Fingering for an open-position C Major chord (with the 5th, a G note, in the bass) played on a six-string acoustic guitar. A chord voicing such as this can be symbolized C/G.

A guitar chord is a chord, a collection of tones usually sounded together at once, played on a guitar, a type of chromatically fretted string instrument. Download high resolution version (1152x864, 169 KB)Photograph of guitar neck showing frets, strings, and fingers making C-major chord; taken by Tom Gally (User:Tomgally) on October 17, 2004. ... Download high resolution version (1152x864, 169 KB)Photograph of guitar neck showing frets, strings, and fingers making C-major chord; taken by Tom Gally (User:Tomgally) on October 17, 2004. ... C major (often just C or key of C) is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has no flats/sharps (see below: Diatonic Scales and Keys). ... Typical fingering for a second inversion C major chord on a guitar. ... For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ...

Chord voicings designed for the guitar can be optimized for many different purposes and playing styles. Guitar chords can be composed of notes played on only a few strings at a time, whether occurring on adjacent strings or not, or on all the strings.

The instrument is generally very capable and versatile for chording purposes, but it does exhibit some differences with other instruments. Most guitars only have six strings, which means that for the very largest of chord-voicings it's often necessary to drop or omit one or more tones from the chord; this is typically the root or fifth. The layout of notes on the fretboard sometimes demands that the notes in a chord do not run in tonal order, or makes possible a chord which is composed of more than one note of exactly the same pitch. Many chords can be played with exactly the same notes in more than one place on the fretboard. An Instrument is a tool, intended for a purpose other than mechanical work, in particular a refined one. ... The root (basse fondamentale) of a chord is the note upon which that chord is perceived or labelled as built or centered, the root of a chord in root position or normal form. ... The perfect fifth or diapente is one of three musical intervals that span five diatonic scale degrees; the others being the diminished fifth, which is one semitone smaller, and the augmented fifth, which is one semitone larger. ... The fingerboard, also known as a fretboard, is a part of most stringed instruments. ... Pitch is the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. ...

Guitars can vary both in the number of strings they have, and in the way they're tuned. Most guitars used in popular music have six-strings and are tuned (from the lowest pitched string to the highest): E-A-D-G-B-E. The internal intervals present among adjacent strings in this tuning can be written 4-4-4-3-4 (being mostly perfect fourth intervals plus one major third interval near the middle). Conventionally, the string with the highest pitch (the thinnest) is called the first string, and the string having the lowest pitch is called the sixth. For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... The strings of a harp A string is the vibrating element which is the source of vibration in string instruments, such as the guitar, harp, piano, and members of the violin family. ... Wikibooks Guitar has a page on the topic of Tuning the Guitar Guitar tuning is any of several techniques of pitch adjustment on the individual strings of a guitar in order to achieve a prescribed arrangement of notes from the open (unfretted) strings. ... For the music genre, see Pop music. ... The perfect fourth or diatessaron, abbreviated P4, is one of two musical intervals that span four diatonic scale degrees; the other being the augmented fourth, which is one semitone larger. ... A major third is the larger of two commonly occuring musical intervals that span three diatonic scale degrees. ...

Notation

Chord diagrams

A summary of common guitar chords in six-string standard tuning.

Guitar chords can be represented in standard musical notation, tablature (frequently referred to as tab), or in chord diagrams, which are shown below. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 529 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (734 × 832 pixel, file size: 6 KB, MIME type: image/png) Downloaded from the Wiki Guitar site (http://www. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 529 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (734 × 832 pixel, file size: 6 KB, MIME type: image/png) Downloaded from the Wiki Guitar site (http://www. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Example of numeric vihuela tablature from the book Orphenica Lyra by Miguel de Fuenllana (1554). ...

