Your First Guitar Chords

Nobody starts playing knowing 27 chords. You start with three.

Years ago I was renting a room in a house in Bacaca with a few roommates, three bedrooms, a porch, and a no-smoking-indoors rule that I imposed myself because I was tired of sweeping ashes off the floor.

That porch was my thing.

Coffee, a cancer stick or two or three, and whatever song I was trying to write at the time. (I was neighbors with the bassist from 1017 band, the one who sang “Charing” and we were trying to get a project off the ground… never materialized because they reformed their band…)

My wind-down.

My quiet time.

And then the neighborhood kids found me.

They’d see me playing guitar out there and they got curious.

Started showing up after school.

Before dinner.

After dinner.

Asking questions.

Then more questions.

Until eventually they just asked for lessons and I had to make a decision about whether I was the kind of person who says yes to that.

I said yes.

But I made them a deal first.

Show me good grades and I’ll teach you chords.

I wasn’t unreasonable… lines of 8s were good enough for me.

They came back with their report cards.

I saw that the lowest grade they had was 81 with the top at 87.

That was good enough.

Better than I expected.

So, we started.

And here’s where I’ll admit I probably did it wrong.

I started them on A and E.

Then D.

Then G.

Then C.

Then eventually F and B.

The logic was solid in my head, gradually get their fingers accustomed to the shapes and the stretching until barre chords felt natural.

We drilled those chords day in and day out.

And like most kids, they got bored.

Fast.

I told myself if they really wanted to learn they’d sit through the boring drills and build the muscle memory.

Which is technically true.

But I should’ve paid more attention to keeping things interesting, because bored kids stop showing up and that’s exactly what happened. (Or maybe… subconsciously.. that as my plan all along… to get them to stop showing up… insert nefarious laughter here… bwahahahaha bwahahaha bwahahahaha!)

So if I could do it again?

Here’s how I’d actually start them.

· · ·

Start Here: Em, Am, and G

These three.

Not A and E.

Em, Am, and G.

Why? Because Em and Am are almost embarassingly easy to play, G sounds huge and satisfying, and together they let you play actual songs within the first week.

That last part is the whole point.

Play a song early and the student stays.

Drill chords with no payoff and they don’t.

Em

Two fingers. Fret 2, strings A and D. Everything else open. That’s it.

Am

Three fingers, same fret. If you know Em, you basically know this already.

G

Sounds massive. Teach this the same day as D, same session.

Em and Am look almost identical when you put your fingers down.

That’s the point.

After you show someone Em, Am is just “same idea, shift one string over.”

The hand remembers.

And G… G sounds so big and full when you strum all six strings that beginners get excited. That excitement is what keeps them coming back.

How I’d Actually Schedule the First Week Now

If I had those Bacaca kids in front of me today this is how the first week would go.

Week 1 · The Plan

Day 1 AM

A and E — the originals. Still useful. Teach the shape, teach the strum, let them hear the sound.

Day 1 PM

D and G — same day, second session. D is manageable, and G gives them something to feel proud of when they strum it full.

Day 2

Drills only — A, E, D, G. Back and forth. Slow. No rushing. Let the fingers start remembering.

Day 3

Am and Em — now you introduce the minor variations. “You know E? Am is basically the E shape moved to different strings.” Watch it click in their heads.

Day 4–5

Play a song. Doesn’t have to be perfect. Just pick something with Em, Am, and G and let them go through it. This is the moment everything changes.

Day 6–7

C chord — introduce it here. They’ve got enough foundation now to handle something a little harder without losing motivation.

I drilled those Bacaca kids on chords for weeks without ever letting them play a full song.

That’s on me.

I was teaching them how I was taught how to play guitar.

The goal isn’t perfectly clean chord changes before you’re allowed to feel like a guitar player.

The goal is to feel like a guitar player early enough that you want to keep going.

Songs You Can Play This Week

With just the chords you’ve learnrt, you can already play these.

Not perfectly.

But recognizably.

OPM Songs · Em, Am, G, D

• Banal na Aso by Yano (simplified)
• Huling El Bimbo by Eraserhards (at this point you can just ignore the 7^th for A and just play a plain A until you progress
• Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day
• Knockin on Heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan
• Runaway Train by Soul Asylum (as an incentive if you go ahead and learn how ot play the F chord ahead of schedule)

That’s five songs. Five actual songs you can sit with on a porch somewhere and play through from start to finish, more or less, with just the chords from your first week.

That’s a great starting point. So start.