What are open guitar chords?

An open chord on guitar is a chord that uses at least one open string and generally played in the first four frets near the nut. However, you should be aware of two slight variations of what an open chord could mean.

Open chords

At Worship Guitar Academy, we go with the definition mentioned above in that the chord includes at least one open string. If every note of a chord is fretted (your finger is pressing on the strings) or includes some muted strings but no open strings, then it's not an open chord. Open chords can be played anywhere on the guitar fretboard.

Note: On this site, if a chord is a power chord or a barre chord but has an open string, it will likely be under that section rather than labeled as an open chord.

Here's a chord diagram of an open Dsus4 chord:

Dsus4Full×o×321

Open position chords

Open position chords, on the other hand, mean that the chord is played within the first 4 frets of the fretboard next to the nut. This has to do with the position on the neck and sometimes is impacted by the scale you're playing, but that gets into a bunch of music theory. Open position chords can have open strings or not.

Here's a chord diagram of an E chord in open position:

EFullooo231
What is the nut on a guitar?What is an open string on guitar?