GUITARHABITS

Basic Open Guitar Chords

May 29, 2025 by Klaus Crow

8 Most Important Open Guitar Chords For Beginners

Basic Open Guitar Chords for Beginners

Where do you start when you want to learn to play guitar? Well, the first thing you want to do is learn is some basic open guitar chords, a basic strumming pattern and then start practicing some beginner songs, so we’ll start out with some basic open chords.

The chords are the building blocks for your songs, they give you the harmony. The strumming delivers the rhythm and together they are the accompaniment for your or someone else’s singing voice which in turn provides the melody.

The 8 most important chords for beginners are: C – A – G – E – D – Am – Em – Dm. (you can memorize the first 5 open major chords by the word CAGED)

Songs with Beginner Chords

With these simple chords alone you can play an endless amount of easy songs. For example there are about a million songs that use this chord progression: G – D – Em – C (also called the I – V – vi – IV progression).

Songs like “I’m yours” by Jason Mraz, “With or without you” by U2 and “She will be loved” by Maroon 5 can all be played with just these 4 chords. Not all of these songs are originally in the key of G but you could easily fix that with the help of a capo and play it in the appropriate key.

The open chords are also the starting point and components for the more advanced chords that follow like barre chords. All barre chords are derived from open chords. If you’re interested check out The Four Most Essentiall Barre Chords.

How to Play The Beginner Guitar Chords

In the video lesson below I’m going to show you how to play each chord correctly step by step and how and where to put your fingers on the strings.

The 5 Major Pentatonic Scale Shapes – Positions

By Klaus Crow 26 Comments

May 14, 2019 by Klaus Crow

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The major pentatonic scale is mostly used in country, folk country rock, blues and jazz.

It creates a more happy and uplifting sound.

The shapes of the major pentatonic scale are exactly the same as those of the minor pentatonic scale, except the root note is located else where.

Looking at it from the major scale, if you leave out the 4th and the 7th note of the major scale you’ll also end up with the major pentatonic.

The 5 shapes shown below are all the same scale (G major pentatonic scale) just played in different positions, so you can learn the scale all over the neck. That’s the whole purpose, eventually you want to have the freedom to be able to improvise around the entire fretboard.

SHAPE NAMES
Each shape has it’s own shape-name C, A, G, E and D, derived from the C-A-G-E-D system. Note: The name of the shapes have nothing to do with the key of the scale. The names refer to the chord shape (made up of the red and green dots) that is surrounded by the scale shape.

If you want to know more about the CAGED system check out: What is The CAGED System? (The Keys to The Fretboard)

ROOT NOTES
In the scale diagrams below the red dots indicate the root notes and the green dots indicate the remainder chord tones.

The root note of each shape determines the name of the scale. In the examples below all the scale shapes are in the key of G, so all the root notes are G notes.Continue Reading

20 Questions to Figure Out Your Purpose as a Musician

By Klaus Crow 2 Comments

May 14, 2019 by Klaus Crow

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Somewhere along the way of your guitar adventure there comes a moment when you think about what you want to do or who you want to be as a musician.

The possibilities are almost infinite and sometimes overwhelming. Where do you go next?

Maybe you play acoustic guitar but feel there’s an electric guitar beast inside of you. Or you play lead guitar in a rock band but are secretly swept away by those jazz musicians.

You sing, write, play guitar but think of learning another instrument. You might even want to make a living out of it or pursue a music career, but doing what?

There are so many choices. You can be a songwriter or a singer songwriter, a rhythm guitar player, lead player, music producer, session player, guitar teacher, street musician. You can play in a cover band performing at coffee houses, weddings, bars, small venues, etc. The list is endless.

And then there’s all those different music styles: Blues, rock, jazz, country, easy listening, alternative, classical… Isn’t it great? Yeah but it doesn’t make it easier.

So here are 20 questions to help you figure out your purpose as a musician. Take out a piece of paper, write down the answers and get to know yourself.

Enjoy!Continue Reading

12 Ways to Keep You Focused at Practicing Guitar

By Klaus Crow 12 Comments

May 14, 2019 by Klaus Crow

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A lot of guitar players tend to practice less or quit practicing altogether once they get older and gain more responsibility in life.

They still play guitar (the stuff they already know) but have given up practicing to improve. There’s a huge difference.

This is unfortunate because there are so many great things to learn that many guitar players aren’t even aware of.

It would open up their way of thinking and renew their approach to guitar playing by adding valuable knowledge, developing different skills and expanding their vocabulary.

Although I teach guitar and write about guitar playing, I also sometimes have difficulty keeping up a regular practice schedule to improve my guitar skills. Guitar playing is a major part of enjoying the good life but not the only part.

Besides the busyness of commitments and obligations in daily life, I also like to keep up with my other hobbies such as spending quality time with my wife and three kids, drinking cappuccino in the backyard, running, yoga, meditation, reading and enjoying good wines to name a few.

And as much as these things are of great importance, practicing guitar may not be harmed by all of these wonderful life luxuries. To keep a safe and secure place for regular practice I make sure I follow the guidelines below.

If you also feel like your active lifestyle is keeping you from practicing then here are the keys to get you back on track.

Check it out!Continue Reading

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