Open C and A minor Chord- Beginner Guitar Lesson 5

Hey YGT students!

Last lesson you learnt how to play the open D major chord, so by now you should have learnt your C, A, G, E and D open major chords.

Lesson Aim: By completing this lesson you will have learnt the C minor and A minor open chords. Hopefully you will understand the difference in sound when comparing an open C major chord and an open C minor chord and the difference between an open A major chord and an open A minor chord.

Each of the CAGED shapes have their own distinctive sound that you will learn to recognise when listening to music, but for now you just need to be able to play each of them cleanly. If you wish to learn more about these chords you should purchase my eBook ‘Be The Guitarist’ for  detailed diagrams, full descriptions and much more information to take your playing to the next level.

Open C minor chord

 

 

 

 

 

 

• To play a C minor first place your first finger on the 1st fret D string
• Now place your second finger on the 1st fret B string
• Place your third finger on the 3rd fret A string
• Now let your pick drop down through the strings starting from the A string through to the B string, noticing if any notes are not ringing out clearly. This is the hardest open chord to play so if you are struggling and would prefer a simplified version that is commonly used instead of this shape read on and look at the diagram below

 

 

 

 

 

 

• To play the easy version shown above, first place your third finger on the 3rd fret A string
• Now place your first finger on the 1st fret D string
• Now let your picking hand fall down through the strings from the A string to the G string, making sure to keep the G string ring out as an open string.
• Ensure the strings that do not have a number on them are not picked

Open A Minor Chord

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• To Play the open A minor chord, take your second finger and place it on the 2nd fret D string.
• Place your third finger on the 2nd fret G string
• Now place your first finger on the 1st fret B string
• Now let the pick fall through the strings from the A string to the high E string.
• Remember to position your thumb so that you are not uncomfortable, it is ok to have your thumb come over the top of the fretboard and rest against the low E string to mute it. It is also fine to have your thumb stay at the back of the neck at this point.

To find out a lot more on chords and taking the next step then you should purchase ‘Be The Guitarist’ and receive ‘The Ultimate Practise- Planner’ completely free with your purchase.

Next week you will be learning chords 8 and 9 from the ‘Ten Chords To Beginner Guitar Mastery’.

Hope you enjoyed your free Beginner Guitar Lesson.

Tom@YourGuitarTutor