Guitar Chords For Dummies

Introduction

The guitar has become an iconic instrument since the beginning of the 20th century. It is often associated with the blues, rock, and pop. Who can forget those images of Jimi Hendrix making his electric guitar wail and other guitar greats such as Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Brian May (Queen), and Eric Clapton? The list is a long one! Nevertheless, this instrument can likewise be found in many other types of music: classical, flamenco, Brazilian, country, metal, jazz, African, folk … . It is almost impossible to list them all, such is the worldwide popularity of the guitar.

Often regarded as a solo instrument, in the majority of cases, the guitar is used as an accompaniment, given its harmonic possibilities (because it allows you to play chords, unlike a saxophone or trumpet, for example, which can only play one note at a time). It is precisely this characteristic that I address in this book.

Foolish Assumptions

For a guitarist, learning to play chords is essential in order to be able to play the instrument, at any level. In creating this book, I assume that:

You’re a beginner, you have some scores or chord progressions of your favorite pieces, but you don’t understand the chord symbols or don’t know where to play them on your guitar.

You’re a non-beginner wanting to practice more complex sounds, but you’re having difficulty locating the neck position of the notes that give chords such special colors.

You’re interested in getting to know the guitar and its harmonic possibilities better; discovering new sounds for composing, arranging, or adapting existing pieces; and, most of all, enjoying yourself.

About This Book

This book explores 30 types of chords in each key. The various chords are organized in a logical way, to enable you to find the information you’re looking for easily.

In the case of most chords, a short explanation enables you to understand how to move from one chord to another (for example, how to move from D major to D minor, the change involving the notes, and the positioning of the fingers).

You can use this book in two different ways:

As a dictionary: You can search for one or more chords in a specific key in order to play a piece (in which case, you can consult the index at the back of the book in order to identify the relevant chord). The photos and diagrams help you position your fingers on the neck in order to achieve the desired result.

As a method: I tried to make this book a good teaching aid. I provide short explanations of the chords so you can understand how they’re constructed.

You can pick any given chord (say, D), begin with the simplest form of the chord (D major), and then progress steadily through the book, listening to and visualizing each change in order to arrive at the most complex sounds (such as D⁷♭¹³). You can then understand how chords are constructed so that, ultimately, you’ll be able to find and create the ones you need for yourself.

With this approach in mind, the rest of this section explains the step-by-step logic behind the construction of chords, as well as the arrangement of notes on the neck of the guitar.

Family names

Each chord family name denotes its root (for example, Do, expressed as C) and its quality (such as min7).

Alternative notations of the chord can be found to the right of this name, in brackets. For example, there are several different ways of writing a minor 7th chord: min7, m7 and –7 are three possibilities.

Under the family name, you find a line listing the notes of the chord according to their function (Root = Do (C); maj 3rd = E; and so on).

WHAT DOES THE ASTERISK MEAN?

You can sometimes find a little asterisk (*) after the name of the chord in the family name. It merely indicates that the chord in question is a basic one with which you should familiarize yourself to ensure that you start off on the right foot.

Diagrams

A chord diagram graphically conveys the section of the neck on which the chord is placed. In a diagram, each note fretted is represented by a dot within which the function of the note in the chord is specified (root, third, fifth, seventh, and so on).

The Xs and Os situated at the top of the neck show you if the string beside which the symbol appears should be played (open) or not.

In a diagram, each dot indicates the note to be played as well as the function of that note in the chord:

Photos

The photos help you place your fingers so you can find the correct position easily. Here, for example, is the E major chord:

Icons Used in This Book

The icons indicate useful and important items of information throughout the book to make for easy reading.

Remember The Remember icon shows you the important information to remember.

Tip You may sometimes find certain chords difficult to play! The Tip icon highlights a trick for simplifying the fingering of chords so you’ll always be able to play them.

A Little Theory …

Theory is often given a bad press and frightens a large number of amateur (and professional!) musicians. Nevertheless, it’s very useful for understanding music, as well as your instrument. Never forget that theory serves music, not the other way round!

This section addresses some very simple principles concerning chord construction.

The skeleton

All the notes that give a chord its basic sound are referred to as the skeleton.

The skeleton of a basic chord generally consists of three notes:

The root, which gives its name to the chord (for example, in the case of a C major chord, the root is C)

The third, which gives the chord a major or minor tone

The fifth

This skeleton may include a sixth or seventh, which would give the chord a slightly richer texture. (Remember: A richer or more complex chord tone doesn’t necessarily mean a more beautiful tone/sound. It’s all a question of taste and context!)

Any chord you may want to play is taken from a scale (that is, a series of, in general, seven notes, which have a particular combined sound, often called color).

Take a look at what to do in order to find a chord on the basis of a scale. For example, take the familiar scale of C major, which is easy to understand because it comprises the seven natural notes (without sharps or flats) of Western-style music.

From this you take the skeleton of a C chord:

C major scale: C D E F G A B C

Play the scale starting from the root of your chord (in this case, the note C for the C chord) and give each note a number:

1 = C; 2 = D; 3 = E; 4 = F; 5 = G; 6 = A; 7 = B

In order to find this C chord, you see that a root, a third, and a fifth are required. In this example, you can also try to find a seventh, in order to obtain a four-tone skeleton (four different notes).

By definition:

The root is the first note of the chord and is expressed as 1.

The third is expressed as 3.

The fifth is expressed as 5.

The seventh is expressed as 7.

