and Play the E Minor Chord
The E minor chord isn’t much different from the E major chord, so it’s worth looking at some of the minor chord names that work along with the major chords to see what slight adjustments your fingers make. This can also be helpful when learning chord progressions, going from one chord to another.
The E minor is easy since all you do is put your second finger on the second fret of the fifth string, and your third finger goes on the second fret of the fourth string. That’s all there is before you strum, and it sounds like this:
How to Master Guitar Chords
There are many ways you can work to master guitar chords. It helps if you know how you learn best so you can quickly learn different keys, chord progressions, and chord transitions.
You can assign numbers to each finger on your fretting hand to make learning easier. Working diligently on mastering open chords and then working your way up to barre chords is an excellent way to take things one at a time.
An essential skill you can learn is reading guitar chord diagrams. The better you are at reading guitar music and recognizing chords, the easier you’ll be able to play. Here are some helpful tips to help you master guitar chords.
You can find plenty of online resources, and with a little practice, you can confidently begin your guitar journey.
Practice Daily
As with learning any skill, the best way to learn and master guitar is to practice every day. And don’t just practice a specific song. As a beginner, you want to practice fingering, learning each chord individually, and then working on chord progressions and transitions to play full songs.
Practicing the guitar daily can help you avoid mistakes and improve your skills. Consistent practice also helps build muscle memory, allowing you to access chords and play notes more efficiently.
Practice also helps to develop and improve your finger strength and ability. Progress in your learning requires commitment, dedication, and discipline to improve and progress faster in mastering skills.
Visualize the Chords in Your Mind
When you’re able to visualize the guitar chords in your mind, it can help you think ahead to the chord that comes next in your progression as you play the strings of the guitar. When you think ahead, you can move from one chord to the next more fluently, which is the mark of a real guitarist.
Take Guitar Lessons
The best and easiest way to learn guitar quickly is by taking private guitar lessons. Your instructor can show you how to play, go over the guitar components of a song, teach you basic music theory so that you can read sheet music and guitar tabs, distinguish guitar frets and chord charts, and provide you with ways to practice to progress and learn your favorite songs in no time.
Beginners often don’t know where to start when playing the guitar and reading guitar chord charts. You may have questions and not even be sure which type of guitar to start with – is the acoustic guitar better than the electric guitar? What’s the main difference?
Working with a guitar teacher provides more structure and will ensure that your journey to becoming a genuine guitar player advances to the next level sooner rather than later. You’ll find that your knowledge progresses, and you’re able to adjust to different positions so the whole experience is more pleasant.
Learn to Play the Guitar Today
It takes time to learn the guitar, so don’t expect to leap bounds in a few weeks or even months. As a beginner, it can help the most for you to work with a guitar teacher, who can teach you to learn open chord shapes in songs since it only takes a few chords, and you can feel like a real guitar player.
You’re never too old to learn, so don’t let age be a factor. Make it a priority to focus on one aspect of learning and practicing chords at a time, such as working with a specific chord (chord C) until you feel comfortable, before moving into chord progressions. You’ll be slaying some well-known songs before you know it!
Thinking about learning to play the guitar? Check out our blog for more information, and remember to visit our Guitar Lessons page to find an instructor near you or invest in online lessons so our expert teachers can provide you with the best guitar journey for your learning style.
