Guitar chords ranked: the most common and the hardest
What are the hardest guitar chords? According to the Gibson App Guitar Learning Report 2026, the hardest common chord is B7, not F: learners hit 68.1% of B7 attempts, against 79.9% for the barre F. G is the most played chord (12.7% of 191.6 million chord attempts, November 2025 to May 2026), and changes into D or D minor are clean only 51% of the time, against 63% for other changes. The Gibson App, the official guitar learning app from Gibson, scores every chord in its lessons, which is how this ranking was measured.
Seven chords cover almost half of everything learners play
G is the most played chord in the Gibson App: 12.7% of every chord learners play. G, D, C, A, E minor, A minor and E together make up 48%, and power chords another 31%.
Learn these seven first: together they are 48% of all chords played
The seven most played open chords, each in its most played shape.
These 7 chords: 48% of all chords playedpower chords 31%, the rest 21%
191.6 million chord attempts, November 2025 to May 2026. Every shape of a chord counts toward it (G includes the one-finger G; without it G is 11.8%). Underlined chords link to a lesson.
Most played guitar chords in the Gibson App, share of 191.6 million chord attempts and share of attempts hit, November 2025 to May 2026
Rank
Chord
Share of all chords played
Share of attempts hit
1
G
12.7%
88.6%
2
D
10%
87.6%
3
C
8.1%
84.9%
4
A5 (power chord)
7%
84.9%
5
E5 (power chord)
6.8%
87.1%
6
A
4.9%
89.6%
7
E minor
4.8%
91%
8
D5 (power chord)
4.7%
82.5%
9
A minor
4.4%
88.2%
10
G5 (power chord)
4.1%
82.8%
11
E
3.4%
88.4%
12
C5 (power chord)
2.8%
84.9%
13
F
2.2%
79.6%
14
B5 (power chord)
1.7%
84.1%
15
Cadd9
1.6%
75.8%
16
D minor
1.4%
86.2%
02The hardest and easiest chords
What is the hardest guitar chord? B7, not F
The common chord learners miss most is not F but B7: only 68.1% of attempts were hit. Barre chords like B♭ and C♯ minor, Cadd9, Fmaj7 and several 7th chords are all missed more often than F. E minor is among the easiest, at 91.5%.
B7 is the hardest common chord at 68% hit; E minor is among the easiest at 91.5%
The three most missed common chords and the easiest one, share of attempts hit.
B7x21202
68.1% hit
B♭688766
72% hit
C♯ minorx46654
72.4% hit
E minor022000
91.5% hit, the easiest
B7 is missed most: 68.1% hit, against 79.9% for the barre F
Common chord shapes, share of attempts hit, lowest first.
1B7shape x21202Open68.1%
2B♭shape 688766Barre72%
3C7shape x32310Open72.2%
4C♯ minorshape x46654Barre72.4%
5Cadd9shape x32033Open74.9%
6Fmaj7shape x33210Open76.2%
7B minorshape x24432Barre78.5%
8D minor 7shape xx0211Open78.5%
9A7shape x02020Open78.8%
10D7shape xx0212Open79%
11F (small)shape xx3211Mini barre79.2%
12Fshape 133211Barre79.9%
Share of attempts hit. Full chord shapes in their most played fingering (power chords, partial shapes and open strings left out), 150,000+ attempts in 20+ lessons, November 2025 to May 2026.
Hardest common guitar chords in the Gibson App, share of attempts hit, lowest first, November 2025 to May 2026
Rank
Chord
Share of attempts hit
1
B7
68.1%
2
B♭
72%
3
C7
72.2%
4
C♯ minor
72.4%
5
Cadd9
74.9%
6
Fmaj7
76.2%
7
B minor
78.5%
8
D minor 7
78.5%
9
A7
78.8%
10
D7
79%
11
F (small)
79.2%
12
F
79.9%
E minor and the sus chords are the easiest, all over 90% hit
Common chord shapes, share of attempts hit, highest first.
1Dsus4shape xx023391.7%
2E minorshape 02200091.5%
3Asus4shape x0223091.4%
4E minor 7shape 02000091.2%
5Gshape 32000390.7%
6Asus2shape x0220090.2%
7Ashape x0222090.1%
8Eshape 02210088.7%
9A minorshape x0221088.6%
10Dshape xx023287.7%
Same rules. The one-finger G (xx0003, 92.6%) is even easier, a good first step before the full G.
