Written by Andrew Wasson for Creative Guitar Studio
The Common Open Position Guitar Chords:
There are under two-dozen common guitar chords found in the open position. These chords are important because they are used in nearly every style of music. They all should be memorized. It is important to study these chords since they will occur in many popular songs. We will work on two primary concepts while memorizing these chords.
1). CHORD ROOT LOCATION:
In nearly every case, the Root, (or naming note), of these chords will be found as the lowest sounding tone. In the following pages of open position chord examples, we will
C C C assign the lowest guitar string played to a “string category” for the chords classification.
Example: G Major The “G Major” chord to the left, is considered, or
categorized, as a 6th string root chord. It’s lowest note, “G” is located on the 6th string third fret (circled). Other chord categories are; 5th and 4th string chords. The root will almost always be located in the bass, (although there are exceptions). Any exceptions to this rule will be identified. 32 4 2 All Note: 1 root notes3 found in the charts 2 3are1circled dots. The other chord tones are shown as solid dots. Chord fingerings are found below each chord diagram. 2). CHORD QUALITY: The “quality” of a chord refers to whether the chord is; Major, Minor, or Dominant 7th. These three qualities make up the sounds of harmony in music. There are other chords which occur
4 in music, but the basic harmony will always come down to being one of these three types.
∑ MAJOR: The Major chord contains the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the Major scale.
&4 Example (A): C Major scale = C D E F G A B C / C Major chord = C E G
MINOR: The Minor chord is created by lowering the 3rd step of a Major chord. Example (B): C Minor chord = C Eb G (notice the “E” note was lowered to “E b”)
DOMINANT CHORDS: The Dominant chord is a Major chord with a lowered seventh scale
The interval of the Dominant chords fourth note is called a, “Minor 7th interval,” (b7). step added to the three note Major structure. The “Dominant” chord has four individual notes.
Example (C): C Dominant Seventh = C E G Bb (the new “Bb” is a Minor 7th interval)
&4 ∑ 4 & 4 ∑ &4 31 2 1131 1 32 1 132 3 alternate fingering: 111 32 1 132 32 Notes: As you may have already noticed, there is no, “B Major,” chord in the open position. The, “B major,” is not a part of this group. It is a, “moveable chord shape.” We will study moveable chords in
4 the Creative Guitar Studio, “Intermediate Guitar Program.”