There are several symbols used in the chord diagram format:

• Vertical lines represent the guitar strings. The line on the left represents the sixth (or thickest) string on the guitar.
• Horizontal lines represent frets on the guitar. Unless a different fret number is indicated on the right-hand side of the diagram, the top horizontal line represents the nut (or "zeroth" fret).
• An X above a vertical line indicates a string that is not played.
• An O above a vertical line indicates an open string (a string that is played without being fretted).
• A filled circle on a vertical line indicates the position in which a string is fretted to play a note.
• A filled circle and square on a vertical line also indicates the position in which a string is played, and that the note is the root note or an octave of it.
• A curved line is used to indicate a barre, which is a single finger used to hold multiple strings down at once.
• Numbers beneath certain string indicate the finger number that is usually used to play this note. (One represents the index finger, two is the middle finger, etc.)

Note that the chord diagrams have to be reversed for left-handed guitars and guitarists. The strings of a harp A string is the vibrating element which is the source of vibration in string instruments, such as the guitar, harp, piano, and members of the violin family. ... The neck of a guitar showing the first four frets. ... The root (basse fondamentale) of a chord is the note upon which that chord is perceived or labelled as built or centered, the root of a chord in root position or normal form. ... People who are left-handed are more dextrous with their left hand than with their right hand: they will probably also use their left hand for tasks such as personal care, cooking, and so on. ...

Fret numbers

A shorthand for chord diagrams is to simply give the fret numbers of each chord. For example, this might be given as [X 3 2 0 1 0] in the case of the C major chord which is pictured below. The leftmost character gives the fret number of the sixth string (in this case X means it is not played) and the rightmost character gives the fret number of the first string (in this case open). The neck of a guitar showing the first four frets. ...

Six-string guitars with standard tuning

Guitar chords take advantage of the intervals between the strings, which in each case are perfect fourths excepting the interval between the B (second) and G (third) strings, which is a major third. To go above standard tuning it is common in many forms of hard rock as well as metal to use drop D tuning. This requires the player to change the low E string tuning to that of a D note. In music theory, the term interval describes the difference in pitch between two notes. ... The perfect fourth or diatessaron, abbreviated P4, is one of two musical intervals that span four diatonic scale degrees; the other being the augmented fourth, which is one semitone larger. ...

CAGED major chords

Major chords contain a root note, a note a major third above the root and a note a perfect fifth above the root. Generally speaking, a major chord is any chord which has a major third above its root, as opposed to a minor chord which has a minor third. ... The root (basse fondamentale) of a chord is the note upon which that chord is perceived or labelled as built or centered, the root of a chord in root position or normal form. ... A major third is the larger of two commonly occuring musical intervals that span three diatonic scale degrees. ... The perfect fifth or diapente is one of three musical intervals that span five diatonic scale degrees; the others being the diminished fifth, which is one semitone smaller, and the augmented fifth, which is one semitone larger. ...

C Major

In the case of C Major, these notes are C, E and G. The graphical representation on the right shows how left-hand fingering produces: Image File history File links Cmajorguitar. ... Image File history File links Cmajorguitar. ...

• E on the first string
• C on the second string
• G on the third string
• E on the fourth string
• C on the fifth string

No note is played on the sixth string.
In a similar way, the chords A Major, G Major, E Major and D Major are often played as:

A Major

G Major

E Major

D Major

Image File history File links Amajorguitar213. ... Image File history File links Amajorguitar213. ... Image File history File links Gmajorguitar. ... Image File history File links Gmajorguitar. ... Image File history File links Emajorguitar. ... Image File history File links Emajorguitar. ... Image File history File links Dmajorguitar. ... Image File history File links Dmajorguitar. ...

These five chords are fundamental to guitar for a variety of reasons including:

• they are all major triads, and as such they are all primary reference chords
• they all occur and are available in open position: the first three frets plus open strings
• each has its root on a different string
• their overall gross large shapes become the basis of the CAGED system
• they can be connected and linked together to create one large long contiguous 12-fret or one-octave greater resource pattern of major triad tones encompassing the entire fretboard.

