DE D DE DE

EM M M ME
O O O O
EM D DE D
O O M O
EM D
DE O MO E EM
D MO
MO E
M D E
E D O M D
 UNDERSTANDING THE CHORD BOXES
The three diagrams below show the chord conventions illustrated in this guide. Most experienced fretted
instrument players should be familiar with them. The suggested fingering positions are only meant as a
general guide and will depend, in many instances, on hand size, finger length and flexibility, so feel free
to experiment. The location of the black circles is unalterable, though, if you want to produce the correct
voicing.

Open string to be played.

Nut Position, indicating the
Fret position. chord is to be played within the
confines of the first five frets.

Frets.

Chord Intervals.

If there are no markers above

or below the string, the string
should not be played.
Barré chord (in this example, a
three string barré to be fretted
with the index finger).

Suggested fingering. In
this case the 1st or index A damped string. In this example
finger marker is displayed. the 3rd string should be damped
using the lower pad of the middle
finger, fretting the 4th string.

A two string barré to be played

with the fourth finger.

Left to right: 4th, 3rd, 2nd and

1st courses of strings.

Whether a fretted instrument has single strings or pairs of strings, the chord boxes in this book, other chord
dictionaries and songbooks treat it as a four stringed instrument. This convention is common to all double
or triple course instruments such as the mandolin or tiple, making the diagrams a lot less confusing and
free from unnecessary clutter.

8
D Chords

22
E Chords (Advanced)

36
A Selection of Moveable Chord Shapes

78
 Tenor Banjo Chords: Standard Tuning
C C‹
1
1
2 3

 
 
   
 

 
3 3
2 1
0 0
0 0

C7 D
1
2 1 2

 
4


   

 
1 0
2 4
0 2
0 2

D‹
D7
1 2 1 1
3 2


3

 
   

 
0 3
3 4
2 2
2 2

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2

E‹
E
1
2 3 1 1

 
4 3

 
   

 
2 2
2 2
1 0
4 4

E7
F
1 1 2fr
2 2 3

 
4 4

 
   

 
2 3
0 3
1 2
4 5

F‹
F7
1 1 5fr 1 1 5fr
2 2
3


4


 
   

 
8 6
6 7
5 5
5 5

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 3

G G‹
1
1

 
 
   

 
2 1
0 0
0 0

A
G7
1 1 7fr 1 1 9fr
2
3 3


4

 

 
  

 
8 12
9 11
7 9
7 9

A‹ A7
1 1 9fr 1 1 9fr
2 2
3

 
4

 
 
   

 
12 10
10 11
9 9
9 9

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4

B B‹
1 1 4fr 1 1 4fr
2
3

 
 
   

 
6 5
4 4
4 4

B7
1 1 11fr
2
3




 


12
13
11
11

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