E-book
Magic Chords - Learn to play the guitar in 50 days
Guitar Book: detailed description
If you are going to read this whole article about the guitar chords, you will understand how they work and the learning process will be a lot easier.
For the correct use of
the Easy Guitar Tabs blog you have to learn the guitar chords played in the
tabs presented on the site. In each guitar tab we show you how to play the
guitar chords, using image illustrations. On this page we are going to explain
in more detail, so you will receive all of the important information you should
know about chords. In the first we shortly determine what are the guitar
chords, then in the second part we introduce to you the most often played chords
one by one. You can study them using our guitar chords chart. We also explain
how to transpose the guitar chords. After that you will be able to change the
musical key of the songs. On the Easy Guitar Tabs not all the songs are
presented in the original key, so if you want to play the songs in the original
key, you have to change the guitar chords.
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| Guitar Chords |
So stay with the Easy
Guitar Tabs, we encourage you to play your guitar, practice the guitar chords
and develop your playing skills! We try to help you, so if you have any
questions, or suggestions please let us know, write a comment below!
Guitar Chords – short description
Let’s talk about guitar chords
first, what is a chord and how to learn to play them. In this short tutorial
you will get answers to those questions.
I think that the three basic elements of music are melody,
harmony, and rhythm. Playing a chord instantly assures that this harmony
exists.
A chord could be defined as three or more notes played at
the same time. Its function is to provide the harmony that supports the melody
of a song. A chord gets its name from its root note. For example the root note
of a G major chord is G. The remaining notes in the chord determine the guitar
chords’ type. There are two main categories of guitar chords: major chords and
minor chords. Major
guitar chords have a sound that you might call a happy sound as compared with a
minor chord which has what you might call a sad sound. Some of the easiest
chords to play are called open chords, they're called that because they use
some open strings.
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| Guitar Chords: Shapes |
It is very important to
learn and practice the guitar chords, if you want to play these great songs
presented on the Easy Guitar Tabs. There
are a few ways to memorize the guitar chords, you just have to find out how to
form the chord, how to hold your hand and your fingers on the fretboard and of
course practice a lot. We are giving you a couple of advices. All you need is a guitar
chords chart showing how to form them, and a song that shows you when to play
those chords. For each finger is allocated a position, a note, and should not
touch any other strings. If it sounds weird or distorted then you are either
touching a neighboring string or not pressing down hard enough. The sound of
all of the strings should be perfectly clean. Make sure your fingers are placed
straight up and down on the neck, having your thumb in the middle of the back
of the neck. It should not be peering over the top. You should push the strings
with the top of your fingers, this is very important! Once you have clean
sounding notes, find a song that you know here on the Easy Guitar Tabs (you can
choose one from the menu on the left), and practice changing the guitar chords
as you sing the words. Do not worry about strumming patterns right now, that
comes a lot later with practice, just learn to change, and getting a clean
chord sound.
If your fingers hurt at
the start, then consider changing to nylon strings for the first two-three
months until the skin on your fingertips harden up! We always say that if you
are a beginner player, start with a classical guitar, with nylon strings. Those
strings are more lighter, so it won’t hurt so much. You should always play the guitar chords in the most comfortable
way. Since everyone’s hands are different, and everyone’s experience differs,
feel free to either use or ignore the suggested fingerings. Even the experts
can’t always agree.
The easiest way to learn the guitar chords as fast as possible
is to use our guitar chords chart. This chart is actually an image
illustration, which shows you how to form the chords, and everything else you
should know. So we made a short description on how to use it.
The
following symbols are used in the guitar chords diagrams:
The acoustic (and electric) guitar has six strings. The
first string (the thinnest) makes a high E note. That’s why we also call it an
E string. The second string is B note, the third is a G, the fourth is a D, the
fifth is an A and the sixth (the thickest) is
the low E note. On the diagrams they are counted from right to the left. The
number to the left of some of the diagrams indicates the fret at which the
chord is to begin. The numbers which appear in the small black circles inside
of the diagrams make reference to the left hand fingering: 1 - index finger, 2
- middle finger, 3 - ring finger, 4 – pink. Small circles above the fretboard
indicate that the string should be played open. The x means that the string should
be muted (you don’t play that string).
