Learn These 4 Chords and Play Thousands of Songs
Just picking up the guitar? Start with these four chords and you’ll be able to play thousands of songs from famous classics to popular hits.
The four chords to start with are G, C, D and Em
Do you need to learn where to put your fingers on the frets? The Rhythm path on Yousician will teach you.
Start memorizing each chord and practice switching between them to get the hang of things.
Once you’re comfortable with the four chords, there are countless songs you can start playing. Chances are you’ll be able to incorporate the chords into some favorites, like hits by Journey and The Fray. In Yousician, you’ll also be able to find and play popular songs made famous by various artists where you can use these four chords. If you’re curious why these four chords are used, we explain them at the bottom of the article.
That’s it! Now get ready play a multitude of songs. Get more tips & tricks on Yousician. It’s the easiest and fastest way to learn and master the guitar with over 10 million users. The app provides feedback on performance, step by step tutorials, and interactive lessons that cover fingerpicking, power chords, scales, hammer ons, pull offs, and much more!
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The idea behind the four chords
These chords work well together because of its progression. They all use notes from the same major scale – in this case, G major.
Here’s a handy trick: if you write out any major scale, you can play major chords starting on the 1st, 4th, and 5th notes, and a minor chord starting on the 6th note. These four chords will always sound great together, just add some strumming and you’ve got a hit song!
For example: If we take G as the starting note and then go up five whole notes, we get a D. E is six notes up and C is four notes up.
This circle of fifths is useful to see the fifth note of each key’s scale. For C, the fifth note is G. For G, the fifth note is D – and so on.