Chords for Kids

Simplified chord forms & your child

Depending on your child’s hand strength, I sometimes teach “little” 4-string starter versions of chords that are easier for little fingers to play.

For most of the songs on this site, you will be able to view “big chords” or “little chords” versions. The “big chords” versions are for students who can handle all the notes in the chords… and of course for the adults who want to play along!

Example: “regular G” on the left and “little G” on the right (skipping the top two strings)

Learning Related Chords

Without going into a lot of music theory here (See: Circle of 5ths), I like to teach a few related chords at-a-time. Many songs are built on these chord relationships. While we are at it, why not discover your child’s best voice range, then adjust the “key” of the song so it’s easiest for your child to sing?

Example: You can sing Try to Remember in three different voice ranges, just by sliding the three related chords right up the scale!

KEY OF A – A / D / E7

KEY OF G – Little G / Little C / D7

KEY OF D – D / Little G / A7

Learn how Open Tuning sounds

Here is an easy way to learn how each guitar string should sound while you are not pressing down on the strings. Just click the buttons below that go with the strings you want to hear!

Call Kitty Sawtelle at (512) 917-5908 to discuss the music in your child’s life!