Electric Guitar Chords – A 5 Step Guide For Rapid Chord Skill

Why Is This Important To Know?

The channel of your amp dictates what chord you play.

As a rule, play open chords on a clean sound and power chords on a dirty sound.

Open chords don’t sound good with distortion and power chords don’t sound great on clean.

Use the sound on your amp to advantage, it WILL make you sound better.

Here’s a list of chords which you can use on the gain channel:

E5 (Root on E String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 2nd fret of the A string. (5th string.)
• Place your 2nd finger on the 2nd fret of the D string.(4th string.)
• Strum the E (6th string), A (5th string) and D string (4th string) together.

E5 (Root on A String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 7th fret of the A string. (5th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 9th fret of the D string. (4th string.)

F5 (Root on E String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 1st fret of the low E string. (6th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the A string. (5th string.)

F5 (Root on A String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 8th fret of the A string. (5th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 10th fret of the D string. (4th string.)

F#5 (Root on E String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 2nd fret of the low E string. (6th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 4th fret of the A string. (5th string.)

F#5 (Root on A String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 9th fret of the A string. (5th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 11th fret of the D string. (4th string.)

G5 (Root on E String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 3rd fret of the low E string. (6th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 5th fret of the A string. (5th string.)

G5 (Root on A String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 10th fret of the A string. (5th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 12th fret of the D string. (4th string.)

G#5 (Root on E String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 4th fret of the low E string. (6th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 6th fret of the A string. (5th string.)

G#5 (Root on A String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 11th fret of the A string. (5th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 13th fret of the D string. (4th string.)

A5 (Root on E String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 5th fret of the low E string. (6th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 7th fret of the A string. (5th string.)

A5 (Root on A String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 2nd fret of the A string. (5th string.)
• Strum the A (5th string) and D string (4th string) together.

A#5 (Root on E String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 6th fret of the low E string. (6th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 8th fret of the A string. (5th string.)

A#5 (Root on A String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 1st fret of the A string. (5th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of the D string. (4th string.)

B5 (Root on E String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 7th fret of the low E string. (6th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 9th fret of the A string. (5th string.)

B5 (Root on A String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 2nd fret of the A string. (5th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 4th fret of the D string. (4th string.)

C5 (Root on E String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 8th fret of the low E string. (6th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 10th fret of the A string. (5th string.)

C5 (Root on A String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 3rd fret of the A string. (5th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 5th fret of the D string. (4th string.)

C#5 (Root on E String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 9th fret of the low E string. (6th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 11th fret of the A string. (5th string.)

C#5 (Root on A String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 4th fret of the A string. (5th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 6th fret of the D string. (4th string.)

D5 (Root on E String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 10th fret of the low E string. (6th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 12th fret of the A string. (5th string.)

D5 (Root on A String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 5th fret of the A string. (5th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 7th fret of the D string. (4th string.)

D#5 (Root on E String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 11th fret of the low E string. (6th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 13th fret of the A string. (5th string.)

D#5 (Root on A String)

• Place your 1st finger on the 6th fret of the A string. (5th string.)
• Place your 3rd finger on the 8th fret of the D string. (4th string.)

Pro Tip: Want to spice up the sound of your chords even more? Consider a different string gauge for your guitar. Different gauges can have HUGE impacts on the sound of our guitar. Click here to learn more about guitar string gauges.