Welcome!

I hope this resource would be helpful to you on your guitar journeys. You
can print it and bind it as a mini-book that you can always reach out for
and learn some new chords, (any office equipment store would happily do
it for you for 5-10$!) or just keep it on your computer desktop and access it
whenever you wish.

Best!
-Cooper

How to read the chord charts?

Chord
name

Special
info
First
relevant fret

The diagram is
shown "upside down"
- to resemble how it 2 1
3
looks like from your 4
point of view when Fingers
you are playing. numbering
Muted string -
don't play this
one

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 Beginners - First Chords to Learn!
Just by learning these 10 chords (along with strumming patterns and the other things that bring those songs into life, which you
can learn all about right here) - you'll be able to play almost all of the songs that you'll ever encounter.
C G (Beginners version)

D Dm

E Em

A Am

Fmaj7 * F (Beginners version)

* (Until you'll be able to play a full F with a barre - you can play this instead -
and usually it will sound fine) If you can already play the "Beginners F" - so it
will sound even better! 3
The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
Beginners: The 2nd batch of chords to learn (Page 1/2)
G7 G

A7 Am7

D7 Dm7

F Fm

Bm Bm (Beginners version)

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
Beginners: The 2nd batch of chords to learn (Page 2/2)
E7 E7

Em7 Em7

Amaj7 Dmaj7

D4 (also called Dsus/Dsus4) D2 (Also sometimes called Dsus2)

* “Sus” is short for “suspended” - a certain type of chords.

F# F#m

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 How chords are made?
(A short 3-step Guide to Understand the Basic Theory of Chords)

Step one:
Our Musical Alphabet
First of all, here are the 12 notes used in Western music, this is our
alphabet:
C, C#, D, D# (usually called Eb), E, F, F# (also sometimes called Gb) G,
Ab (also sometimes called G#),
A, Bb (also sometimes called A#), B.
C# Eb F# Ab Bb

So basically this is what we got:

C D E F G A B
C, C#, D, Eb, E, F, F#, G, Ab, A, Bb, B.
# Reads as: Sharp (meaning: a half-step above the note) (A half step means
that you go to the next note of the musical alphabet. A whole step means
two half steps, so you "move" to the note after the next one.)
b Reads as: "flat" (meaning: a half-step below the note)
If a chord's name does not state anything
other than it's root (for example: "G")
so it is a major chord.

Minor chords would be marked with a

lowercase "m". (For example: Gm)
Step two:
Chords are born out of musical scales.
The C major scale (you might also know it as "do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do")
consists of the notes:
C, D, E, F, G, A, B.
Each one of the notes is referred to as a numerical degree of the scale.
C is the first note (I), D is the second (II), E is the third (III), Etc.

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 How chords are made?
(A short 3-step Guide to Understand the Basic Theory of Chords)

Step three:
How to build the two most common kinds
of chords (major and minor chords)
Major chords are built from the first, third, and fifth degree of the scale. So
a C major scale would consist of the notes C, E, G.

Minor chords are also built from the first, third and fifth of the scale, but
this time the third is lowered by a half step - Which in the case of the
C-major turned C-minor – means that the E note turns into an Eb, and the
notes of a C-minor chord are C, Eb, G.

This lowered third is what gives minor chords their "sad" sound, as
opposed to the more "playful" and happy
sound of major chords.

Frequently Asked QUESTION: But I see that

for example a C chord on the guitar uses five
notes and not three. How come?

Answer: Some of the notes are doubled (for a

fuller sound) - so instead of just playing three
notes – you play five notes. (C, E, G, C, E)

Question for you: If this is the G major scale – G, A, B, C, D, E, F# - can you

tell the notes of a G major and
G minor chords? The book that has
helped me the most
with understanding
music theory
specifically on the
guitar:

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 Sus chords (Page 1/2)
Suspended ("sus" chords) are called that way because they sound like they want
to resolve back to the "regular" chords. (especially the sus4) For example, play a D
chord for a few strums, followed by a D4 . Did you notice how it sounds like the D4
wants to "go back" to the D chord? Hence the "suspended" name.

