Beginner Guitar Exercises: Introduce a minor chord to play a popular chord progression
Now we’ve played a chord progression with 3 Major chords, let’s add our first minor chord. This allows us to play the chord progression that makes up hundreds of popular songs.
Check out our 1-5-6-4 playlist here!
The best part is you don’t need to learn any new chord shapes, the E minor chord can be played entirely with open strings.
We will continue only playing the top thin strings for this E minor. Strum or pluck the top three open strings of the E minor (Em).
We are going to play the four chords in the following order G, D, Em, C in a loop. This is a slightly different order than before. Take your time. Practice very slowly so you gradually get used to the transition between chords.
You’ve already played a popular blues progression - now let’s play the chord progression that hundreds of modern pop and rock songs are based on, the 1 → 5 → 6 → 4. This is also known as the '4 chord song' due to how common it is in modern music.
Try This Out
Play this 4-chord progression on the last 3-4 strings on the guitar. Make sure to mute the upper strings and get a feel of how the progression sounds compared to to using the regular chord shapes.
Be honest. How well do you actually know your guitar neck right now?
Total blur: I rely completely on tabs and basic open chords.
Getting there: I know the top two strings, but the middle of the neck is a mystery.
Mostly solid: I know my scale shapes, but I still get lost during solos.
20/20 vision: The whole neck makes complete sense to me.
If you didn't pick the last option, don't sweat it. Most of us have spent way too long stuck in the exact same spot.
We set up the NoisyClan community specifically to help players break past those brick walls and actually make sense of the neck. Drop by to ask questions, trade tips, and work through it with a group of guitarists on the same page.
Play more.
Shop learning materials | Music learning videos | Keep up with our socials