Easiest common guitar chords in the Gibson App, share of attempts hit, highest first, November 2025 to May 2026
Rank
Chord
Share of attempts hit
1
Dsus4
91.7%
2
E minor
91.5%
3
Asus4
91.4%
4
E minor 7
91.2%
5
G
90.7%
6
Asus2
90.2%
7
A
90.1%
8
E
88.7%
9
A minor
88.6%
10
D
87.7%
The "easy F" is not really easier: 79.2% hit vs 79.9%
Small F and barre F, share of attempts hit.
Small Fxx321179.2% hit
Barre F13321179.9% hit
Both ask one finger to hold down more than one string.
7th chords are trickier than they look: B7 is hit only 68%
Four 7th chords, share of attempts hit.
B7x2120268%
C7x3231072%
A7x0202079%
E702010084%
A 7th chord adds one extra note to a plain chord. E7 is the friendly one.
G is easier open: 90.7% hit, against 80.9% as a barre
G in two shapes, share of attempts hit.
Open G32000390.7% hit
Barre G35543380.9% hit
Start open, go barre later.
Know exactly which chord is holding you back
The Gibson App listens to every chord you play and tells you if you hit it, so you know which chord to practice.
Switching into D is harder than switching into other chords
The hardest chord changes are the ones into D. Changes into D or D minor are clean only 51% of the time (49% missed), against 63% for changes into any other chord. For every pair we checked, getting into D is harder than getting out of it.
Small F to D is the hardest common change: clean only 38.4% of the time
Chord changes, share played right and on time, lowest first.
1F (small)→D38.4%
1,730 learners
2D minor→E42.9%
2,245 learners
3G→D minor44.6%
2,889 learners
4G→E45.1%
3,351 learners
5C→D minor46.8%
4,187 learners
6E→D46.8%
4,472 learners
7C→D49%
6,710 learners
8A minor→D minor50%
3,721 learners
Share of changes played cleanly. Changes practiced by 1,000+ learners, December 2025 to October 2026.
Changes that end on E minor or C are the easiest: E minor to C is 72.3% clean
Chord changes, share played right and on time, highest first.
1E minor→C72.3%
5,452 learners
2A minor→E minor71.2%
4,196 learners
3A minor→C70.2%
6,408 learners
4C→E minor69.8%
5,324 learners
5G→E minor69.5%
6,218 learners
6A→E minor69.2%
2,548 learners
Same rules. Most of the easiest changes end on E minor or C, two chords that are easy to land.
Getting into D is harder than getting out, for all 6 pairs we checked
The same two chords in both directions, share played right and on time.
Gold: the change into D. Grey: the same change back out.
CD49%
DC58.5%
GD52.7%
DG56.3%
AD52.5%
DA55.5%
AmD52.7%
DAm62.6%
EmD53.5%
DEm58.4%
ED46.8%
DE55.9%
Share of changes played right and on time, both directions of the same chord pair. Every pair practiced by 2,600+ learners (skill tracker, December 2025 to October 2026). One likely reason: D packs three fingers into a small space on the three thinnest strings (G, B and high e), and all three have to land at once.
Chord changes are the hardest kind of skill in the Gibson App, missed 40% of the time, and the most common weakest skill: 32% of learners who have practiced 25+ skills. See every kind of skill ranked
04Forming a chord
7th chords are the hardest to put your fingers on
The hardest chords to get your fingers onto are 7th chords: G7 lands cleanly only 48% of the time. A 7th chord is a plain chord with one extra note, which often means a finger in an unusual spot. The easiest are simplified shapes and power chords, which use only a few strings.
7th chords are the hardest to put down: G7 lands cleanly 48.4% of the time
Tries where every finger lands right and on time, hardest first.
G732000148.4%
Dm7xx021150.3%
D7xx021251.9%
C7x3231052.2%
A7x0202052.2%
Am7x0201056.1%
Dmxx023157.6%
E702010059.1%
The one-finger G and power chords are the easiest to put down, about 83 to 84% clean
Tries where every finger lands right and on time, easiest first.
G (1 finger)xx000384.0%
E5022xxx83.5%
A5x022xx82.9%
Em702000082.8%
Cx3201079.1%
Em02200078.0%
G32000374.4%
Amx0221074.2%
Share of attempts formed cleanly, from the app's skill tracker, December 2025 to October 2026. Chords practiced by 1,000+ learners; D comes next at 60.1%. E5 and A5 are power chords: two or three strings, the simplest chord shape. The skill tracker measures differently from the chord hit rates above, so compare numbers within a chart.
