Top Favorite Open-String Guitar Chords...
According to my students - and the colors that go with them.
Thank-you for subscribing to my newsletter. SubStack SoundHole Music is a free newsletter. My work in writing these helpful and informative guitar lessons, along with many other interesting articles on music, is completely supported by my paying subscribers. You can help support my Substack SoundHole Music Newsletter by investing as a paid subscriber. $8/month or $72/year gives you exclusive material on guitar lessons, not available to free subscribers. I appreciate your consideration and your loyalty - Thank-you, Dave.
From beginners to advanced intermediate, this is a compilation of open-string chords that many of my students have chosen as their favorites. (No, I didn't keep a list. I'm actually making this up as I go along). However, the list below is still valid as it reflects many of the same commonalities I have heard from hundreds of students over the past 25+ years.
Music is vibrations we can hear. Color is vibrations we can see.
1) Em (E minor) - Well, this is sort of a "duh, no kidding" thing. "Em" is arguably the easiest chord to play on the guitar because it only requires two fingers, and yet you get to strum all six strings. In all honesty, the open-string "Em7" is actually easier. It's only one finger and six strings.
2) C - Everyone likes this chord because it is usually one of the very first chords every guitar player learns. It's right in the “middle” and it sounds good. (Get it? Middle C?)
3) G - Okay so, if C isn't your favorite chord, then it is probably "G". What do you mean, it's not? You have another favorite chord?
4) D - D is an easy chord, right? It's only four strings and three fingers. That's not it either?
5) F - Oh, of course, F is absolutely everyone's favorite chord, said nobody ever. I think this chord is one of the most hated chords for every beginner student I’ve ever instructed. After 27 years of teaching, I still don't understand why this chord is so difficult for some and yet, easy for others.
You know what, open strings are fine and dandy and all, but what about some more exotic, colorful chords? Like "7's"!
6) CM7 (C major 7) - This chord is basically the C chord without the first finger. Easy chord for everyone to try. Can you hear the colors yet?
7) AM13 (A major 13) - Okay, the "M13" chord is my favorite chord because it is arguably the most colorful. I have long since dubbed it the “Garden chord” - as I will endeavor to explain later in this article.
Okay so, what is it about certain guitar chords that people respond to more than others?
First, I think that it's "ease of play". Is the chord easy to get to, does it take much effort and can you use the least amount of fingers to play it? Well, I just described the "Em" chord. Secondly, is it a chord that is pleasing to the listener? Does the chord have pleasing colors in the notes in the structure of the chord?
Ear-Training!
I think that it is vitally important for all guitar players, no matter what level they are, to train their ears to listen for chords that are easily recognizable. Over the years, I have asked many of my students to describe the color of a chord. I tell them, "Don't think about it, just close your eyes and imagine the color you see when you hear a chord." Would you believe that almost everyone jumped on this idea as soon as I mentioned it? That's because most people who want to learn how to play a musical instrument, probably already have a creative brain to begin with.
Why would this be beneficial to a musician? Why would anyone want to memorize the sound of a chord (or notes) by attaching colors to them? Well, I'll answer that by using the power of suggestion.
Let's say I tell you that the color of a banana is purple. Your first inclination is to tell me that I am wrong, that a banana is yellow. Are you sure it's yellow or do you simply perceive it to be yellow because that is the color you've associated it with, all of your life? How about if I say, "Now, describe the taste of that banana." Not the texture, the taste. Now, it gets a little more involved, right?
Which color is it?
I'll go one step further. "Which" color yellow is the banana? Is it Sun yellow? Is it the same color yellow as a lemon? No, it isn't. Do you see where I'm going with this?
Describing something by using an elementary school color wheel is somewhat limiting. What color is an apple? Your immediate answer is probably "red". Well, which red? Is it stop sign red, firetruck red, stop light red? You may know it as "apple red". But what if you're describing the color of that apple to a blind person who has only ever tasted an apple, and has never seen one?
Ah, now the plot thickens.
This is why I tell my students to describe music, the notes they hear, the chords they hear, the melodies they hear in “color form”. It is one of the best ear-training methods you can use to memorize the names of chords simply by hearing them.
Let's use the list of chords from earlier. The following examples are not meant to suggest that what I perceive as the color for a chord as being the only color. You might see or imagine a completely different color for your chords, and I encourage you to think that way.
The E minor chord is a dark, Navy blue chord, because it is a complete, full, dark minor chord. If I add a "7" to that chord, it takes on an almost dark purple hue to it.
The C chord is tropical or pastel in color, because it can sometimes be either tangerine orange or lemon yellow, depending on the guitar and who is playing it.
The G chord is also tropical, but it is more of a light pink - almost like a strawberry margarita. You see how I did that? I'm appealing to your sense of taste. Now, you either want a strawberry or a margarita. You're welcome.
The D chord is both green and yellow, sort of like lemon and lime together. In my imagination, all of the open-string chords are "happy" chords, which means that they are bright in color.
The F chord is a darker red with orange hues in it. Imagine pizza or spaghetti sauce.
The C major 7 chord has a lighter, almost ethereal color that originates from the colors of the C chord. The only difference is that it now has a more vivid contrast to the oranges and yellows in the chord.
The A major 13 chord is what I call the “Garden" chord, because it is all of the colors that you might see if you closed your eyes and walked out the back door of your house, and opened your eyes to a sea of flowers. How many colors do you see?
There’s names for this.
The word for this is ability to train your ears to hear color is called Chromesthesia. I wrote an article a few weeks ago outlining what I understand as a musician who has developed synesthesia. I hear music in color. I began to notice this about 25 years ago when I started teaching guitar lessons.
My point in all this is, I think everyone who listens to the music they play on their guitar, can develop a hearing recognition or ear-training by imagining colors associated with notes and chords. Over the years, I have proven to many of my students that this method works as long as you have an open mind and a vivid imagination. Ironically enough, I've also proven to my students that you play better when you close your eyes.