Guitar chords and lyrics would be No. 2 on the list if we ever ask worship teams what they depend on the most to run their ministries!

I am hoping the Holy Spirit is still No. 1.

Not every musician can just listen to a worship song and pick out its chords accurately by ear, right?

If you can, congratulations—please share this blog post with someone who can’t before closing this page, thank you :)

But, if you’re like the rest of us that need basic guitar chords charts (and sometimes lyrics too) to learn to play worship songs, you’re gonna love this post.

While there’s no single online resource that publishes chords and lyrics for all the church songs out there, you should be able to find the one you’re looking for in at least one of these websites.

15 sites to find free guitar chords for worship songs

1. Worship Together

This is, right now, my go-to resource to find Christian song lyrics and guitar chords.

If the song I am searching for is available (which is more often than not), Worship-Together becomes a single point resource to get all of the following:

• Guitar chords and lyrics
• Song video (sometimes an instructional)
• Link to purchase the MP3
• Link to purchase the ChordPro file

Most of the newer Christian song lyrics and chords are easily available here mainly because Worship-Together has established tie-ups with a number of major record labels and artists.

From Hillsong to Bethel to Passion to Jesus Culture and more, you are bound to find songs by most mainstream Christian artists.

And the best part?

Because of the tie-ups, all of these resources are legal and accurate (you won’t find many flaws in the chords and lyrics).

There’s one thing that irks me about Worship-Together though—their marketing terminology. For e.g. you’ll find a promotion saying “Click to get X free songs…” and when you visit the page, you only get the chord charts for free and not the actual songs themselves!

That said, let me also mention that they do have a selection of free MP3 downloads too!

Catholics will especially like Matt Maher’s free songs written for Liturgical worship.

2. We Are Worship

Started more as a resource for worship songs by UK artists (mainly from Kingsway records), a global version of WeAreWorship is available now after the acquisition of Kingsway by Integrity records.

While you’ll find lots of Christian lyrics and guitar chords, songs are also given away every week as free packs apart from bi-weekly free hymn packs. These free packs contain song MP3, lyrics and chord chart, lead sheet and even sheet music.

With thousands of songs from Matt Redman to Stuart Townend to Paul Baloche, you’re bound to find gospel chords and lyrics for every occasion.

You can listen to the songs, watch videos, download guitar chords, lyrics and purchase them too here—all legally since everything’s coming from the record label itself.

However, because of licensing arrangements, some songs may not be available for you depending on where you are located geographically. For end users like us, this is definitely a sour point and reminds us how worship music has become more about business and industry first and ministry next.

However, if and when the songs you need are found at WeAreWorship, the resources available for it are indeed greatly useful!

3. Worship Tutorials

This site has more than just chords of guitar based contemporary worship songs.

Here's what you get here:

• Tutorial videos of popular praise and worship songs. Gospel songs are taught from top to end with an acoustic guitar
• Song and chord videos, which feature an acoustic guitarist playing a full song accompanied by chord diagrams—you can call them video chord charts I guess
• Guitar lessons to improve your guitar playing
• Loops and backing tracks that can be used for personal practice or in live church worship as accompaniment music if you don’t have a big band
• Gear reviews and demos of useful products for church musicians

The site features many popular praise and worship songs for church worship, with new material being added quite often.

4. Catholic Songbook

If you belong to a traditional and liturgical church like the Catholic Church for example, contemporary praise and worship songs are not always enough.

Here’s where the Catholic Songbook can help.

You’ll find songs neatly categorized by the various parts of the Mass—Acclamation, Gloria, Doxology, Offertory, Sanctus, Agnus Dei etc.

There are also songs classified under different church seasons and occasions—Advent, Baptism, Wedding, Lent etc.

Resources include lyrics with chords for Catholic hymns and songs and also a facility to submit your own songs.

Apart from Catholic songs and hymns, this site features daily Catholic Mass readings and an annual Bible guide too.

5. Hymn Chords

This is another site, which will be more useful for people of Catholic and other traditional churches that use hymns more than contemporary praise and worship songs.

The site publishes chords for public domain Christian hymns—not a lot of hymns available here (I counted only 154 at the moment), but still quite useful to introduce a hymn now and then into your church worship.

