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.
The dots show you where to place your left hand fingers. The 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.
Left Hand Fingering
- Index Finger
- Middle Finger
- Ring Finger
- Little Finger
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 dampened by another finger lightly touching it. The string is still strummed as a part of the chord but it is not heard.
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 bar chord diagram and photograph of the G major bar chord.
Bar chords are based on open chords, e.g., the following root 6 G chord is an open E major chord played after a bar across the 3rd fret.
G Major Root 6 Bar Chord Shape
G
Root Note
A chord is named by the note it begins on. This is referred to as the root note, e.g., G is the root note of the G major chord. The G major bar chord shape in the previous diagram is a root 6 shape because the root note is on the 6th string. If the root note is on the 5th string, as in the C maj seventh (Cmaj7) bar chord in the following diagram, the chord shape is called a root 5 shape.
C Major Seventh Root 5 Bar Chord Shape
Cmaj7
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 chords shapes are called movable shapes because they can be played with the first finger bar on any fret, e.g., if the G major bar chord shape was moved two frets higher it would be an A major chord. If the Cmaj7 bar chord shape was moved two frets higher it would be a Dmaj7 chord. All movable chord shapes (bar chords and Jazz chords) in this book have the root note indicated 
. All bar chords are shown with the 1st finger barring the third fret. For more information on how to play bar chords and bar chord rhythm and progressions see Progressive Guitar Method : Bar chords.
3. Jazz Chords
Another type of movable chord shape is the Jazz chord shape. 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 with open or bar chords. The following Jazz chords are shown with the root note at the 3rd fret. The following G major seventh (Gmaj7) chord shape is a root 6 chord. The C minor seventh (Cm7) is a root 5 chord.
G Major Seventh Root 6 Jazz Chord Shape
Root 6 Gmaj7
C Minor Seventh Root 5 Jazz Chord Shape
Root 6 Cm7
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, the 5th and 1st strings are deadened by the first finger lightly touching them.
The chord shapes given in this book are the most common and widely used. There are however, thousands of different shapes. For a full listing of shapes see Progressive Guitar Chords by Gary Turner and Brenton White (184 pages - contains thousands of chord shapes in all keys).