Sus 2 chords can also be called "add9". (but NOT "9", because that's a slightly
different chord which is a combination of a Dominant 7 chord and a Sus 2 chord.)

Sus 4 chords can also simply be called "sus".

Both of them can simply be called D2 or D4 instead of Dsus 2 or Dsus4.

If you are interested in the theory behind Suspended chords – check out this article
that I wrote.

Open sus chords:

"Open chords" refer to chords that contain some open strings. (strings that you are
not fretting with your finger)
D4 D2

C4 Cadd9

C2 G2

Movable shape! 8
The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 Sus chords (Page 2/2)
G4 E4

Asus2 Asus4

Movable Barre Chords Shapes - Sus Chords

For Example...
Bass on the 5th, sus 4 Bass on the 6th, sus 4

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 Common Slash Chords (Page 1/2)
"Slash chords" are chords that are played with an added bass from a different chord.
For example - a C/E chord, is simply a C chord, but with an added low note - E. In
spoken terms, these chords would be referred to as "C slash B" or "C over B". (in
the case of C/B)

Besides the slash chords that you'll encounter as "standalone chords" on song's
chord charts, you can also choose to use them as "transition chords". For example,
if a song goes from a G chord to an Em chord, you can add a touch of G/F# in
between (make sure it sits with the rhythm) - to make your song-playing more
interesting. G > G/F# > Em. (I like to call this technique "Bass Stairways")

Also, the same goes for C > C/B > Am, and many others. Try it in the context of
actual songs to get a feel for it!

D/F# D/A

G/B G/F#

G/D C/E

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
Common Slash Chords (Page 2/2)
C/B C/G

C/D F/A

F/C A/C#

D/F# C/A

Em/G Am/C

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 Common Barre Chords (Page 1/2)
These are the most common "barre chords" that you'll encounter. Barre chords are
called so because you are using your index finger as a "bar". (the common spelling,
"barre" comes from French)

All the barre chords that I demonstrate here are movable, and you can move them
around the neck to get the same type of chord (major/minor/major7, etc.) but with a
different root. (C major \ D major, etc.)
A A7

Am Am7

Amaj7

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
Common Barre Chords (Page 2/2)
D D7

Dm Dm7

Dmaj7

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 Power Chords
Usually common in hard-rock and metal
songs, but also used a lot by beginners -
since they are easy to play. Notice that power
chords "don't have an identity" - since they are
neither major or minor. As a result - they tend
to sound more "vague".

Watch my lesson for an introduction on how

to use them in real life, and for more useful
theory background on this kind of chords.

The most common power chords shapes:

E-based movable power chord A-based movable power chord

Two-string
version

Three-string
version

Three-string
version,
alternative
fingering

* You can slightly lift your barre 3rd finger - so that it won't actually press
down the 3rd string, but only rest on it and make sure it wouldn't play.

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 7th Chords (Page 1/4)
These chords give a nice, colorful "taste". Besides playing those 7th chords when
the song's chord chart calls for it - you can also sometimes substitute regular chords
with 7th chords, to add that special "taste" and enrich the song. (for example,
playing a Cmaj7 instead of C)

The general rule that works most of the time is that you can substitute simple
major chords for Major7 chords, and simple minor chords for Minor 7. (However,
notice that in blues music the major chords are almost always substituted only for
Dominant 7 chords)

However, as with all "rules" in music – there are many exceptions in different
musical contexts – so I highly recommend you try the different ideas, but above all –
trust your ears to tell you what feels and sounds good.

