Guitar Lessons: Top 25 Beginner Chord List

HOW TO PLAY: CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE TOP 25 CHORD VIDEOS!

THIS WEEK’S FEATURED CHORD VIDEO: HOW TO PLAY THE E7:

For guitar lessons, these chords are used in thousands and thousands of pop songs.  They are most commonly associated with all styles music such as the 12 bar blues structure however you will find it in everything from Jimi Hendrix to Stevie Ray Vaughn or Zeppelin, funk, soul, metal, pop, jazz, reggae, etc.  Know these chords! They are very common and are the first taught the first week in guitar lessons with Jimmy Cypher.

As with most of the chords in the beginner section there are many different “voicings” of the chord whereby the order of the notes played will change, the notes that are doubled, the notes that are omitted or where they are played on the guitar fretboard and what register.  However the open forms shown here are the ones to know first which is what guitar teachers focus on.  Songwriters, rhythm guitar players, lead guitar players will all need to know this chord as as such, it is taught in guitar lessons the very first week.

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Artists who use these chords include: Stevie Ray Vaughn, John Fogerty, Jack Johnson, Sheryl Crow, Bonnie Raitt, Dixie Chicks, Jimi Hendrix, metallica, Santana, Joe Satriani, Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin, Supertramp, One Direction, Sam Smith, Taylor Swift, Neil Young, James Taylor, Stone Temple Pilots, AC/DC, Lynard Skynard, Bob Marley, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, Bob dylan, Kasy Musgraves, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Pantera, Foo Fighters, Queen, Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine, Rush, Dream Theater, Fleetwood Mac, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Oasis, Ozzy Osbourne, Tool, Lucinda Williams, Ben Harper, Tracy Chapman, emerson, Lake and Palmer, Lenny Kravitz, Aerosmith, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Ssuan Tedeschi, Allman Brothers.

This list is by no means complete.  Jimmy cypher is often asked by students in guitar lessons if ALL of these chords are necessary since some are not easy to play on the first day.  The answer is YES 🙂  Most chord encyclopedias list over 1000 chords in mostly random order, irrespective of importance.  Jimmy has pared it down to less than 50, and every one of them will eventually appear in student’s favorite songs that they bring into guitar lessons.