Open chords
First-position chords that mix open strings and fretted notes, the foundation of guitar accompaniment.
Essential
Content under musical review. It may contain inaccuracies.
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First-position chords that mix open strings and fretted notes, the foundation of guitar accompaniment.
Essential
An open chord is played in the first few frets and lets one or more open strings ring. Open chords are triads (root, third and fifth) spread over five or six strings, with notes doubled in different octaves. They sound wide and resonant, and with eight of them you can already accompany a huge number of songs.
E major and E minor, all six strings. Only one note changes, on the third string:
And C, whose bright sound comes from the open third and first strings:
The five open major chords are C, A, G, E and D, hence the name of the CAGED system. Tap each diagram to hear it:
And the three most common minor chords:
Switch the labels to degrees to see which string carries the root, the third or the fifth:
Play each chord one string at a time, low to high, and check that every string rings clearly. If one is muted, adjust that finger to play on its tip and closer to the fret. Then practise changes in pairs:
Open chords give you the full harmony of several keys:
| Key | I | IV | V | vi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G major | G | C | D | Em |
| C major | C | F | G | Am |
| D major | D | G | A | Bm |
| A major | A | D | E | F♯m |
G major is the friendliest: all its main chords are open. F and Bm usually need a barre; if they're still hard, a capo lets you play in other keys with the same shapes.
Try I – vi – IV – V in G majorWhen changing chords, look for fingers that are already in place or only need to slide along the same string. Move the finger for the lowest string first, because the bass is what you hear first in a strum. Practise the change silently, without strumming, until all fingers land together.
Rhythm & accompanimentStrumming patternsKeep your arm moving steadily while following a pattern and changing chords.Open strings let you add notes outside the triad without stretching. In C, leave the third string open and fret the second string at fret 3 to get Cadd9. Lift the second-string finger from A to get Asus2, and add your pinky on the first string, fret 3, in D for Dsus4. Ted Greene's Chord Chemistry collects a wide range of these voicings and their closed equivalents.
Open shapes are also the basis of barre chords: E and A moved up with a barre give you any major chord, as the CAGED system explains.