Chord charts of the hymns are downloadable in PDF and Word formats.

6. Christian Guitar Resources

A straightforward repository of thousands of worship songs chords with new material added every day.

You can search for guitar tabs, chords and lyrics of your favorite worship songs by song name or by artist name both sorted alphabetically. There’s also a quick site search if you are not sure of either.

And there’s a cool bass tabs section also if you’re specifically looking for bass tabs of worship songs!

The site has an active community connected through a forum discussing several essential topics like leading worship, musical instruments, gear, theology, life issues etc.

You can also submit your own praise and worship tab to be added to the database.

Christian Guitar Resources also has music reviews, upcoming music release information, concert information and an online shop to buy merchandise.

7. Vineyard Songs

This site provides exactly what its name suggests—an exhaustive catalogue of worship songs from the Vineyard churches.

Free resources published here include song video (some instructionals also), free chord chart, lyrics and lead sheet.

Every month, MP3 files are also freely given away for selected ‘Songs of the Month’.

Certainly a keeper for all Vineyard music lovers!

8. Guitarmann

A guitar and bass lessons site that also has tons of free praise and worship guitar chords and lyrics.

The worship song charts are actually “Studio Charts”—a type of chord chart based on the “NashvilleNumber System” used by professional studio musicians.

Download this example of a Studio Chart for 10,000 reasons (Bless the Lord) to better understand it.

For more information, Guitarmann also runs a series of 12 free videos which includes a lesson on “how studio charts work”— you have to sign up for them though.

The Guitar lessons section has the following:

• Cut capo series
• Beginner series
• Intermediate series
• Electric series
• Advanced series
• Worship song examples
• New weekly lessons

Bass guitarists will fall in love with these dedicated bass lessons:

• Beginner series
• Intermediate series
• Advanced series
• Worship song examples

9. Higher Praise

One of the oldest online resources for gospel songs, Higher Praise hosts a massive collection of praise and worship songs nicely arranged by song title in alphabetical order with lyrics, chords, PowerPoint slides and sometimes MIDI files too.

You can easily find most of CCLI’s top songs here.

Higher-Praise also publishes music videos, audio sermons, children resources, Bible courses and more.

You can submit your own songs too.

10. Ultimate Guitar

Here, you should be able to find gospel song lyrics and chords (and sometimes guitar tabs too) for almost any popular worship song out there.

You can submit your own songs too.

11. Tabs for Worship

An excellent storehouse of thousands of contemporary praise and worship songs with lyrics and chords apart from guitar tabs.

Everything is neatly organized by song and artist name with a clear-cut site search.

You can submit your own songs too.

12. Christmas Carols for Acoustic Worship

A free song book published by Praise Charts that has simplified chord arrangements for almost all the best loved Christmas carols.

This is a neat resource of you’re looking for easy Christian guitar songs for Christmas worship.

13. Gospel Guitar Chords

This is a very good single page collection of older praise and worship songs with guitar chords and lyrics (think “Abba Father” or “Awesome God”).

The songs are available with simplified guitar chord arrangements, which should be extremely helpful for the beginner or intermediate guitar player.

14. E-Chords

This is another cool resource to find Christian song chords and lyrics.

It offers worship song chords for guitar and also keyboard with simplified versions of the chord charts, which can be used by beginner or intermediate musicians.

Premium users get additional services like preferred song keys, plain text charts for easy printing, instructional videos and more.

15. Worship Archive

Worship Archive is a collection of over 1,000 worship song lyrics with guitar chords and more.

Song resources include audio, transposable chords, related Bible verse, lyrics, alternate chords, acoustic guitar and drum tutorial videos.

Unfortunately, the site requires membership to access most of these resources.

And the worst part?

Site membership is not even open to the public—an invite from an existing member or site staff is required to register here.

Else, I would have featured Worship Archive near the top of this list.

And that's it, hope this list is useful for you.

Found anything you like? Are there any other sites to get chords for worship songs? Do leave a comment and let everyone know.

Image: wallpaperscraft

Acoustic guitars are more popular than ever, especially in the Church.

