Guitar Chords

Understanding the theory behind guitar chords isn’t always a requisite to

learning how to play the guitar. One can learn how to pluck a few tunes here and
there and progress his skills eventually. However, by taking the time to understand
chords in a deeper sense helps in transforming you into the kind of musician you
want to be a lot faster. It never hurts to know more than the average guitar player.

So, what exactly is a chord? A chord is the underlying principle in every

musical piece there is. It is the so-called building blocks of a song. A guitar chord is
a group of tones that is played as one on the stings of a guitar.

The most basic chords in playing the guitar are the open major chords. These
are chords that make use of the open strings of the guitar. These chords are
composed of three alternate notes coming from the major scale. Each chord is
made of a root (1), a third (3), and a fifth (5) respectively. The root is also
sometimes called a tunic. Chords are named after the note in the root. The guitar is
a very versatile musical instrument. It’s amazing to know that a more than a
handful of chords can be derived from a few number of strings.

Two main flavors of chords exist in music. These are the Major and the Minor
chords. In guitar, we both have the Open Major chords and the Open Minor chords.
There are five open major chords. They are the A, C, D, E and the G or the ‘CAGED‘
so that it is easier to remember. The main characteristic of the open major chords is
that the note in their roots has lowest pitch in the scale.

There are three open minor chords. These are Am, Dm, and the Em. The ‘m’
that comes after the A,D and E is an indicator that the chord is a minor. Without it, a
chord is understood to be a major chord. Compared to the open major chords, the
only difference that minor open chords have is that the third (3) has its pitch
lowered by a semitone. Basically, a major chord is turned into a minor chord by
moving the third note half a step down or moving it one fret down.

The next set of chords is the Open Major 7th chords. The difference between
the open major and the open major 7th chords is that the root is moved down a
semitone in order to become 7. That’s all there is to changing a major to a major
seventh. These chords are composed of a root, third, fifth, and a seventh notes of
the scale. There are five chords in this group, namely the CM7, AM7, GM7, EM7 and
the DM7. The M7 is the major seventh indicator.

Not to be confused with the open major sevenths chords, the next set of
chords is the seventh or 7th chords. These chords are named so for the reason that
they contain the extra note ‘7’. These are the C7, A7, G7, E7 and the D7 chords.
These chords are also referred to as the ‘dominant sevenths’. These chords are
basically composed of a first, third, fifth and a flat seventh (b7) note in their scale.
 The Open Minor chords also have their own Open Minor 7th guitar chords.
These chords are constructed in the same way as open minor chords and are added
with the flat seventh (b7). The Am7, Dm7 and Em7 are the minor version of the
major seventh chords AM7, DM7 and the EM7.

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These are just some of the chords out there. There’s still a long way to go
from hereon in learning the many chords to playing the guitar and improving your
skill. Just remember that in order to become better, one must always be diligent in
practicing and learning the various chords out there.