Welcome back to the final lesson of Your First Five Guitar Chords for Kids. Over the last six weeks, you learned how to:
- To read chord diagrams.
- Play the E major chord.
- Play the A major chord.
- Play the D major chord.
- Play the G major chord.
In today’s guitar lessons for kids—or beginners of all ages, you’re going to learn how to play the C major chord in open position.
Why Should I Learn to Play Chords on the Guitar?
Chords are the basic building blocks of all music. Once you learn how to play a handful of guitar chords, you can play hundreds of songs, write your own songs, or even join a band! Over the last six weeks, you’ve learned the most popular chords in music.
If You Want to Learn Your Guitar Chords, Then Begin with a Growth Mindset
Learning your open position guitar chords can be challenging. For that reason, let’s start with mindset. According to Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The Psychology of Success, there are two types of mindsets: fixed mindset and growth mindset. Students with fixed mindsets believe that skills are innate and people are born with certain talents. On the other hand, students with growth mindsets believe they can learn any skill so long as they put in the hard work.
It isn’t Talent, it’s Hard Work
Let’s face it: learning to play open position guitar chords can be challenging. That’s why you have to approach learning to play guitar chords with a growth mindset because no one is born with the ability to play open position guitar chords. And yet, there are millions of guitarists who can play open position chords. How did they do it? You guessed it! They practiced. At some point, they sat down and put in the effort to learn their open chords. If they can do it, then so can you!
What is the C Major Chord?
Major chords are built from the root, the third, and the fifth of any major scale. Therefore, the C major chord contains the notes C (the root), E (the third), and G (the fifth.) The C major chord will always contain the notes C, E, & G in some order, whether you’re playing it on the guitar, the banjo, or any other instrument.
On the guitar, the C major chord looks like this in open position:
Your Kid Can Get a Black Belt in Rock!
Next week, you’ll learn how to combine the open position chords you’ve learned over the last six weeks to play chord progressions. In the meantime, you can contact us on the Rock Dojo Facebook page if you have any questions!
Free Backing Track Provided by Band-in-a-Box
Click on the play button below to jam along with the free guitar backing track. This guitar backing track for kids is provided by Band-in-a-Box, an incredibly powerful backing track generator! Learn more at Band-in-a-Box.
GET A BLACK BELT IN ROCK!
The Rock Dojo offers award-winning, introductory-level guitar lessons for kids after-school in Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro, and Lake Oswego. You can check out the Rock Dojo FAQs to learn how our colored-belt systems works (hint: it’s like karate. As your students improve on the guitar, they graduate belt levels just like the martial arts). Do you have a specific question about our guitar lessons for kids? Drop us a line at (503) 484-6417 or contact us on the Rock Dojo Facebook page.
