What is a Chord?

Chord Types

The most common types of chords are:

1. Major

2. Minor

3. Seventh

From these chords other chords called extended chords are formed. These chord types are also quite common.

4. Sixth

5. Minor Seventh

6. Major

Here are four other chord types used in Pop/Rock music. Although less common you will come across them.

7. Augmented

8. Diminished

9. Suspended

10. Ninth

For Jazz and classical music more complex chord types are used. The chord shapes for these chord types are generally more difficult to play. The most important of these chord types have been included in this book.

For playing Rock, Pop, Blues and Country styles of music you should be familiar with the 10 chord types listed in the previous diagrams.

Chord Shapes

There are three main group of chord shapes a guitarist will encounter.

1. Open Chords

These chord shapes are found within the first four frets and contain at least one open (i.e., not fretted) string. These chord shapes are the first shapes you should learn to play. They are commonly used to play Pop, Rock, Country and Blues music. Open chords sound particularly good played on acoustic guitars either strummed (Rhythm Guitar) or Fingerpicked. These open chords are also the basis for Bar chords. With these open chord shapes and knowledge of substitution, transposing and use of a capo you will be able to play almost every song ever written. To learn all these useful open chord shapes and how to play them see Progressive Guitar Method: Rhythm .

Chord Diagrams

Chords are written on a chord diagram. This chord diagram shows you exactly where to place your left hand fingers in order to play a particular chord. A chord diagram is a grid of horizontal and vertical lines representing the strings and frets of the guitar. The following chord diagram and the photograph illustrate an open E major chord.

Left Hand Fingering

The black dots show you where to place your left hand fingers. The white number tells you which finger to place on the string just before the fret. If there is no dot on a string, you play it as an open (not fretted) string.

E Major Open Chord Shape

 

E

To play the E chord place your:

• First finger just behind the first fret of the 3rd string.
• Second finger just behind the second fret of the 5th string.
• Third finger just behind the second fret of the 4th string.

The other chord diagram symbols used in this book are summarized with the following two open chord shapes.

A dotted string indicates that string is not to be strummed. A small bar connecting two black dots indicates they are held down by the same finger. This is called barring.

An X on the string indicates that string is to deaden by another finger lightly touching it. The string is still strummed as a part of the chord but it is not heard.

The previous three chord shapes are all open chord shapes because they contain open strings (i.e., not fretted) as well as fretted strings.

2. Bar Chords

A Bar chord has no open strings and can be played anywhere on the fretboard. The first finger of the left hand is used to Bar across all six strings of one fret and the other fingers are used to form the chord shape as shown in the following photograph of the G major and C major Bar chords.

G Major Bar Chord

Bar chords are based on open chords, e.g., This root 6 G chord is an open E major chord played after a Bar across the 3rd fret.

C Major Bar Chord

This root 5 C chord is an open A major chord played after a Bar across the 3rd fret.

Bar chords are commonly used in Pop, Rock and Blues music and when played on an electric guitar with loud volume and amplifier distortion Bar chords (and parts of Bar chords called power chords) are the basis of heavier rock styles, e.g., Heavy Metal. Bar chords are easier to play on an electric guitar but are also played on acoustic guitars. Bar chord shapes are called Movable shapes because they can be played with the first finger bar on any fret, e.g., if the previous G major Bar chord shape was moved two frets higher it would be an A major chord. Before studying Bar chords you should be familiar with the most common open chord shapes which are illustrated in the next section. These chords are introduced in Progressive Guitar Method: Rhythm which also contains chord progressions and strumming rhythms to practice these chords with.

Bar Chord Diagrams

When a new bar chord shape is introduced it is shown at different positions on the fretboard.

These shapes can be moved up or down the fretboard. The root note (i.e., the note after which the chord is named) is indicated by a square placed around the note, i.e., on the fretboard.

If the root note is on the sixth string the chord shape is called a root 6 chord shape.
If the root note is on the fifth string the chord shape is called a root 5 chord shape.
If the root note is on the fourth string the chord shape is called a root 4 chord shape.

G

This bar chord diagram is a root 6 - G major chord as shown in the G Major Bar Chord photograph. The root note of a G chord is G.

If this bar chord shape was played two frets higher it would be an A major chord as indicated by the A note at the 5th fret of the sixth string (root 6).

C

This bar chord diagram is a root 5 - C major chord as shown in the C Major Bar Chord photograph. The root note of a C chord is C.

If this bar chord shape was played three frets higher it would be an E flat (Eb) major chord as indicated by the Eb note at the 6th fret of the fifth string (root 5).

The following open chords are the most common shapes used as the basis of bar chords. You should know all of them.

Major

E

A

Minor

Em

Am

Seventh

E⁷

A⁷

A⁷

D⁷

Sixth

E⁶

A⁶

D⁶

G⁶

Minor Seventh

Em⁷

Em⁷

Am⁷

Am⁷

Major Seventh

Emaj⁷

Emaj⁷

Amaj⁷

Amaj⁷

Suspended

Esus

Asus

Seventh Suspended

E⁷sus

A⁷sus

These chord shapes are shown with the left hand fingering that would be used to play them as open chord shapes. When these shapes are used as a part of a bar chord the left hand fingering used is different. The correct bar chord fingering to use is shown in the lessons in this book.

3. Jazz Chords

Another type of movable chord shapes are Jazz chord shapes. As the name suggests they are commonly used in Jazz music. Generally they are harder to play but songs and chord progressions containing Jazz chord shapes have a unique sound that cannot be achieved by with open or Bar chords. The root note is indicated with a box . The following G major seventh (Gmaj7) chord shape is a root 6 chord. The C ninth (C9) chord is a root 5 chord.

G Major Seventh (Gmaj7) Root 6 Jazz Chord Shape

 

Gmaj7

C Ninth (C9) Root 5 Jazz Chord Shape

 

C9

Most Jazz chord shapes contain "deadened" strings as indicated by the X on the string. All strings are strummed but the "deadened" strings are not heard. The strings are deadened by lightly touching them with another finger in the chord shape, e.g., in the G major seventh chord shape shown previously, the 5th and 1st strings are deadened by the first finger lightly touching them.

To learn more about Jazz Guitar chords see Progressive Jazz Guitar by Gary Turner and Steve Sutton and Progressive Guitar Method: Chords by Gary Turner and Brenton White (184 pages containing thousands of guitar chords).