One thing that is played a great deal by many musicians and all guitarists are chords. When several notes are played together, that is a chord. Open, or folk, chords are what many beginners start with not because they are easy, but because they are one of the most popular types of chords.  If you think of playing chords on a piano, you will realize that several keys are pressed at the same time so that they all play together and produce a harmonious sound. When playing chords on a guitar, you have to hold down several strings and strum across them all in a fluid movement to get the same effect. Open chords have one or more strings that are not fretted or pressed down. They are played a lot in country and folk music.

When fingering chords on the guitar, it is important not to touch the adjacent strings, otherwise you will not get the true sound. Chords can be in a minor key, and dominant key or a major key. The letter ?m' after a chord will tell you it is in a minor key, while the letter 7 tell you it is dominant. If there is no letter ?m' or 7 then the chord is in a major key.

The hardest chord for a beginner is the F chord because only one finger is used to fret the two top notes. However, with plenty of practice, you'll soon get the hang of it. You can get free downloadable chord charts from the Internet with pictures to show you the finger positions.

A guitar chord diagram will look a bit like a grid with dots in it. The letter on the top right of the grid represents the name of the chord. If it's a C then that will be a C chord. The white dots somewhere near the letter represent those strings that are played open, (not fretted). The black dots in the grid show you where to place your fingers. The six horizontal lines are the frets on your guitar, with the topmost line being the nut of your guitar. The nut is like the very first fret, only it's a lot thicker than all the others and you don't use it as a fret. It just holds the strings up off the wood.

The six vertical lines are the strings. The line on the left is your low E string (the thickest). If there is no dot on a string and no white dot above it, then it is not played at all. To play a C chord you will play A-string on the third fret, D-sting at the second fret, G-string open and B-string on the first fret. High E-string is open, so you play all but the low E-string.

If you see a number 5 at the left of the grid, it means that fret played is the fifth fret. When learning which fingers to use, it is helpful to know that the thumb is P and the fingers are numbered 1 through to 4 starting with the index finger.