The guitar is an instrument that’s built for simplicity. Even the most accomplished players are limited by the sheer number of different guitar chords available. A guitarist who knows how to play a few simple chords can perform just about any conceivable melody, and even improvise some interesting licks once they learn more advanced techniques. The world of guitar-playing is one of innumerable little nuances, many of which are specific to individual models or makers. Finding your own way in this uncharted landscape can be frustrating at first. Fortunately, the same principles that apply to every other instrument apply here as well: with a little practice, anyone with enough patience will eventually be able to play any musical piece on the guitar using basic chord techniques alone.
What is a Guitar Chord?
A guitar chord is a set of notes played on a guitar together to create a particular sound. There are two types of guitar chords: major and minor. There are many other types of guitar chords, but these two are the most commonly used.
Major and Minor Chords
A major chord is usually based around the key of the guitar. For example, the standard guitar chords C, Em, F, G, or Am are all major chords. A minor chord, on the other hand, is usually in some other key, like A minor or F minor. Using the above chords as an example, we can see that the C major chord is based around the notes C, E, and G, while the A minor chord is based around the notes A, C, and E. If we write the notes of a guitar chord next to each other and colour the notes red, we can see that A minor is C E G F (red), while C major is written as C E G (blue), which is where the blue colour comes from! There are different ways of categorising guitar chords depending on how many notes are used. A triadic chord, for example, uses three notes: C, E, and G as examples of a chord based around the key of C. A 7th chord is based around a single note, and a 11th chord is based on three notes. A suspended chord, on the other hand, is based on four notes.
Diminished and Augmented Chords
These types of chord are found in the blues and jazz genres, and they’re made by using one or more notes from the minor chord family (i.e. the C and G chords discussed above). This type of chord is known as a diminished chord because you use one of the minor notes from the C major chord, i.e. the G note, but you don’t use the E note from the key of C. The augmented chord is based on the same notes as a C major chord, but you add a B note instead of an E note. Once again, there are different ways of categorising guitar chords depending on how many notes are used. A triadic chord, for example, uses three notes: C, E, and G as examples of a chord based around the key of C. A 7th chord is based on a single note and a 11th chord is based on three notes.
Triadic Chords
Triadic chords are based on three notes: C, E, and G (the C, E, and G chords discussed above). If you use the F note from the key of C, you get a F triadic chord. If you use the A note from C, you get an A triadic chord. If you use the B note from C, you get a B triadic chord.
7th Chords
A 7th chord is based on a single note: C, E, G, or A. If you replace one of the notes in a C triadic chord with an A triadic chord, you get C7: C E G A. If you replace the E note with the G note in a C triadic chord, you get C Em: C E G G. If you replace the E note with the A note in a C triadic chord, you get C Am: C E A.
11th Chords
A 11th chord is based on three notes: C, E, or G (the C and E chords discussed above), and a B note (the B chord).
Suspended Chords
A suspended chord is based on four notes: C, E, G, or A. If you replace one of the notes in a C triadic chord with a G triadic chord, you get C Em: C E G A. If you replace the B note in a 11th chord with an E note, you get Cm: C E G E.
6-String Chords
A 6-string guitar has six strings. The standard guitar chord is still C, but now it’s played on the sixth string.
12-String Chords
A 12-string guitar has 12 strings. The standard guitar chord is still C, but now it’s played on the 12th string.
Beyond Guitar Chords: Other Important Points to Remember
– Every guitar chord contains the notes C, E, and G (or C, E, and A). If you’re playing a song on a guitar that has a different tuning from standard tuning (e., a 6-string with a low B string or a 12-string with a high E string), you’ll have to adjust your chord fingering accordingly to accommodate these notes. – The order of the notes in a guitar chord is also very important. The order of major and minor chords is E major, G major, C major, and so on, while the order of 7th chords is C major, G7, D major, A major, and so on. – It’s important to be able to read musical notation (i.e. to know how to play a song from a sheet of music) in order to play any song on the guitar. If you can’t read music, you’ll always be limited to learning popular songs and you’ll never be able to play any obscure composition by a classical composer.