* Cmaj7 can also be called Cmajor7, or C

(The triangle means "major" in jazz music sheets)

C7 can also be called C Dominant 7 or Cdom7

Cm7 can also be called Cminor7 or C-7. (- means minor in jazz music sheets)

Open 7th chords:

D7 Dm7

Dmaj7 A7

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 7th Chords (Page 2/4)
Am7 Amaj7

C7 Cmaj7

E7 E7

Em7 Em7

G7 Gmaj7

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 7th Chords (Page 3/4)
F7 (this shape is common among jazz players) Fmaj7

F7 Fm7

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 7th Chords (Page 4/4)
Movable Barre Chords Shapes
Root on the fifth barre Root on the sixth barre

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 "Thumb-Over" Chords
This style of chords, where the thumb is playing the bass note, has been made
popular initially by Jimi Hendrix, and allows a more solid grip of the neck,
(after you get used to it...) freeing up your pinky to add "chord embellishments",
playing chords that sound a bit more "airy"(where you leave out some of the bass
notes) and more.

I dedicated a full mini-class for teaching you how to play any song in the
style of Hendrix. Besides making you sound very cool, you will also gain
full control over these thumb chord shapes.

Major Major without the 5th string (for a more "airy" sound*)

* Recommended especially when you're playing with a band / bass player.

minor minor (for a more "airy" sound*)

7 Min 7

Sus 4 Amaj7

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 Bonus section:
4 EXTRA POSITIONS
FOR EACH MAJOR AND MINOR CHORDS
(Based on the CAGED system)

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
The CAGED system - MAJOR chords (page 1/2)
Another way to think about playing different chords up the neck, (and to "learn" more
different positions for each chord in no-time) is based on what's called "the CAGED
system." For example, if you take the shape of an E-chord, and add a barre in front
of it on fret 1, you get an F. If you take it up to fret 3, you get a G. Up to fret 5 - you
get a G. Etc.

The same goes also with the shapes of the open C, A, and D chords when you
move them up the neck. (the CAGED system also refers to the G shape, but it is not
really "practical" in terms of comfortably playing chords with it up the neck, so I did
not include it here.)

E Shaped A Shaped

C Shaped D Shaped

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
The CAGED system - MINOR chords (page 2/2)
E Shaped A Shaped

C Shaped D Shaped

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 Jazz chords (Page 1/3)
Jazz guitar may seem daunting at first, but once you learn these (mostly) movable
shapes, you'll start to see that these shapes simply repeat themselves - and they
aren't as hard as they might seem.

Also - even if you are not into jazz - slowly learning these shapes can help you
enrich your sound vocabulary and add some refreshing sounds to your songs. For
example, try substituting a regular C chord in a song you love - with a C13. Trust
your ears, and you'll see that you'll find some places where even just one colorful
chord can add a lot to an original song of yours, or of a cover that you play. (The
Beatles were the champions of using this kind of tricks)

For your first steps in jazz, the chords in the next few pages should cover almost
anything that you might encounter. Also, check out the following article on the Guitar
Songs Masters blog:

How to Start Getting Into JAZZ Guitar: 10 Tips

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 Jazz chords (Page 2/3)
G13 Gmin9 / Jazz notation: G-9

Gmaj7 / Jazz notation: Gê / Gê7 Gmin7 / Jazz notation: G-7

G7 Gmaj9 (add 6) / Jazz notation: Gê9

Gm7b5 / Jazz notation: Gø Gdim7 / Jazz notation: G°7

Cmaj9 / Jazz notation: Cê9 Cmin9 / Jazz notation: C-9

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book
 Jazz chords (Page 3/3)
Cmaj7 / Jazz notation: Cê / Cê7 Cmin11 / Jazz notation: C-11

C9 C13

Cdim7 / Jazz notation: C 7 Cm7b5 / Jazz notation: Cø

Fmaj7 / Jazz notation: Fê / Fê7 Fmin7 / Jazz notation: F-7

F7 Fdim7 / Jazz notation: F°7

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The Complete Guitar Chords Cheat-Book