05Open, power or barre
Barre chords cause the most mistakes
Barre chords, where one finger presses down several strings at once, are missed 1.5 times as often as open chords (18.9% vs 12.5%). Open chords were hit 87.5% of the time, power chords 84.3% and barre chords 81.1%.
Barre chords cause more mistakes than open chords: 81.1% hit, against 87.5%
Share of chords hit, one example shape per type, and each type's share of all chords played.
Open chords
E022100
87.5%
of attempts hit
56% of all chords played
Power chords
A5x022xx
84.3%
of attempts hit
31% of all chords played
Barre chords
F133211
81.1%
of attempts hit
5% of all chords played
191.6 million chord attempts, November 2025 to May 2026. The remaining 8% are other closed shapes or shapes we could not classify. Barre = no open string and the index finger across 2+ strings.
06Barre shapes
Holding a barre chord is hard. Moving it is harder
With barre chords, moving is the hard part. An E major barre shape is clean 63.8% of the time when learners hold it, and only 46.8% when they move it to a new fret. Minor barre shapes are harder than major ones, by about 8 points.
Moving the shape is the hard part: 46.8% clean, against 63.8% held
E major barre shape, held in place against moved to a new fret.
63.8%
holding an E shape
46.8%
moving it to a new fret
Share played right and on time (2,039 to 3,654 learners).
Minor shapes are about 8 points harder than major ones: 55.3% against 63.8%
Four barre shapes, share played right and on time.
E shape13321163.8%
E minor shape13311155.3%
A shapex1333164.4%
A minor shapex1332156.4%
Shown at fret 1 (F, Fm, B♭, B♭m). The same shapes work at any fret.
From the app's skill tracker, December 2025 to October 2026, shapes practiced by 1,000+ learners. "E shape" is a barre chord built like an open E with your index finger as the nut; "A shape" is built like an open A.
Barre chords, one step at a time
The Gibson App teaches open chords, power chords and barre chords step by step, with lessons from real artists and feedback on every chord.
In Gibson App data, chords get cleaner with practice. Learners who have practiced a chord change 1,000+ times play it cleanly 61.8% of the time, against 52.4% for under 10 tries. Forming a chord follows the same curve, from 61.7% to 73.3%.
Chord changes get 9 points cleaner with practice: 52.4% to 61.8%
Share of chord changes played right and on time, by how often a learner has practiced it.
52.4%
under 10 tries
61.8%
1,000+ tries
In between: 54.9% after 10 to 49 tries, 56.6% after 50 to 199, 58.4% after 200 to 999.
Putting a chord down gets cleaner too: 61.7% to 73.3%
Share of chords formed right and on time, by how often a learner has practiced it.
61.7%
under 10 tries
73.3%
1,000+ tries
In between: 65.2% after 10 to 49 tries, 68.2% after 50 to 199, 70.3% after 200 to 999.
Average per learner and skill, December 2025 to October 2026. Chord changes: 225,010 learner-skill pairs; forming a chord: 130,701 pairs. This compares different learners, so it also reflects that keen players stick around longer.
08Where to start
Start with the chords that are common and easy
Start with E minor, A and G: common chords that learners hit about 90% of the time. Add D, C, A minor and E and you know the seven chords behind 48% of everything learners play.
1
E minor, A and G
Common and forgiving: all hit about 90% of the time. Try the one-finger G first if the full shape hurts.
Em022000Ax02220
2
D, C, A minor and E
With step 1 you know the seven chords behind 48% of everything learners play. Give changes into D extra time.
Dxx0232Cx32010
3
Power chords, then barre
Power chords are 31% of all chords played. Barre chords come last: F, B minor and B♭.
The Gibson App's learning paths take you from your first notes to open chords, power chords and barre chords, and track 270+ guitar skills as you play.
Among chords Gibson App learners play often, B7 is the hardest: only 68.1% of attempts were hit. Next come B flat as a barre chord at the 6th fret (72.0%), C7 (72.2%) and C sharp minor as a barre chord (72.4%). Seventh chords are also the hardest to form cleanly: G7 is formed cleanly 48.4% of the time. Based on 191.6 million chord attempts.