Ever since the advent of charismatic and evangelical styles of worship, there are hundreds of worship leaders and musicians out there who either play or are learning to play the acoustic guitar

This popularity is not surprising.

Here’s why:

Unlike a keyboard, the acoustic guitar is conveniently portable. Unlike an electric guitar, it doesn’t need an amplifier (for small groups at least) or processer pedals. I also love how it doesn’t get in the way—like the keyboard does for example—when facing a crowd.

The acoustic guitar is also the simplest musical instrument to handle on or off the stage and helps keep the worship leader’s attention on the worship and the congregation without worrying about much else.

In recent times, the prices of preamps and pickups of acoustic guitars have also become more and more affordable without compromising sound quality.

All of which make the acoustic-electric guitar a compelling proposition for the aspiring worship leader.

And these are the 10 best ones I could find under $500. Please note this article considers only steel-stringed guitars, not classical ones.
 

The top 10 best acoustic-electric guitars

10. Takamine GN30-CE natural Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Guitar

• Body style: NEX "small jumbo"
• Scale length: 25.3"
• Top: solid spruce
• Bracing: quartersawn X
• Back and sides: 3-piece rosewood with quilt maple center + rosewood sides
• Neck: mahogany
• Nut width: 1.69"
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Bridge: rosewood
• Number of frets: 20
• Electronics: Takamine TK-4D Preamp with Built-In Tuner

With a Venetian style cutaway and proprietary Takamine electronics, the G-Series provides impressive feel and easy playability.

A solid guitar that can be counted on both on and off the stage, the sound is consistent with a nice bright tone. It’s versatile enough to respond well to both finger picking and heaving strumming.

The build is also solid and can be expected to last long too. There’s not much to be disappointed with here.

As far as I know, it comes strongly recommended by Takamine owners!

Check price.
 

9. Fender T-Bucket 300CE Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Guitar

• Body style: single-cutaway dreadnought shape
• Scale length: 25.3"
• Top: laminated quilted maple top
• Bracing: quartersawn Scalloped X
• Back and sides: laminated mahogany back and sides
• Neck: C-shaped mahogany neck
• Nut width: 1.625"
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Bridge: rosewood with compensated saddle
• Hardware: Chrome
• Number of frets: 20
• Electronics: Fishman Isys III system

If you want the best looking guitar under $500, the Fender T-Bucket 300CE would probably get the most votes—it looks gorgeous!

However, if you get this one, then buy a scratch guard too—it scratches very easily.

The tuners could also be better (you can always swap them with something else). Otherwise, it’s a terrific guitar.

And it doesn’t skimp on sound quality either. This guitar produces good tone especially when plugged in and is a safe buy for its price.

Check price.
 

8. Epiphone Dove Pro Acoustic-Electric Guitar

• Body style: Full-size dreadnought body
• Scale length: 25.5"
• Top: solid spruce
• Back and sides: select maple
• Neck: hard maple with Slim Taper “D” profile
• Nut width: 1.68
• Fingerboard: rosewood
• Bridge: rosewood with "Dove"shaped pearloid inlay
• Hardware: nickel
• Number of frets: 20, medium
• Electronics: Fishman Sonicore (under saddle) pickup + Fishman Sonitone soundhole preamp

The Epiphone Dove Pro Acoustic Electric Guitar is a feature-rich, easy-to-play guitar with excellent resonance.

The good quality electronics deserve a special mention—when plugged in, the Dove Pro sounds great—far better than what its price tag might suggest.

You might want to adjust the action to your liking though—the factory setup may not always be 100% satisfactory.

For the price, it’s a fantastic guitar providing great value for money and will be a dependable companion for live playing.

Check price.
 

7. Applause Ovation AB24-4 Acoustic-Electric Guitar

• Body style: mid-depth cut away
• Scale length: 25.25”
• Top: spruce with natural finish
• Bracing: quartersawn spruce, Ovation scalloped X pattern
• Back and sides: lycrachord
• Neck: nato neck with satin finish
• Nut width: 1.69”
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Bridge: pinless
• Number of frets: 20
• Electronics: Slimline pickup and OP-4BT preamp with tuner

As a brand, Applause is well respected for innovative guitars and the AB24-4 is no exception. This guitar is just the right one for people who like to get creative and try out new styles.

