How to Play Rock Chords on the Guitar

Breaking Out of Open String Chords

Learn how to play rock chords on the guitar in this intro lesson. A guitarist’s first chords begin with learning fretted chords with open strings. These open string chords involve changing your fingering for each chord change you need to make.

Stick With It

After this initial trial with the open chords and if you are still wanting to learn more, you can advance to barre chords that have no open strings. Barre chords consist of learning one shape for major, minor, etc. that can be moved up and down the guitar neck without changing your fingering.

Other chords that do not need a barre, but have no open strings, can be moved as well which you may learn later.

Are Barre Chords Easier

Are these chords any easier? Not really. You will have just as much of a challenge as you did when you first were learning open string chords or cowboy chords as some describe them. With practice though you will be playing them with ease.

If you stick with it, I believe these chord forms will take you further in your guitar playing. You will get more mileage out of them. These chords will be some of the more popular rock chords, but also will be played in all types of styles.

Trouble Playing Barre Chords

Some of the challenges will include getting a clear tone from all strings, notes not sounding (just like the open string chords), and getting use to moving from fret to fret among other obstacles.

One of these obstacles includes changing the quality of the chord (major, minor, etc.). Sometimes it is as easy as lifting or adding one finger. Other times it may include barring with another finger. This happens when you play a major chord with the root on the 5th string and you have to put your ring finger on strings 2, 3, and 4.

So with all its advantages and challenges, I believe you will be even more hooked on playing the guitar.

The Mini Barre Chord

Practice using mini barres at first. Move the beginner F chord up and down the neck. Next, move the 3-string F minor chord up and down the neck.

Practice using just the First Finger Barre

Lay your first finger across all six strings. Strum all six strings and try to get a clear tone.

You do not have to play with a flat finger. Tilt your finger on the left if your fretting finger is your left hand and vice versa if it is your right hand so you are playing on its side. Check the example below.

Practice moving up and down the guitar neck at least up to the 12th fret if playing electric and the 10th fret for acoustic.

Apply a Slight Tilt

Slightly tilting your first finger and not playing a flat first finger will help.

Use your first finger and thumb as if you are pinching the neck.

Adjust your thumb lower on the back of the guitar neck to help with the reach of fingers 2, 3, and 4.

Popular Rock Chords Shapes

Sixth String Root Rock Chords

Fifth String Root Rock Chords

Turn Your Rock Chords Into Power Chords

Instead of playing all 6 or all 5 of your strings of a barre chord, just play the bottom 2 or 3 strings to make them a power chord.

Doing this will take away the 3rd of the chord. You will be playing just the root, fifth, and octave which is the same as the root note except one octave higher.

Example of power chords

Add Your Pinky To Play the Blues

Want to play the blues in any key? Learn to use these barre chords to play the blues in all 12 keys.

If you use the dominant 7th barre chord form with the root on the sixth string, you can add your pinky finger two frets higher on string 5.

Only play the lower two strings, do not play all 5 or 6 strings. You are basically playing the power chords you learned earlier. Adding your pinky provides movement to the power chord by making it a 6th type of chord instead of just a power chord.

Strum the lower strings for each chord 2 x’s each for beats 1 and 2 and then repeat for beats 3 and 4.

You can play a whole 12-bar blues using just this one form.

This is o.k. but if you want to stay relatively close on the guitar neck, such as within 2-3 frets, you will have to learn the next pattern.

Add your pinky to the 5th string major barre chord root on the fourth string.

Again here, just play the bottom two strings and not the whole chord.

Adding this chord form will help you stay within a few frets.

If you play the blues in the key of A (link to my How to Play the Blues in the Key of A) your root notes will fall on the 5th fret 6th string and 5th string/5th fret and 5th string 7th fret.

In Closing

Take time to learn these. Using these will put your playing to the next level. Once I learned to play these chords, it opened up a new world. These were the types of chords my guitar heroes played also.