The First 10 Chords to Learn, in the Right Order

Chord charts list chords alphabetically, which is a terrible way to learn them. Here is the order that unlocks the most songs the fastest, based on how often chords actually appear together in popular music.

Stage one: E minor and A minor

Em needs two fingers. Am needs three and shares a finger shape with Em. Together they already play real songs, and they teach your hand the arch it needs for everything that follows. Practice switching between them until it takes under two seconds.

Stage two: C and G

The two most common chords in Western music. G stretches your hand more than anything so far, and C teaches the skill of avoiding the low E string. C, G, Am, Em together unlock thousands of songs, including a huge share of pop, folk, and worship music.

Stage three: D and D minor

D is compact but demands accuracy, and it completes the key of G. Dm completes the key of C. At this point you can play the classic four-chord progression, C G Am F, except for that F, which brings us to the boss fight.

Stage four: F, the smart way

Skip the full barre F for now. Play the small version: fret the top two strings with your index finger flattened across both, add the G string with your middle finger and the D string with your ring finger. It sounds full enough, and it will not make you quit. The full barre comes later, and our post on why barre chords hurt explains how to get there without pain.

Stage five: A and E

The two big open major chords you have been circling around. E feels like home to rock players and A opens up country and blues in the key of A and E. You now own every open major and minor chord that matters.

Stage six: B7

The tenth chord is a surprise to most people. B7 is far easier than the barre B, and it is the missing piece for blues in E, the most common jam key in existence. Walk into any open mic blues jam knowing E, A, and B7 and you can participate.

How to practice all this

• One new chord every few days, not five in one sitting.
• Practice the switch, not the shape. Chords are only useful in pairs.
• Play a real song at every stage, even at stage one. Look up two-chord songs, and pull the chords for any song you like from the Ultimate Guitar app so you are always practicing music you actually want to hear.

Every chord above is drawn out with finger numbers in our free chord library, and when a song is in an awkward key, the transposer and capo tool moves it into shapes you already know.