Common Guitar Chords

I put together this list of common guitar chords. These are chords that I have frequently seen in playing the songs that I have learned. These are the ones that I seem to use most often.

G Chord

One of the most common guitar chords that I see used is the G chord. I think I’ve seen this chord in the vast majority of pieces that I have played. The easiest way to do the G chord, in a way that feels comfortable once you get used to it and allows you to switch to another position easily is to put your index finger on the second fret of the A string, the middle finger on the third fret of the upper (thicker) E string, and the pinky finger on the lower (thinner) E string. All the other strings are played, but not pressed. It is possible to substitute the ring finger for the pinky, but there may be times when you might want to add a finger to the third fret on the B string to the G chord, which is much easier to do from the position I described.

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Another variation is to have the middle finger on the second fret A string, the ring finger on the third fret upper E string, with the pinky in the standard G chord position. The advantage to this position is two-fold: a faster transition to the C chord and an easier, faster transition to G7, which is just like the G chord in the variation, but with the index finger on the first fret lower E string.

C chord

The next common guitar chords on the list is the C chord. The C chord can be played by putting the index finger on the first fret of the B string, the middle finger on the second fret D string and the ring finger on the third fret A string. All other strings are played open. A common variation of this chord is to play the pinky on the third fret upper E string with the other fingers in the same position. From here, you can switch to many different chords with very small movements.

D chord

The third common guitar chords on my list is the D chord. The D chord is played with the index finger on the second fret G string, the middle finger on the second fret lower E string, and the ring finger on the third fret. The D string is played, but the upper E string and the A string are not played.

The G-C-D triad is a combination that can be used in many songs. It’s one of the most common that I’ve found.

Click here for page two of this common guitar chords list.