For exemple here is the E minor guitar chord:
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| Guitar Chords : E minor diagram |
In the case of the E minor you have to push down the fourth
string on the second fret with your third (ring) finger and the fifth string
with your second (middle) finger also on the second fret. The first, second,
third and sixth strings are open strings, you strum them without touching them.
Guitar Chords Chart
And now it’s time for
introducing to you the guitar chords, one after the other. There are thousands
of guitar chords, we are showing you the most often used chords, we’re not
showing you all of them. First is the C chord.
Guitar Chords: C
Guitar chords: C major and C minor
How to form the C major guitar chords? Read carefully the following lines! Place your first finger on the 1st fret of the 2nd string. You should know that this is the B string. (It is called B string, because if you pick it than it makes a B note). The B string pressed down on the second fret gives you a C note. Press down hard enough so that the note rings out! Don’t touch the neighboring strings! Now, keeping your first finger in place on C, put your second finger on the 2nd fret of the 4th string (that is an E note). The third string is an open string so don’t touch it, don’t mute it (G note)! While keeping your first and second fingers down and not touching the open 3rd string, try to place your third finger on the 3rd fret of the 5th string (C note). Strum down, it should be 100 % clean! That is a C major guitar chord.
The C
minor chord is difficult if you are a beginner, it is a bar chord. That means
that one finger is used to press down multiple strings. In the
case of the C minor you have to press down all of the strings with your first
finger on the third fret (the sixth string should be muted). Your second finger
goes to the second string on the fourth fret, your third finger goes to the
fourth string on the fifth fret and your pinky goes to the third string also on
the fifth fret. Those are the C minor guitar chords. You need to practice this chord
a lot to get a clean sound of it!
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| Guitar chords : C major and C minor |
Guitar chords: C7 and Cm7
Guitar chords: C7 and Cm7
C7: First finger –
second string on the first fret; Second finger – fourth string on the second
fret; Third finger – fifth string on the third fret; Fourth finger – third string
on the third fret.
Cm7: You form the usual
C minor guitar chord, but you don’t press down the third string on the fifth
fret with your pinky. And that is all, practice a lot these guitar chords!
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| Guitar chords : C7 and Cm7 |
Guitar chords: Cmaj7, Cadd9, Caug and C5
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| Guitar chords : Cmaj7 Cadd9 Caug and C5 |
Guitar
Chords: D
Guitar
chords: D major and D minor
The next one among the
guitar chords is an important chord: the D major. Making this chord can be
difficult for some people at first. It is important to curve your fingers over
and press the strings with the tips of them. D major in the open position is played on the upper four strings
(first, second, third and fourth / E, B, G and D strings). Don’t strum the
lower strings (fifth and sixth / A and E strings), or try to mute them with
your thumb! The D string
(fourth) will be played open (D note). Place
your index finger on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string (the note A). After that
place your ring finger on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string (the note D). And for
the last part place your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the 1st string (the
note F# - F sharp: half step higher than F note). Now strum it down softly,
make sure that each of the strings are making a clear sound. Practice the D
guitar chords, and you’ll see, you’re gonna get better and better!
Now let see the D minor
guitar chords. Dm is formed by pressing your first finger (index finger) at the
first fret on the first string (F note). Your second finger goes on the third
string at the second fret (A note). Your ring finger gets pressed on the second
string at the third fret (D note). The fourth, D string is played open, the
fifth and sixth strings (A and E) are muted.
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| Guitar chords : D major and D minor |
Guitar chords: D7 major and D minor 7
D7: First finger – third
string on the first fret; Second finger – second string on the second fret;
Third finger – first string on the first fret; Fourth string – played openly,
Fifth and sixth strings are muted.
