Other open chord exercises to practice with G

Once you’ve mastered the G chord and are ready to start working on songs using A, D, E, and G, there are of course more chords that you’ll run into.  I’ve compiled a list of extra G chord exercises you can work on to prepare you for some of the different chord combinations you’ll encounter.

The PDF I’ve embedded onto this page lists eight chord changes to master to prepare you for some of the more common chord changes you’ll run into when learning songs from the G chord group.  The extra chords are A minor (Am), A7 suspended 4th (A7sus4), B7, C add9, D suspended 4th (Dsus4), D7, E minor, and E minor 7 (Em7).

The hardest one on here is B7 as it requires the use of all four fingers.  You’ll need to be able to switch to that from the D chord to play “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”, and you’ll also run into it if you try to play “If Love Is A Red Dress.”

A minor is pretty similar to the E major chord – same fingering, but moved down one string.  Em has the first finger in common with G, so try to leave it in place when switching between the two.  D7 has no fingers in common, but is not very difficult.

A7sus4, Cadd9, Dsus4, and Em7 are all played with the third and fourth finger in the same location as they are for the G chord, so those changes are actually pretty easy.  All you have to do is move the first and second finger, or in some cases just one of the fingers.

You should practice these chord changes in whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes like the other exercises in the book.    There are other chords that you’ll encounter in the G song group, but these seem to be the most common ones.