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Guitar chords

Learn the parts of the guitar and the names of its six strings, then nine open chords: C, G, D, Em, Am, E, A, Dm and F. After that come changing chords in time, strumming patterns, three-chord songs and the capo. Every chord box below plays its sound when you tap it.

Progress

About this course

Around 1800 most Spanish guitars still had pairs of strings, called courses. During the early 1800s guitars with six single strings took over, and the design most nylon-string guitars follow today was settled by Antonio de Torres Jurado, who began making guitars in Seville in the 1850s. He gave the body a larger, balanced shape and braced the thin top with a fan of wooden struts. Those six strings are tuned E A D G B E, from about 82.41 Hz on the thickest to about 329.63 Hz on the thinnest.

The seven units start with the parts of the guitar and string names, then the first chords: E minor needs two fingers and all six strings, and adding one finger turns it into E major. The next unit brings in C, G, Dm and F. Why do C, G, D, E and A feel so natural while F feels awkward? E, A, D, G and B are all open-string notes, so chords built on them let several strings ring free, and F asks your index finger to hold two strings at once. Changing chords in time uses the fact that C and Am share two fingers. Strumming patterns count eight motions a bar in 4/4, and three-chord songs use G, C and D, enough for Amazing Grace, whose words were first printed in 1779. The last unit is the capo: clamp it at the 2nd fret, play a G shape, and the guitar sounds an A chord. The word capotasto was in print in 1640, and the first patented guitar capo is credited to James Ashborn in 1850. Every chord box plays its sound when you tap it.

Before you start

The opening lesson names the guitar parts and strings before introducing chord diagrams. Counting four steady beats helps when the lessons turn to changing chords and strumming. Each chord box plays when tapped, so you can compare its sound with the fingering shown before working through a progression.

When you finish

You can read chord diagrams for C, G, D, Em, Am, E, A, Dm and F, identify the six strings, and plan changes that keep shared fingers in place. You can follow down and up strums in 4/4, use G, C and D in a three-chord song, and explain what a capo changes.

  1. 1Parts of the guitar and string namesSix strings tuned E A D G B E, from about 82.41 Hz on the thickest string to about 329.63 Hz on the thinnest.
  2. 2Chord diagrams and first chords: Em, E, Am, A, DE minor needs two fingers and all six strings. Add one finger and it becomes E major.
  3. 3More open chords: C, G, Dm, FWith C, G and D you can play thousands of songs. F is the one chord that asks your index finger to hold two strings at once.
  4. 4Changing chords in timeC and Am share two fingers. Leave them down and only one finger has to move.
  5. 5Strumming patternsIn 4/4 the strumming hand moves down on every number and up on every "and", eight motions a bar, whether it touches the strings or not.
  6. 6Three-chord songs: I, IV and VIn the key of G the three main chords are G, C and D. Those three are enough for Amazing Grace, whose words were first printed in 1779.
  7. 7The capoClamp a capo at the 2nd fret, play a G shape, and the guitar sounds an A chord.

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Sources for this course (10)
  • Wikipedia "Standard tuning", guitar E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4, fourths with a major third between G and B, written an octave higher than it sounds (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_tuning)
  • Wikipedia "Capo (musical device)", capotasto, Doni 1640, James Ashborn patent 1850, capo affects only the open strings (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capo_(musical_device))
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Daniel Wheeldon, "The Spanish Guitar" (metmuseum.org/essays/the-spanish-guitar)
  • Classical Guitar magazine, "10 Classical Guitar Innovations from Antonio de Torres" (classicalguitarmagazine.com/10-classical-guitar-innovations-from-antonio-de-torres)
  • Wikipedia "Antonio de Torres Jurado" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_de_Torres_Jurado)
  • Wikipedia "I-IV-V-I" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I–IV–V–I)
  • Library of Congress, Amazing Grace collection, words written 1772 to 1773 and printed in Olney Hymns 1779 (loc.gov/collections/amazing-grace/articles-and-essays/dissemination-of-amazing-grace.html)
  • Museum of the Bible, "How Sweet the Sound", tune NEW BRITAIN in Columbian Harmony 1829 and first paired with Newton's text by William Walker in The Southern Harmony 1835 (museumofthebible.org/how-sweet-the-sound)
  • String frequencies computed with f = 440 × 2^((m − 69) / 12)
  • fret positions computed with d = L × (1 − 2^(−n / 12)).

Checked: 2026-10-17