Dm7: Try to press down
both of the first and second strings at the first fret with your index (first)
finger, and press the third string on the second fret with your middle (second)
finger. Go and practice these guitar chords!
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| Guitar chords : D7 major and D minor 7 |
Guitar
chords: Dmaj7 Dsus2 Daug and D5
Guitar chords : Dmaj7 Dsus2 Daug and D5
Guitar
Chords: E
Guitar
chords: E major and E minor
We are continuing to
introduce the guitar chords, the next one is the E major chord. The E major
guitar chord is a powerful chord that sounds great and is used in thousands of
popular songs. Try to memorize the shape of the chord and make sure you
practice it a lot. First put your index finger on the 3rd
string, at the 1st fret. Then place the middle finger on the 5th
string, 2nd fret. The ring finger goes on the 4th string,
2nd fret. The other strings (1,2, and 6) are also used in the E
major guitar chord, but are not fretted. When you strum these guitar chords, all of the
strings should ring out 100 percent clearly. If any string sounds dull or
muffled, then you are accidentally touching strings. Try to avoid that and make
sure that all the strings are pressed firmly against their frets. These
are simple guitar chords, the finger placement might seem a little strange but
as you learn more guitar chords, you’ll
get used to it.
Forming the E minor guitar chords is one of the easiest: it’s similar to
the E major, except that you don’t press the third (G) string at the first
fret. The third string sounds openly, like the first, second and sixth strings.
So your middle finger goes to the 5th
string, 2nd fret; your ring finger goes to the 4th
string, also 2nd fret. And these are the E major and E minor guitar
chords.
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| Guitar Chords : E major E minor |
Guitar chords: E7 major and E minor 7
E7: First finger – Third
string on the first fret; Second finger –
Fifth string on the second fret; The first, second, fourth and sixth
strings – played open.
Em7: This is the simplest
guitar chord we know. All you have to do is press the fifth string on the
second fret with your middle finger. The other strings are played open.
Practice the changing between the learned guitar chords!
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| Guitar chords : E7 major and E minor 7 |
Guitar chords: Emaj7 Esus4 Eaug and E5
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| Guitar chords: Emaj7, Esus4, Eaug and E5 |
Guitar
Chords: G
Guitar Chords: G major and G minor
It’s really important to
learn the guitar chords, memorize the shape of them, and try to make changes
between them. The next chord that you have to learn is the G major guitar
chord. The G major guitar chords are often used in all kinds of music, and it
is not hard to learn it. So how to form the G major guitar chords? Place your middle finger
on the 5th string, 2nd fret, then your ring finger on the 6th
string, 3rd fret, your pinky finger on the 1st string, 3rd
fret. Strings 2, 3 and 4 are also used in the G major guitar chords, but they
are not fretted. To make the G major guitar chords sound
good requires that the player properly curl his fingers on their fretting hand.
Should have a clean strong sound without unwanted strange noises. Practice the
G major guitar chords, and again make sure that all of the strings are making a
clear sound! Try to keep your fingers tunnelled and play
on your tips. Keep the thumb low at the back of the neck and don't squeeze too
hard.
The G minor guitar chord
is a barre chord, so it needs time to form it and use it right. About the barre
guitar chords you can read more below. To form the G minor chord use your index
finger to press each string on the 3rd fret. Your 3rd
finger goes to the 5th string on the 5th fret, your 4th
finger goes to the 4th string on the 5th fret. Watch the
pictures below carefully and try to play it!
Guitar Chords: G7 major and G minor 7
G7: First finger – First
string on the first fret; Second finger –
Fifth string on the second fret; Third finger – Sixth string on the
third fret. Strings 2,3 and 4 – played open.
Gm7: Press each string on the
3rd fret with your first (index) finger, then press the fifth string on the fifth fret with your middle finger. It is not easy
to get those guitar chords, so you have to practice a lot.
