Beginner Guitar Chord Library
Every chord below is drawn with strings running left to right from low E to high E, with finger numbers on the dots: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 pinky. X means skip or mute the string, O means play it open. New to these diagrams? Read how to read chord charts first.
The essential eight
Seventh chords
More useful shapes
First barre chords
Which chords to learn first
Do not learn these alphabetically. Start with Em and Am, add C and G, then D and Dm, then the small F, and take the barre shapes last. The full reasoning, with the songs each stage unlocks, is in our chord order article. When a song asks for a chord outside this page, or you want a chord with a specific voicing, the Ultimate Guitar app has a full chord dictionary with alternate fingerings for every chord that exists.
App we recommend
Learn songs, not just exercises
The fastest way to stick with guitar is playing real songs early. Ultimate Guitar has chords and tabs for over a million of them, plus a built-in tuner and chord library.