The tone is distinctively Ovation’s and is sure to please your ears. The sound is well balanced and the guitar itself is quite quick and easy to play on.

You’ll find very few flaws with this one (you’ll want to replace the bridge for example).

The AB24-4 is good looking, lightweight and produces wonderful sound.

Check price.
 

6. Ibanez Artwood Series AC240EOP Grand Concert Acoustic-Electric Guitar

• Body style: grand concert
• Scale length: 24.96”
• Top: solid mahogony
• Bracing: scalloped X bracing
• Back and sides: mahogany
• Neck: mahogany
• Nut width: 1.77”
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Bridge: rosewood
• Number of frets: 20
• Electronics: Fishman Sonicore Pickup + Ibanez SST Shape Shifter Preamp with onboard tuner

People who have used the AC240EOP swear it sounds as good as more expensive Taylors!

While the lows can be slightly mild when played acoustically, it can easily be compensated when connected.

It’s a good looking guitar with a durable finish, easy to carry around and comfortable to use in both small and large group meetings.

The supplied electronics make this a strong guitar on stage—in addition to the regular 1/4" output jack, a balanced XLR jack is also provided if you ever want a direct connection to the PA system.

Check price.
 

5. Fender Tim Armstrong Hellcat Acoustic-Electric Guitar

• Body style: concert
• Scale length: 25.3"
• Top: solid mahogany
• Bracing: Fender advanced scalloped bracing
• Back and sides: mahogany
• Neck: maple
• Nut width: 1.69" (43mm)
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Bridge: traditional
• Hardware: chrome
• Number of frets: 20
• Electronics: Fishman Isys III System with Active On-Board Pre-Amp and Tuner

Considered to be an acoustic electric guitar with attitude, the design of the Hellcat is based on an old 60’s guitar that Tim Armstrong (Rancid) wrote his songs on.

The smaller size doesn’t quite have the same volume level of a regular dreadnought, but it’s good enough. It does sound better when plugged in though.

With an easy-to-play neck, the sound is crisp and a beauty to look at too!

The hellcat is enjoyable to play, produces a balanced, warm tone and is especially great for strumming.

Check price.
 

4. Seagull S6 Original Q1 Acoustic-Electric Guitar

• Body style: Basic dreadnought shape (smaller headstock)
• Scale length: 25.5”
• Top: solid cedar (pressure tested)
• Bracing: scalloped, adirondack spruce
• Back and sides: Canadian wild cherry
• Neck: silver maple leaf
• Fingerboard: rosewood
• Bridge: rosewood
• Number of frets: 21
• Electronics: Quantum Electronics (includes digital tuner)
• Dual function truss rod

One of the most popular acoustic guitars around, the award-winning Seagull S6 Original Q1 is built with superb craftsmanship and brilliant tone—sometimes you might wonder why the price is so low!

The cedar wood makes this guitar a joy for finger picking and arpeggios.

When strumming, the tone is a bit brighter (more of highs) than thicker. But when plugged in, you can adjust the tone to your preference—it’s a near perfect guitar for Church worship.

But make no mistake, with respect to sound quality, this Seagull punches way above its weight and can stand head-to-head with guitars twice its price.

Check price.
 

3. Yamaha FG Series FGX720SCA Acoustic-Electric Guitar

• Body style: standard dreadnought (cutaway)
• Scale length: 25.9”
• Top: solid sitka spruce
• Bracing: non-scalloped X
• Back and sides: nato
• Neck: nato
• Fingerboard: rosewood
• Bridge: rosewood
• Number of frets: 20
• Electronics: System 55T 1 way (Yamaha proprietary) with built-in tuner

If you like the legendary Yamaha FG700S, then you’ll love the FGX720SCA.

A very durable and sturdy guitar that sounds first-rate regardless of your style of music. It’s one of those guitars that’s pleasing to listen to both acoustically or plugged in.

Apart from the high quality of materials (including a beautiful high gloss finish), its exceptional workmanship and versatile tone make it a strong option in this list.

Check price.
 

