What guitar song chords belong together? These free guitar chord charts will show you the most common chord families.
If you've been playing guitar for even a short time, you've probably noticed that some chords always seem to be associated with each other. D7 is (almost) always followed by G. G7 is (almost) always followed by C. C7 is (almost) always followed by F. F7...well, I could go on and on.
It is not my purpose on this page to explain music theory and how to know which chord to play next. Eventually, I'll put up a Circle of 5ths for anyone who wishes to refer to it, and I'll tell you all about its near-magical properties. (It's kind of a gee-whiz way to figure out musical relationships.)
There are lots of music theory sites out there on the web, many of which will tell you far more than you ever wanted to know. I will tell you that the I, IV, and V (1, 4, and 5) are enough for most songs such as church hymns and folk songs, with the ii, iii, and vi (2, 3, and 6) adding color.
For now, here are the main groups of chords most beginning guitarists, especially folk and church guitarists, will find useful.
Comments
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Peter: Thanks for a great web site and a very useful tool for us teaching guitar.
Christine: Thank you so much for this site! I have just started teaching some really keen Y6 boys who want to play Scarborough Fair, and your version is perfect. I will now go and look at what other goodies you have!
Matt: THIS SITE IS AMAZING!!I've been teaching guitar for about 5 years now, and I've only just found your website! (I could really have used it 5 years ago) :-)I teach at primary schools every week day for about 4 hours, so the beginner tabs you have are ideal. Thank you so much for your hard work getting these on the web, you have made many children very happy!!
Lori, homeschool mom, songwriter/musician and private music teacher: Just wanted to say "thank you" for this site and for allof your dedication and hard work! I have literally combed the internet for months on end to find free and "doable" resources for my young students and for my own children, whom I have homeschooled for nine years. I will be returning to this site over and over again from here on out and am excited to presentsome of the tools I found today on here to my voice and piano students later this week! My thirteen-year old son is happily, as I type, working with the guitar chord sheets I just printed for him! Wish I'd found you earlier! Thanks a million, and God bless--
Dylan: Just wanted to express my overwhelming joy in findingyour web site! :D Lots of good info!! My wife and I own our own teaching studio in Texas and I am always looking for new songs to teach my beginner guitar students. You've done a wonderful job of providing great tunes with ACCURATE sheet music/TAB! Your web site is wonderful! Thank you so much!! Many blessings...
Bob: I am a "retiree" and brand new guitar student. I have used your guitar tabs for Shenandoah and Amazing Grace, and find it exciting to hear real music coming out of my guitar for the first time.
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Becky: A thousand thanks for your beginning piano and guitar songs. I've already printed several for my children, including the Pretty Little Horses TAB and Carol of the Bells for piano. What a wonderful resource!
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Lin: Thank you for a most excellent site. I am a classical guitar teacher, who endeavors to cover chords and fingerstyle as well.I especially liked the printable Celtic music, as some of my teenage students enjoy it!Thank you, again.
Sylvain: Stumbled across your website by accident-slash-chance and it instantly became helpful... I sort of have to prove myself as a primary music teacher. Hasn't been easy, but I love the work. I found great ideas for my guitar unit on your site, as I didn't know where to begin. Thanks to you I will survive my next 6 weeks. I also teach choir to middle school, and I love your little morning warmups. Looking forward to more of that in the future. Keep up the great work, it is very inspirational for us beginner teachers.
Joy: I am a missionary wife living in Spain... I also am teaching guitar to 2 adults, and have run across the same problem. The Spanish material is all very complicated very quickly so many of my students would become discouraged. So, just writing to say thank you for all the work you´ve put into this and I´ll be using some of your pieces and certainly the advice to keep improving my teaching skills.