B major and F major shapes

The two remaining whole tone major chords (to complete an octave) are those of B major and F major. These are commonly played as barre chords, with the first finger used to press down multiple strings across the guitar fingerboard.
In harmony, the tonus is the ratio 9:8 between a pair of frequencies or, equivalently, the ratio 8:9 between a pair of wavelengths. ... Barre chords (sometimes shortened to Bar chords) are a type of guitar chord where one or more fingers are used to press down multiple strings across the guitar fingerboard (like a bar pressing down the strings). ...

The A major shape on the second fret becomes B major

On examination, it becomes clear that these two chords are logical extensions of the A major and E major chords above. The B major chord is the same shape as the A major chord but it is located two frets further up the fretboard. The F major chord is the same shape as E major but it is one fret further from the headstock. In effect, barre chords act as if the whole guitar has been shortened, like a moveable nut or capo. Image File history File links Bmajorguitar. ... Image File history File links Bmajorguitar. ... The fingerboard, also known as a fretboard, is a part of most stringed instruments. ... Typical headstock of an electric guitar This article is about part of a stringed instrument. ... For other uses, see Capo (disambiguation). ...

The E major shape on the first fret becomes F major

Barre chords in the shape of A and E major can be played anywhere on the fretboard. Wherever they are played, these chords are major because they have the same shape, and this determines the intervals between the notes. The root of the chord in any position can be worked out from the diagrams above.
Image File history File links Fmajorguitar. ... Image File history File links Fmajorguitar. ... Barre chords are a type of guitar chord where one or more fingers are used to fret (press down) several or all of the strings across the guitar fingerboard in order to play a chord not restricted by the tones of the guitars open strings. ... In music theory, the term interval describes the difference in pitch between two notes. ...

C major, G major and D major shapes

The other three shapes in the CAGED system are C major, G major and D major. These can be transformed into barre chords in a similar way to the A major and E major shapes.

The CAGED system therefore creates five major barre chords which can be used to play all the major chords in more than one position on the fretboard.

The C major shape on the fourth fret becomes E major Image File history File links EmajorCformguitar. ...

The G major shape on the second fret becomes A major Image File history File links AmajorGformguitar. ...

The D major shape on the third fret becomes F major Image File history File links FmajorDformguitar. ...

Other CAGED chords

The CAGED system can be modified to produce many other chords, only some of which can be covered here. Typical fingering for a second inversion C major chord on a guitar. ...

These require the basic shape of the chord to be modified so that it has slightly different intervals between each note. Once this is done, the shape can be played anywhere on the fretboard, as above.

Minor, Augmented and Diminished

The E minor shape on the first fret becomes F minor

Minor chords (commonly notated as C, Cm or Cma) are the same as major chords except that they have a minor third instead of a major third. This is a difference of one semitone. Image File history File links Fminorguitar. ... Image File history File links Fminorguitar. ... Generally speaking, a minor chord is any chord which has a minor third above its root, as opposed to a major chord which has a major third. ... Generally speaking, a major chord is any chord which has a major third above its root, as opposed to a minor chord which has a minor third. ... A minor third is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals compounded of two steps of the diatonic scale. ... A major third is the larger of two commonly occuring musical intervals that span three diatonic scale degrees. ... A semitone (also known in the USA as a half step) is a musical interval. ...

To create F minor from the F major chord (in E major shape), the second finger should be lifted so that the third string plays onto the barre.

The other shapes can be modified as well:

The C major and G major shapes cannot be modified in this way because the major third in those shapes falls on the barre (or nut). It is therefore impossible to lower that note by one semitone (to produce the minor third) and retain the barre. C minor and G minor therefore have to be played using one of the other CAGED shapes. A major third is the larger of two commonly occuring musical intervals that span three diatonic scale degrees. ... A minor third is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals compounded of two steps of the diatonic scale. ...