2. Vintage Gordon Giltrap Signature Ve2000GG Acoustic-Electric Guitar

• Body style: grand auditorium Hybrid
• Scale length: 25.27”
• Top: solid North American red cedar
• Back and sides: mahogany
• Neck: mahogany
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Bridge: rosewood
• Number of frets: 20
• Electronics: Sonicore undersaddle pickup and the Presys Blend preamp

One look at this guitar and you know there’s nothing ordinary about it!

The sweeping lines and narrow waist make for an unusual shape, almost pear-like—apparently, it’s a design template borrowed from a guitar purchased by Gordon Giltrap from Rob Armstrong.

Surprisingly lightweight, the Ve2000GG performs like a star—you can throw any musical style at it and it responds brilliantly!

Rich in bass and dynamic in midrange, the sounds are sweet when played acoustically.

Plug it in and it turns into a different animal capable of holding its own in a live show—thanks to the top-notch pickup and preamp from Fishman.

All-in-all, a unique and splendid guitar from the stables of Vintage—you can’t go wrong with this one!
 

1. Breedlove Pursuit Concert Mahogany Acoustic-Electric Guitar

• Body style: concert
• Scale length: 25.5"
• Top: solid mahogany
• Back and sides: mahogany
• Neck: mahogany
• Nut width: 1.69"
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Bridge: pinless
• Number of frets: 20
• Electronics: Fishman ISYS+ USB

One of the more affordable models from Breedlove, Pursuit Concert Mahogany sounds magnificent and has killer looks!

This guitar produces a pleasant tone that has lovely warmth with excellent bass response and comfortable action right out of the box. The sound quality is comparable with far more expensive Martins!

Preferred more by finger pickers, the Pursuit Concert can handle strumming with ease too. The build quality is right up there with the best and should last as long as you need it to.

And the USB connectivity is an awesome bonus especially if you’re into recording.

Overall, a classy guitar that you’ll fall in love with immediately!

Check price.
 

And that’s it for now!

Hope you enjoyed reading this list and it helps you decide on an acoustic electric guitar that you need at an affordable price point.

Do leave a comment and let me know what you think. Any suggestions to add to this list are also welcome!

Image: Victory Worship

DADGAD chords… cut capo… alternate tuning…

If these terms seem like complex guitarist speak, let me assure you they are not all that complicated.
All you need is the right tool to help you learn these concepts quickly and enrich your guitar playing.

And this guide is that tool for you.

To be honest, the first time I saw a guitarist using a cut capo, I was amazed… and intimidated too! It seemed so complicated and challenging. But the variations in sounds and voicing were irresistible… I wanted to learn it… badly!

As usual, the Internet came to my rescue with tutorials and chord charts.

Still, it took quite a bit of effort and time to understand how the cut capo worked.

You know why?

Because I had to scour the web going through multiple sites to find all that I needed—took a lot of my time! And that almost stopped me from learning the cut capo.

I’d hate to see that happen to someone else.

That’s where this guide comes in! It’ll make your learning simple, quick and super easy!

Ready? Here goes:

Cut capo or partial capo—what is it?

A cut capo is similar to a common capo in the sense that both are clamps fastened over the strings of the guitar. The difference lies in the number of strings covered:

The standard capo covers all 6 strings

 

The cut capo covers only few of the strings

While there are many varieties of partial capos, this guide features the most popular type—the one that covers 3 strings—G, D and A (3^rd, 4^th and 5^th strings).

It’s also called ‘partial capo’, ‘short cut capo’ or ‘Foote capo’ (in honor of Billy James Foote).

What it does is change the tuning of the strings to DADGAD but in the key of ‘E’ (more explanation will follow, keep reading).

It's fun to use a capo 'cause you can get the strings to really have a bell-like sound. It's a thing I got into when I was writing songs. When I started to really write a lot, I would use the capo to try different keys and different combinations.
- Carl Wilson

You might be wondering:

Why should I use a cut capo?

First, the good news:

It doesn’t matter whether you’re a beginner or advanced guitarist—the cut capo can be used by anyone!