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| Guitar Chords : G7 and G minor 7 |
Guitar Chords: Gmaj7
Gsus2 Gadd9 and G5
Guitar Chords : Gmaj7 Gsus2 Gadd9 G5
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| Guitar Chords : Gmaj7 Gsus2 Gadd9 G5 |
Guitar
Chords: A
Guitar Chords: A major
and A minor
Let’s learn more guitar
chords, next one is the A major guitar chord. The A major guitar chords are
used so frequently in guitar music, it is necessary for you to learn how to
play it. It is a basic and essential skill for you. To play the chord clearly,
you need to squeeze together your index, middle and ring fingers on the second
fret of the guitar. Now let see how to form the chord. Place your first finger on the 4th string, 2nd fret, your second
finger on the 3rd string, 2nd
fret and your third finger on the 2nd string on the 2nd fret.
You can use your second, third and fourth finger too, probably they fit
there better. Strings 1 and 5 are also used in this guitar chord, but are played
open. String 6 is not used in this chord, you don’t strum it, or you have to
mute it with your thumb.
Forming the A minor guitar chords: Press the 2nd
string with your index finger on the first fret, the 4th string with
your middle finger on the second fret and the 3rd string with your
ring finger also on the second fret. These two guitar chords are easy to learn,
practice them and try to make changes among the learned guitar chords!
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| Guitar Chords : A major and A minor |
Guitar Chords: A7 major and A minor 7
A7: First finger – 4th
string on the second fret; Second or third finger – 2nd string on the second fret;
Strings 1,3 and 5 – played open, sixth string muted.
Am7: First finger – 2nd
string on the first fret; Second finger –
4th string on the second fret; Strings 1,3 and 5 – played
open, sixth string muted.
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| Guitar Chords : A7 and A minor 7 |
Guitar
Chords: Amaj7 Asus2 Asus4 and A5
Guitar Chords : Amaj7 Asus2 Asus4 and A5
Guitar Chords: Barre chords
Let’s
talk about every beginner guitar player’s nightmare: the barre guitar chords.
They are also known as bar chords. Everybody
needs to learn them, you can’t avoid them forever! You need a lot of practice,
your hand and your fingers need to be strengthened. Without a strong hand you won’t be able to
press the barre guitar chords hard enough to get a clear sound. But trust me,
it is not that difficult, you have to be patient, never give up and work on it
a lot! We try to give you a helpful hand to make your practice easier.
First of all what are the barre guitar chords? The guitar
chords that you've learned so far, are called open chords since there are usually a couple of strings
open when you play these. Barre chords are guitar chords that
involve using one finger, usually your first finger, to press all the strings
down at once on a single fret. When you’re playing bar guitar chords you basically keep your hand in the same
position and simply move it up and down on the fretboard. During your
learning period you
have to position the first finger correctly on the fretboard before using your
other fingers. At the beginning practice it slowly: first your index finger,
then your other fingers. As you gain more experience, you'll find that the
fingers pretty much all fall into place at once. You will not immediately
succeed, at the beginning you gonna hear a weird sound, you need time to
develop, you must have patience, and as I said before your hand has to develop
muscles. That’s gonna take some time.
Guitar
Chords: F major and F minor
So our first one to show among the bar guitar chords is the
F major. Forming the chord: Press each string on the first fret of the neck
with your index finger. Pick the strings one by one, make sure they make a
clear sound. Push them hard! Press the 3rd string on the second fret
with your middle finger, the 5th string on the third fret with your
ring finger and the 4th string on the third fret with your pinky
finger! The bar guitar chords are often used, especially the F major guitar
chords, so don’t skip that in the learning process. The F minor guitar chords
are almost the same like the F major, only that you should not fret the 3rd
string with your middle finger. The index stays on the first fret, ring finger
on the 5th string, third fret, pinky on the 4th string,
third fret.
