Learn the basic chord shapes for guitar. These chords will help when you begin playing songs after a little practice. Learn power chords, barre chords and the basic open chord forms. Take what you learned from the guitar scales section and learn how to construct chords. Once you learn how chords are made, you can build chords anywhere on the neck of the guitar.
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How to Read Guitar Chord Diagrams
Power Chords
Barre Chords
Open Chords
How Chords are Made
A chord is made up of at least 3 notes; the first or root note, the third and the fifth. Minor Chords are made by using the flat 3rd note of the scale.
Major C – C E G D – D F# A E – E G# B F – F A C G – G B D
A – A C# E
Minor C – C Eb G D – D F A E – E G B F – F Ab C G – G Bb D
A – A C E
Different chord voicings are created by adding other notes from the scale. For instance, a seventh chord is made by adding the seventh note of the scale to the first, third, and fifth.
How to Read Guitar Chord Diagrams
Guitar Chord Diagrams are a little different than tabs or scale diagrams. The thicker line at the top of the square represents the nut of the guitar. View guitar chord diagrams as if you were facing the fretboard with the guitars neck pointed straight up.
Power Chords
Power chords are made using the first, fifth and often the octave note of a scale. A power chord can be moved up and down the neck of the guitar. Power chords do not have the 3rd note of the scale within the chord, making it neither major nor minor. Power chords are frequently used in rock and heavier sounding genres that use more overdrive or distortion in their guitar tone. The diagrams below show power chord forms with the root note on the 6th, 5th, 4th, and 3rd strings.
Barre Chords
Barre chords (or bar chords) require one finger to fret a few or all the strings to form a chord. The index finger is used to do this and enables the chord to be moved up and down the neck. The diagrams below will show you how to play major and minor barre chords. The arch connecting two or more dots indicates the notes that are barred by one finger.
Major Barre Chord Forms on the 6th and 5th Strings
Minor Barre Chord Forms on the 6th and 5th Strings
Open Chords
Open chords contain at least one open string, meaning one string is played but not fretted. The chord diagrams below are basic major and minor chord forms.
Guitar Chords at GuitaristSource.com
Learn the basic chord shapes for guitar. These chords will help when you begin playing songs after a little practice. Learn power chords, barre chords and the basic open chord forms. Take what you learned from the guitar scales section and learn how to construct chords. Once you learn how chords are made, you can build chords anywhere on the neck of the guitar.
Jump ahead:
How Chords are Made
A chord is made up of at least 3 notes; the first or root note, the third and the fifth. Minor Chords are made by using the flat 3rd note of the scale.
Major C – C E G D – D F# A E – E G# B F – F A C G – G B D
A – A C# E
Minor C – C Eb G D – D F A E – E G B F – F Ab C G – G Bb D
A – A C E
Different chord voicings are created by adding other notes from the scale. For instance, a seventh chord is made by adding the seventh note of the scale to the first, third, and fifth.
How to Read Guitar Chord Diagrams
Guitar Chord Diagrams are a little different than tabs or scale diagrams. The thicker line at the top of the square represents the nut of the guitar. View guitar chord diagrams as if you were facing the fretboard with the guitars neck pointed straight up.
Power Chords
Power chords are made using the first, fifth and often the octave note of a scale. A power chord can be moved up and down the neck of the guitar. Power chords do not have the 3rd note of the scale within the chord, making it neither major nor minor. Power chords are frequently used in rock and heavier sounding genres that use more overdrive or distortion in their guitar tone. The diagrams below show power chord forms with the root note on the 6th, 5th, 4th, and 3rd strings.
Barre Chords
Barre chords (or bar chords) require one finger to fret a few or all the strings to form a chord. The index finger is used to do this and enables the chord to be moved up and down the neck. The diagrams below will show you how to play major and minor barre chords. The arch connecting two or more dots indicates the notes that are barred by one finger.
Major Barre Chord Forms on the 6th and 5th Strings
Minor Barre Chord Forms on the 6th and 5th Strings
Open Chords
Open chords contain at least one open string, meaning one string is played but not fretted. The chord diagrams below are basic major and minor chord forms.
Open major chords for guitar in standard tuning.
Open minor chords for guitar in standard tuning.
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