Other common non-barre chords

In the previous section, we have learnt to play some easy chords that will allow you to play dozens of songs.

Now we will try to play four more, relatively easy chords that will open up to you the possibility of playing hundreds of songs.

The first of them is D major. For this chord, you only need to strum the first four strings, leaving untouched the two lowest ones (A and E).

In this case, your first finger will be in the second fret of the third string, your second finger will also be in the second fret but this time in the first string, and your third finger will press the third fret of the second string.

What a mess!!!

Well, yes, you will have a lot of fingers in a small space, but I can assure you that describing (and reading) the chord shape is more difficult than playing it!

Trust me and try it. It isn't really difficult, and it has a really nice sound.

You should be aware, again, of pressing every string with the proper finger and of not touching any other string with this finger, or you will end up muting it.

After preparing the position, you should check that all four strings sound when you strum them and that the chord sounds right.

This is a very common chord and it will open you up the possibility of playing many new songs, so do not hesitate spending some time practicing it. Also, try to do some transitions, for instance from and to the Am, C or G chords.

The next chord you should know is A major. It is not difficult, really, you simply have to strum all the strings apart from the lowest one (the sixth one: low E).

You will use your first three fingers, all of them in the second fret: your first finger will press the fourth string, your second finger the third string, and your third finger the second string. So, you will strum these three strings at the same time as you play an open fifth string and an open first string: all five strings at once.

It is quite an easy-going chord, isn’t it?

It would be great if you were to try some transitions from and to the other chords that you already know. For instance, you could try the transition from G to A and vice versa.

It is now time for E major. In this case, we will strum all six strings, and you can learn this chord easily since the shape you have to make is the same as you used for Am, except that all of your fingers will shift a string above.

So, your first finger will press the first fret of the third string, your second finger will be in the second fret of the fifth string, and your third finger will press the second fret of the fourth string.

Yes, that’s it! You already have another chord.

Once again, you should try practicing some transitions, for instance from and to the A, G and D chords.

You already know some major and minor chords. You can play A major and A minor, as well as E major and E minor.

We will now look at D minor, the last chord that we will practice in this section.

It has the same notes as D major except for the highest one, which will be played one fret lower. This change means that we have to change the shape.

To play D minor, we play the first four strings and leave untouched the last two (the lowest ones). Your first finger will press the first fret of the first string, your second finger will be in the second fret of the third string, and your third finger will be in the third fret of the second string. By playing all of these together with the open fourth string you will have Dm.

And there you go! Perhaps some of these chords will be a bit challenging for you, but I am sure that at this time you recognize that with some practice you can play all these chords perfectly.

Here is the reward for your effort. I guess you will be surprised about the number of songs you can play with the chords you have already learnt.