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| Guitar Chords : F major and F minor |
Guitar Chords: B major and B minor
The B major also takes part from the bar guitar chords, but
it differs a little bit from the F major guitar chords. First put your index
finger on each string at the second fret and press them hard against the
fretboard! Then form the last part of the guitar chord: middle finger on the 4th
, ring finger on the 3rd , pinky on the 2nd string all of
them at the fourth fret. Make sure it’s a clear sound. Forming the B minor
guitar chords: index finger pushes each string against the board at the second
fret, middle finger goes to the 2nd string on the 3rd
fret, ring finger to the 4th string on the 4th fret and the
pinky on the 3rd string on the 4th fret. As you notice
these two guitar chords are just like the same as A major and A minor guitar
chords, only that they are two steps higher on the fretboard. How does this
work? You will find that out, as you get to know the other bar guitar chords.
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| Guitar Chords : B major and B minor |
Guitar Chords: F#, G (bar), G#, A (bar), A# major chords
Well, you already know that there are open- and bar guitar
chords. The open chords you learned can be played bar guitar chords as well.
Now we are going to show you how. First you need to understand one important
thing. In every major scale there is an order in which the notes are following
each other. For example in the C major scale: C, C# / Db, D, D# / Eb, E, F... .
In G: G, G# / Ab, A, A# / Bb, B, C, etc. As you see there are sharp (#) and flat (b)
symbols too. Sharp means higher in pitch by a semitone or half step, flat means, lower in pitch by a
semitone or half step. I’m gonna show that order in the picture below:
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| Guitar Chords : The notes |
On the guitar each fret
is a half step. So we can say that those black lines are the frets on the
guitar’s neck. Let’s take the sixth string on your guitar which is called an E
string, because it makes an E note. If you press the E string on the first
fret, then you get an F note. Watch the picture above: the E note is followed by
the F note. If you go a half step higher (second fret), you get a F# (F sharp)
note. On the third fret: G note, forth fret G#, etc. On the fifth string, which
is an A note: Picked open – A note, pressed on the first fret: A#, second fret:
B, third: C. That works for the other strings too, try it! This order is valid
for the guitar chords as well. So if you have an F major chord, and you go a
half step higher, you get an F# major chord. You form that chord just like you
formed the F major, only that you form it on the second fret (index finger on
the second fret). Your hand and your fingers are in the same shape. G bar chord
also the same shape on the third fret, G# on the fourth fret, A bar on the fifth,
A# on the sixth fret. The minor guitar chords are similar to the F minor, you
just have to raise up your middle finger from the third string. The index
finger stays on the six strings, ring finger and the pinky on the fourth and
fifth strings. You can see those guitar chords below:
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| Guitar Chords : F# major F# minor |
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| Guitar Chords : G major bar G minor bar chords |
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| Guitar Chords : G# major G# minor |
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| Guitar Chords : A major bar A minor bar chords |
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| Guitar Chords : A# major A# minor |
Guitar Chords: Bb, B, C (bar), C#, D (bar) and D# chords
First let see the Bb guitar chords. Just look at the picture
with the notes order! The Bb guitar chord comes after the A chord. So you have
to go up with a half step on the guitar. How? Press strings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
with your index finger on the first
fret! Place the middle finger on the third fret of the fourth string, position
the ring finger on the third fret of the third string, and the pinky finger on
the third fret of the second string. Strum all five notes (strings) at the same
time to produce the Bb chord. Make sure that you do not hit the sixth string as
it is not a part of the Bb major guitar chord. As you see it looks like the A
major chord, only that it is a half step higher. If you go higher with a half
step on the fretboard, with the same shape of your hand, you get a B major
guitar chord. Another half step makes it a C major bar chord, and so on. Just
look at the picture with the notes’ order and you can figure it out how it
continues. How to form the minor guitar chords? Remember the A minor chord? Of
course you do. You just have to carry that shape higher on the fretboard to get
the Bbm Bm, Cm, C#m, Dm, D# minor guitar chords. In the case of the Bb minor
press strings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 with your
index finger on the first fret. Press the 2nd string with your
middle finger on the second fret, the 4th string with your ring
finger on the third fret and the 3rd string with your pinky finger
also on the third fret. B minor has the same shape, higher with on fret. C
minor, same with another fret higher, etc.
