beginner

Open Chords & Strumming

Learn basic open position chords and even strumming patterns.

Objective

Play clean open-position major and minor chords and strum evenly in 4/4 time.

Concepts

▸An open chord uses at least one open (unfretted) string.
▸The six essential open chords are: E, Em, A, Am, D, G — and C.
▸A chord diagram shows strings vertically (low E on left), frets horizontally, dots = finger placement, X = mute, O = open.
▸Strumming direction: downstrokes on beats 1–2–3–4, add upstrokes on the "and" counts to create eighth-note patterns.
▸Good tone comes from pressing close to the fret (not on it) and using the fingertip, not the pad.

Diagram / Notation

G Major          C Major          D Major
e  --3--         e  --0--         e  --2--
B  --0--         B  --1--         B  --3--
G  --0--         G  --0--         G  --2--
D  --0--         D  --2--         D  --0--
A  --2--         A  --3--         A  --x--
E  --3--         E  --x--         E  --x--

Em Major         Am Major
e  --0--         e  --0--
B  --0--         B  --1--
G  --0--         G  --2--
D  --2--         D  --2--
A  --2--         A  --0--
E  --0--         E  --x--

Exercises

1.One-chord drone

1.Fret a G chord. Strum down on beat 1, hold for 4 beats.
2.Focus entirely on getting all strings to ring — no buzzes, no mutes.
3.Repeat for each chord: G, C, D, Em, Am.

2.G → C → D chord change

1.Set your metronome to 60 BPM.
2.Strum G four times (one chord per beat), then C four times, then D four times.
3.Keep the beat going even if you miss a chord — accuracy matters, but rhythm matters more.
4.Increase 5 BPM every time you nail three clean passes.

3.Down-up strumming pattern

1.Pattern: D – D U – U D U (beats: 1 – 2 & – & 4 &)
2.Tap your foot on every beat. Your hand keeps moving down-up continuously.
3.Practice the strum in the air before applying to a chord.
4.Apply over a slow G → Em → C → D loop.

Tips

💡Squeeze the chord, then release slightly — you will feel where "just enough" pressure is.
💡Practice chord changes in isolation: put two chords together, nothing else, 100 times.
💡Your fretting-hand wrist should hang low for open chords (unlike barre chords).
💡If a string buzzes, it is usually the finger nearest to that string — adjust placement.

Sources & Further Study

▶ Video♪ Song◉ Article✦ Lesson

✦JustinGuitar — Open Chords (free lesson series)↗▶YouTube — Open chord tutorial for beginners↗◉Wikipedia — Guitar chord↗

Next →Barre Chords