Five Critical Rock Guitar Chords for Songs

When you begin playing rock music, learning guitar chords for songs
is a fundamental building block.Mastering basic chords sets you up to
jam with others and play some killer rhythm guitar. Without some solid
rhythm guitar backing a singer and lead guitar, rock songs just don't
deliver the kind of punch we've come to expect. Nothing beats
hard-driving, distorted guitar!There are a handful of chords that are
the staple of rock music. You can hear them used in every rock genre,
so it's a great place to start getting your feet wet when learning to
play rock guitar.Probably the most critical major guitar chords to
learn are the following: A, C, D, E, and G.Interestingly, in their
open chord forms, each of these has a different finger pattern to
learn. What I mean by 'open' is you will play the chord along with
strings you aren't pressing (or fretting) with your fingers. You're
typically playing these chords within the first three frets of the
neck.Once you have these five finger patterns memorized, you can
literally play chords for songs all over the neck.Fortunately, these
chords are not difficult to play, and with a little practice, you'll
be rockin' in no time. In fact, with as little as two chords, you can
be playing actual rock songs. For example, three songs based on only
two guitar chords are "Paperback Writer" by The Beatles (chords G and
C), "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin (D and E) and "Something In The
Way" by Nirvana (E minor and C).Learn these five critical chords and
you'll be jammin' in no time!