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| Guitar Chords : Bb major Bb minor |
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| Guitar Chords : B major B minor |
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| Guitar Chords : C major bar C minor bar chord |
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| Guitar Chords : C# major C# minor |
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| Guitar Chords : D major bar and D minor bar chords |
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| Guitar Chords : D# major D# minor |
You can practice these guitar chords with our great guitar tabs on the Easy Guitar Tabs blog. Click on it!
Guitar Chords: Transposing chords
To learn how to transpose the guitar chords is really
important and it’s going to help you a lot. Did it ever happened to you that
you were trying to sing a song, but the guitar chords were too high for you and
you didn’t make it. Well if a song is too high for your voice, then you have to
transpose those guitar chords a few steps down. How to do it? It isn’t very difficult to
do but you need to know a small bit of the theory behind it.
The term transpose
simply refers to changing the key of a song. You can transpose a song to either
a lower pitch or a higher pitch. To transpose means that all the guitar chords
shift, together, into a new pitch. The main reason musicians transpose a piece
of music is to accommodate the singer's range.
The easiest way to
transpose is to have a listing of the notes of all the major scales in front of
you. Let's say that you have a chord progression of D, G and A major guitar
chords in the key of D, and you want to transpose it (you want to change those
guitar chords in the song). Remember that picture about the notes (the one that
tells you the order of the notes)? Now we gonna need that, so here it is:
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| Guitar Chords - The notes |
So we have the chord
progression of D, G and A. You can transpose it to either a lower pitch or a
higher pitch. Let say you want to transpose it to the key of E from the key of
D. Now look at the picture above! The E is two steps away (two half steps
higher) from the D. So the D chord becomes an E major. This rule also applies to the rest of the guitar chords. That means you have
to go two steps higher for each of them. The G chord becomes an A, the A
becomes a B major guitar chord. If you want to go five steps (half steps) down
the D becomes an A, the G becomes a D, and the A becomes an E major chord. Just
look at the chart and count. Try to transpose that progression into other
keys! Practice that!
Let see an example: I’ve been working on the railroad. The guitar chords
are D, G, E and A major guitar chords:
D G D
I've been
working on the railroad all the livelong day.
D E A
D E A
I've been
working on the railroad just to pass the time away.
A D G D
A D G D
Can't you
hear the whistle blowing, rise up so early in the morn.
G D A D
G D A D
Can't you hear the captain
shoutin', Dinah, blow your horn.
Now we transpose the song five steps up. Look again the
chart above and count the guitar chords: First the D major: 1 step – D#; 2
steps – E; 3 steps – F; 4 steps – F# and 5 steps – G. So D becomes G. The G
major: 1: G#; 2 – A; 3 – A#; 4 – B; 4 – C. G becomes C. The E chord: 1 – F; 2 –
F#; 3 – G; 4 – G# and 5 – A. E becomes A. The A chord: 1 – A#; 2 – B; 3 – C; 4
– C# and 5 – D. A becomes a D major guitar chord.
So our song with the new guitar chords gonna look like that:
G C G
I've been
working on the railroad all the livelong day.
G A D
G A D
I've been
working on the railroad just to pass the time away.
D G C G
D G C G
Can't you
hear the whistle blowing, rise up so early in the morn.
C G D G
C G D G
Can't you hear the captain
shoutin', Dinah, blow your horn.
Here is another way to
transpose guitar chords. Just use the major scale and note chart below:
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| Guitar Chords : Scale and Note chart |
If you have a song in the key of A with a chord progression of A,
D and E major guitar chords, and if you want to change the key of A to the key
of C, then you just have to replace those chords with the chords in the same
column of the C major’s row. So A becomes a C, D becomes an F and the E becomes
a G major guitar chord.
That’s all folks, stay
with us, go and find your favorite guitar tabs on the Easy Guitar Tabs blog
and use your skills learned about the guitar chords and the transpositions of
them.
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