Now to the benefits. Allow me to mention just two of them:

1. If you’re a beginner, the cut capo facilitates ‘one-finger’ chords, so you can concentrate on improving your strumming technique. In fact, this is useful for kids to start learning the guitar too!
2. If you’re an experienced guitarist, the cut capo changes the tuning of the guitar thereby altering the voicing of the chords. It helps you explore alternate shapes even for ordinary chords adding more color and richer dynamic to your playing.

And the best part?

The capo and the cut capo can be invaluable when arranging multiple guitarists in a band.

Here’s how:

How to use the cut capo and DADGAD chords to better arrange musical instruments

While arranging songs, remember this effective principle that works almost all the time:

Multiple instruments should not be playing the same thing at the same time.

For e.g. two guitarists strumming the open ‘E’ chord simultaneously.

What’s wrong with that?

Well, there’s no point in having two guitars if they are only going to play the same stuff, right?

Here’s how the capo and cut capo can help.

See this:

Regular open E chord

Regular open D shape chord

In this case, the first guitar is playing the typical open ‘E’ shape, while the second is using a regular capo on the second fret and playing the regular ‘D’ chord.

Though both are playing the same chord, the capo modulates the key of the second guitar to ‘E’. The ‘D’ shape chord has a different voicing that complements the traditional chord shape of the first guitar.

When both are combined together, we get a richer and more colorful sound, how cool is that!

And it gets better with a cut capo:

DADGAD chords: the key to mastering the cut capo

Open D chord in DADGAD tuning

To understand cut capo chords, let’s cover some basics of DADGAD chords.

The cut capo + DADGAD = magical open sounds!

Starting from the 6th string, the notes for the standard tuning are EADGBE. In DADGAD tuning, the strings are tuned to... well DADGAD:

So here’s the deal:

As mentioned earlier, the cut capo covers only 3 strings i.e. the 5^th, 4^th, and 3^rd strings (A, D, G) on the fret board.

So the tuning of the strings change to EBEABE, which if you notice, is the same as DADGAD, but each note raised by two notes:

D modulates to E, A to B, D to E, G to A, A to B and D to E.

So, you get to play all the chords in DADGAD tuning! Just remember, you are in the key of ‘E’.

Sound like a pro by playing in different keys with the cut capo and DADGAD chords

So far, we have learnt to use the cut capo to play in the key of ‘E’.

Let’s extend this to other keys.

Here’s how:

Take a regular 6-string capo and clamp it on the first fret like this:

Now add a cut capo on the 3^rd fret like this:

Now, if you play DADGAD chords, you will be in the key of ‘F’.

Move both the capos by two frets and you will be in the key of ‘G’:

Keep moving both the capos up the fret board to play in other keys.

Isn’t it great?

How about playing a song now? Let’s try "How Great is Our God" by Chris Tomlin.

The whole song can be played with just 4 chords: A, F#m7, D and E.

So, fit your regular capo on the 5^rd fret and the cut capo on the 7^th fret and use these chord shapes to play the song in DADGAD chord progressions:

Since we are using capos, the chords will be modulated to the key of A as follows: D = A, A = E, Bm = F#m, G = D.

Do take some time out and practise "How Great is Our God" with these chords to get a better feel of DADGAD tuning.

Btw, the full song chord chart is included in the FREE PDF guide.

Enjoying the beautiful new sounds coming out of your guitar?

Yes, using a cut capo means you have to relearn chord shapes, but the resulting variations in voicing and the flavors they add to your guitar playing are well worth the effort!

Now, all you need is a list of DADGAD chords. Just Google it, there are plenty available online!

Next step: Download the guide and start practising

Click to download the a beautiful PDF version of this guide now!

Also, remember these two tips when using capos:

• Always place the capo as close to the fret as possible—but never over it. Else, you might hear buzzing instead of good clean sounds.

This is wrong

This is wrong too

 

This is correct


• Always check your tuning after clamping down the capo as the strings could go out of tune. And, recheck tuning again every time you remove the capo too.

And btw, if you don’t have capos yet, here are some excellent options you can easily purchase online:

Kyser Short-Cut Capo

Price: $14.99

Shubb C7B Brass Partial Capo

Price: $16.98

And that’s it! Now you have pretty much everything you need to know to
start using the cut capo.

Here onward, you’re only limited by your creativity and willingness to experiment.

Have fun!