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on/guitars/50-guitar-chordshapes-you-need-to-know393949/250 guitar chord shapes
you need to know
Go beyond the basics
Jon Bishop (Guitar Techniques)March 8, 2011, 12:12 GMT
In this tutorial we're concentrating solely on chords and chordal ideas, and the following
pages will act as a compendium of great chord fingerings. The audio examples start with
simple chords like triads and power chords and then build in complexity as we move on
to extended, altered and slash chords.
We sometimes refer to various chords as 'voicings'. This is just a fancy name for how many
notes there are in a chord and the order in which these notes are placed. For example, an A
major chord contains the notes A, C# and E. A guitarist can choose how to play (voice) this
chord on the fretboard; notes can be repeated and placed in different orders to create new
sounds.
Many of the examples in this feature sound good because of the voicings we have chosen so it's
well worth learning them and including them in your playing. For each chord type we have
referenced iconic tunes and bands that have used the chord in question and this will help to put
its use and sound in context.
Quick links:
1. Intro
2. Two note chords
3. Triads
4. sus chords
5. Triads with extensions (Add chords)
6. 7th chords
7. 9th chords
8. 11th chords
9. 13th chords
10. 6/9 chords
11. Altered dominant chords
12. Slash chords
13. Other chords
Chord types
We have divided the chord types into the following types: triads, sus chords, add chords, 7th
chords, extended chords, 9th, 11th, 13th, altered dominants and slash chords. Each chord
example has a brief explanation of its intervallic construction so you can memorise the structure
and experiment with your own voicings.
Many of the examples in this feature are created by harmonising the major scale in diatonic
thirds. Take for instance the C major scale (C D E F G A B); if we stack thirds from C major we
get C, E and G, which creates a C major triad. If we continue this process we add B (major 7th),
D (9th) and so on, right up to A (13th). If we start on D then a D minor chord is created (D F A)
and so on.
For slash chord notation, remember that the first letter is the triad and the second letter is the
bass note. Therefore the A/B chord would be an A major triad (A C# E) with a B bass note. The
other area the article touches on is the altered dominant chord. This has a standard root, major
3rd and minor 7th intervallic construction.
In addition to these three standard dom7 chord tones, we can add altered 9th and 5th degree
scale tones, namely the b9, #9, b5 and #5.
Next: triads
Quick links:
1. Intro
2. Two note chords
3. Triads
4. sus chords
Triads
Listen: examples 1-5
EXAMPLE 2: Eric Johnson style major and minor triads
The major and minor triads are three-note chords, as the 'tri' in the name suggests. You can
however create plenty of colour with these simple chords if you finger them in an imaginative
way. To create an Eric Johnson style open voicing, simply finger the 3rd of the chord up the
octave. Now instead of the third being in the middle of the voicing, it is on the top of the chord
and it is now heard as the 'melody' note.
EXAMPLE 4: Diminished 7
The dim7 has a spooky quality that is useful to create tension - think of The Specials' Ghost
Town. Due to the dim7 being built of minor 3rd intervals exclusively, you can take any fingering
and move it around in three-fret intervals.
1. Intro
2. Two note chords
3. Triads
4. sus chords
5. Triads with extensions (Add chords)
6. 7th chords
7. 9th chords
8. 11th chords
9. 13th chords
10. 6/9 chords
11. Altered dominant chords
12. Slash chords
13. Other chords
sus chords
Listen: examples 1-5
EXAMPLE 5: Tom Morello-style D sus 2
If we take out the 3rd of a major or minor triad and replace it with a major 2nd or perfect 4th it
becomes a suspended chord (sus for short). The D sus 2 chord sounds great with distortion and
if we drop the 6th string down a tone to D then a huge-sounding six-string Dsus2 voicing can be
played. This example is in the style of bands like King's X (with guitarist Ty Tabor) and Rage
Against The Machine (featuring guitarist Tom Morello).
9. 13th chords
10. 6/9 chords
11. Altered dominant chords
12. Slash chords
13. Other chords
If we take the major triad and add the major 7th then we create the major 7th chord. This
example uses the same fingering as featured in the RHCP's classic Under The Bridge. You can
use your thumb for the bass notes like John Frusciante does.
6. 7th chords
7. 9th chords
8. 11th chords
9. 13th chords
10. 6/9 chords
11. Altered dominant chords
12. Slash chords
13. Other chords
9th chords
Listen: examples 16-20
EXAMPLE 17: minor/major 9 - The James Bond chord!
If you add a major 9 to the m/maj 7 it is possible to emulate the chord at the end of a certain
popular British spy film theme. The open strings in this voicing give it yet more flavour, shaken
but not stirred.
Slash chords
Listen: examples 36-40
EXAMPLE 40: D/F#, first inversion blues ending
When the bass note of a slash chord is in the triad then the chord is an inversion. This stock
blues ending uses the D first inversion chord to create a smooth bass note run. You can
experiment with all manner of slash chords by simply changing the bass note of any chord in
your repertoire.
This is the Lydian chord that Nuno uses for the intro in Extreme's Whole Hearted. You can move
this chord around over the open D to find different tonalities with the minimum of effort.
Wishbone Ash loved this idea too.