Augmented chords (major third and augmented fifth) and diminished chords (minor third and diminished fifth) can be created in much the same way. In general, an augmented chord is any chord which contains an augmented interval. ... A major third is the larger of two commonly occuring musical intervals that span three diatonic scale degrees. ... An augmented fifth is one of three musical intervals that span five diatonic scale degrees. ... Generally speaking, a diminished chord is a chord which has a diminished fifth in it. ... A minor third is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals compounded of two steps of the diatonic scale. ... This article is about the musical interval. ...

Slash (Inverted)

A chord is inverted when the bass note isn't the root note. For example, if the note E (the open sixth string) were to be played over the A minor chord (as in the table above), the chord would be [0 0 2 2 1 0]. This has the note E as its lowest tone instead of A. It is often written as Am/E, where the letter following the slash indicates the new bass note. In music theory, the word inversion has several meanings. ... This page is a candidate to be copied to Wiktionary. ... The root (basse fondamentale) of a chord is the note upon which that chord is perceived or labelled as built or centered, the root of a chord in root position or normal form. ...

Seventh and extended

Seventh chords (notated by 7) are constructed by adding a fourth note to the major triad, which is a minor 7th above (i.e. a whole note below) the tonic. There are various types of seventh chords depending on the quality of the original chord and the quality of the seventh added. A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chords root. ... In music or music theory, a triad is a tonal or diatonic tertian trichord. ... A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chords root. ... Typical fingering for a second inversion C major chord on a guitar. ...

Other extended chords, such as ninths (9), elevenths (11) and thirteenths (13) can also be constructed. These can all be played with the CAGED shapes. Extended chords are tertian chords (built from thirds) or triads with notes extended, or added, beyond the seventh, including all the thirds in between the seventh and the extended note. ...

Power chords

F power chord

Power chords (sometimes notated as 5) consist solely of a root note and a fifth. Sometimes an octave is included as well. Image File history File links F5guitar. ... Image File history File links F5guitar. ... In music, a power chord is a bare fifth, or a similar chord, usually played on electric guitar with distortion. ... The root (basse fondamentale) of a chord is the note upon which that chord is perceived or labelled as built or centered, the root of a chord in root position or normal form. ... Fifth may refer to: One fifth, a quintile, or 20% of a certain amount The fifth in a series, or four after the first In the United States, the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution especially as in the expression Taking the Fifth. Fifth (Stargate), a robotic character in... For other uses, see Octave (disambiguation). ...

Since power chords do not have a third, they cannot be defined as true chords, either major or minor, but rather as simple harmonies. Generally speaking, a major chord is any chord which has a major third above its root, as opposed to a minor chord which has a minor third. ... Generally speaking, a minor chord is any chord which has a minor third above its root, as opposed to a major chord which has a major third. ...

On a guitar with six strings, it is possible to play any of five power chord shapes. Each can be played anywhere along the neck. The basic shapes are

See power chord for more variations and information. In music, a power chord is a bare fifth, or a similar chord, usually played on electric guitar with distortion. ...

Six-string guitars with alternate tuning

Main article: scordatura

There are many alternate tunings (like drop D tuning, for example). These change the way chords are played, making some chords easier to play while others may be more difficult. Also, guitars may be tuned to a chord so that a slide may be used to play the chord at a multitude of pitches. A scordatura (literally Italian for mistuning) is an alternate tuning used for the open strings of a string instrument. ... Dropped D tuning: DADGBe, also known as simply as Drop D, is a guitar tuning style in which the lowest (sixth) string is tuned down a whole tone (dropped) to D rather than E as in standard tuning (EADGBe). ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

Open tunings

Main article: open tuning

A guitar is open tuned if all six strings are tuned to play a chord without fretting. This enables the user to bar every fret of the guitar to make a chord. An example would be Open G (D-G-D-G-B-D) tuning, in which strumming all strings open would give the sound of a G chord. Barring the 2nd fret it would give you an A chord, and so on. In guitar playing, an open tuning is one where the strings are tuned so that a chord is achieved without fretting, or pressing any of the strings. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Chords in guitar

• Guitar at the Open Directory Project