What are the most common guitar chords?+
In the Gibson App, G is the most played chord (12.7% of all chord attempts), followed by D (10.0%) and C (8.1%). G, D, C, A, E minor, A minor and E together make up 48% of every chord played, and power chords another 31%.
What is the easiest guitar chord?+
E minor is the easiest common chord: Gibson App learners hit 91.5% of attempts in its standard shape (022000). Dsus4 (91.7%), Asus4 (91.4%) and E minor 7 (91.2%) are just as forgiving. For a first step, the one-finger version of G is even easier (92.6% hit).
What is the hardest chord change for beginners?+
Changes into D or D minor. In the Gibson App, 51.0% of changes into D or D minor are clean, against 62.7% for changes into other chords. The single hardest common change is the small F to D (38.4% clean). C to D is clean 49.0% of the time, while D to C is 58.5%. The easiest common changes end on E minor or C, such as E minor to C (72.3%). Skill tracker, December 2025 to October 2026.
Is F the hardest guitar chord?+
Not in our data. The barre F was hit 79.9% of the time, and the small F (xx3211) 79.2%, so the small version isn't much easier. B7, B flat, C7, C sharp minor, Cadd9 and Fmaj7 were all missed more often. F is often the first barre chord beginners meet, which may be why it has the reputation.
Are barre chords hard?+
Yes, they are harder than open or power chords: in the Gibson App, barre chords are missed 1.5 times as often as open chords (18.9% vs 12.5% of attempts). Moving a barre shape is harder still: an E major shape is clean 63.8% of the time when held, and 46.8% when moved to a new fret.
How long does it take to get good at chord changes?+
Learners with more practice play them cleaner. In the Gibson App, learners who have practiced a chord change under 10 times play it cleanly 52.4% of the time; after 1,000+ tries it's 61.8% (skill data through October 2026). See how long learning guitar takes.
Which guitar chords should I learn first?+
Start with the chords that are both common and forgiving: E minor, A and G, then D, C, A minor and E. Those seven make up 48% of all chords played in the Gibson App. Practice changes into D early: in Gibson App data they are clean only 51% of the time.
What are the four chords in most pop songs?+
The best known is the I-V-vi-IV progression: Hooktheory's analysis of 1,300 popular song sections found it is the most common four-chord progression. In the key of G it is G, D, E minor and C, and all four are among the seven most played chords in Gibson App data: G (12.7% of all chord attempts), D (10.0%), C (8.1%) and E minor (4.8%).
What is the 80/20 rule for guitar chords?+
Focus on the few chords that come up most. In Gibson App data, 16 chords make up 80% of the 191.6 million chord attempts learners played, and seven open chords (G, D, C, A, E minor, A minor and E) make up 48% on their own.
What songs can I play with G, D, C and E minor?+
In Gibson App beginner lessons, Every Rose Has Its Thorn (C and G), Knockin' On Heaven's Door in the Guns N' Roses version (D and G), Crazy For You by Adele (Em and G), More Than A Feeling (D and G) and Brown Eyed Girl (G, C and D) use only these chords. See all 75 songs and what you play in each.
10How we measure
How the Gibson App knows which chords are hard
STEP 1
Each chord is checked
During a lesson, the Gibson App uses the microphone to check each chord the learner plays against the lesson, so it can give feedback.
STEP 2
Every chord is scored
A chord counts as hit when it's played correctly and on time. The skill tracker also scores how cleanly each learner forms chords and changes between them.
STEP 3
We combine it all
We added up the anonymous scores from all learners: 191.6 million chord attempts, plus more than 350,000 learner-skill records.
Chord hit rates use 191,561,206 chord attempts from November 2025 to May 2026, queried on 2026-11-06. Hit rates depend on the lesson: a chord used in fast songs scores lower than the same chord in a slow exercise, so read them as how hard each chord is in real playing. Hardest and easiest lists only include full chord shapes, each in its most played fingering (power chords, partial shapes and open strings left out), with at least 150,000 attempts in 20 or more lessons. Chord changes, forming a chord and barre shapes come from the app's per-learner skill tracker (December 2025 to October 2026, rows last updated before November 1) and only include skills practiced by 1,000+ learners. The two sources measure differently, so compare numbers within a chart, not across charts. No individual data is shown.
The Gibson App is the official guitar learning app from Gibson. Learn open, power and barre chords step by step and get feedback on every chord. Try it free for 7 days.