You can then find:

Root = 1 = C

Third = 3 = E

Fifth = 5 = G

Seventh = 7 = B

The skeleton of the required C chord is thus made up of the notes C, E, G, and B.

Follow the same logic in order to find an F chord. Play and count in the same way, starting from the first note of your chord (in this case the note F for the F chord):

1 = F; 2 = G 3 = A; 4 = B, and so on

You should then find the following for the F chord:

F (Root), A (Third), C (Fifth), E (Seventh)

Embellishments

You can add certain notes to chords in order to add a specific sound, or to embellish them without, however, modifying their skeleton. Such notes are referred to as embellishments.

In Western music, there are seven different notes (C, D, E, F, G, A, B) each of which may be augmented by a sharp ( ♯) or diminished by a flat (♭). The notes of the chord skeleton are comprised between 1 (root) and 7 (seventh). Because these embellishments would be superimposed on the skeleton, these notes would then have names (or numbers above 7). The logic for finding them is the same as in the case of the skeleton notes. All you have to do is play the scale on the first (root) note of the chord and count starting from 8 (instead of 1 for the skeleton notes).

Take the example of the C chord for which you found the skeleton earlier (C, E, G, B) and try to find what embellishments are possible:

8 = C (Skeleton root); 9 = D (Ninth, first possible embellishment); 10 = E (Skeleton third); 11 = F (Eleventh, second possible embellishment); 12 = G (Skeleton fifth); 13 = A (Thirteenth, third possible embellishment); 14 = B (Skeleton seventh)

As you can see, the 8th, 10th, 12th, and 14th are notes already included in the skeleton. To play them again or rename them wouldn’t produce any great change to the tone of the chord. It follows, therefore, that there are three types of possible embellishments: the 9th, 11th, and 13th. In the case of the C chord, the embellishments are D, F, and A.

Lastly, a C chord comprising all possible embellishments would give:

Try to find the possible embellishments for the F chord for yourself. You’ve already found its skeleton: Root = F’ 3rd = A; 5th = C; 7th = E.

Follow the same procedure as with the F chord in order to find the embellishments:

8 = F (Root of the skeleton); 9 = G (Ninth, first possible potential); 10 = A, and so on

So, you’ve found that the embellishments possible on the F chord are the 9th (G), the 11th (B), and the 13th (D).

Final stage: Intervals

You’ve seen how to find the notes of the chord skeleton and its embellishments. There remains only one point to clear up: How do you decide if a third is major or minor? If a fifth is perfect or augmented? If a ninth is major or minor? This is where the concept of an interval comes in.

Remember An interval is the distance separating two notes. The unit of measurement of an interval is the tone or semitone.

The distances between notes are fixed and determined as follows:

Remember that a sharp (♯) raises the note by a semitone (1 fret) and that a flat (♭) lowers it by a semitone (1 fret).

Remember The distance between E and F and between B and C is a semitone. Look at a piano keyboard: There’s no black key (either sharp or flat) between E and F or B and C!

When you’ve reached the end of the scale, you get back to C. You could then begin the scale all over again, and again, and again. That is what is known as an octave.

Remember An octave is the same note played higher or lower. In the figure, the end C is the octave above (higher) than the first C.

I strongly recommend that you learn the previous figure of the tones and semitones by heart; it will prove immensely valuable throughout your apprenticeship!

Now that this concept of interval has been explained, all that remains is to determine if a third is major or minor, a fifth is perfect or augmented, an eleventh is perfect or augmented, an eleventh is perfect or augmented. It’s quite straightforward because there are precise rules whereby names can be given to these distances (intervals):

Remember Two points in this table may surprise you:

The augmented second and the minor third are equidistant from the root: 1½ tones. This isn’t a mistake. It corresponds to more complex harmonic rules, which I won’t discuss here. To make sure you don’t mix them up, remember that the third is the 3rd note when counting along the scale starting from the chord root note and that the second is the 2nd note. (The same logic applies in the case of the augmented fourth/diminished fifth, the augmented fifth/minor sixth, and the major sixth/diminished seventh, which are, respectively, equidistant from the root.)

In the table and for ease of reference, the seconds are situated the same distance away from the root as the 9ths. The same applies in the case of the fourths and 11ths, as well as the sixths and 13ths. They’re effectively the same notes, but the 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths are situated one octave above the seconds, fourths, and sixths. I’ve adopted this simplified concept to help you when calculating the distances. In effect, it’s simpler to think that a minor 9th, for example, is ½ tone away from the root as opposed to 6½ tones!

With the help of the figure and the table, it becomes easy to find the name of the intervals separating two notes.

Look again at my example of the C chord, the skeleton of which is as follows:

Root = C; 3rd = E; 5th = G; 7th = B

Do the math, and you’ll find:

Between C (root) and E: 2 tones, so, according to the table, a major third.

Between C and G: 3½ tones, so a perfect fifth.

Between C and B: 5½ tones, so a major seventh.

The skeleton of the C chord, which you’ve found, is therefore given the name:

C major/major seventh

The fifth isn’t mentioned when it’s perfect.

When it comes to embellishments, in the case of this chord, you’ve already found:

9th = D; 11th = F; 13th = A

Once again, by combining the use of the figure and the table, you can see:

Between C and D = 1 tone, so a major ninth.

Between C and F = 2½ tones, so a major eleventh.

Between C and A = 4½ tones, so a major thirteenth.

The embellishments of the C chord found are, therefore, 9th, 11th, and 13th.

No mention is made of the fact that an embellishment is major or perfect: If nothing is indicated, it is so – major or perfect