Once you’ve mastered basic guitar chords, the next step should be adding melody and lyrics.
Most rock and pop songs use only three to four chords; for simplicity’s sake we will adhere to this approach.
Basic Chords
Chords are groups of three or more notes that sound good when strung together, making a chord an essential component to learning guitar as it provides songs with structure and helps them remain cohesive as their rhythm changes. A chord may also support melodies or lead notes.
Basic chords consist of three notes, including the root note, third and fifth. C, E and G together form a major chord. To master chords effectively it’s essential that you find an appropriate song in which they can be played before practicing them regularly but without becoming so tedious that playing becomes boring or loses its pleasure for you.
Once you have mastered the main five basic chords, move on to other types such as minor and dominant seventh. When ready, experiment with diminished and augmented triads; these variants contain different notes which alter their sound slightly.
Major Chords
Major chords are a step above open chords and represent more positive and joyful sounding chords that convey emotion through music. Their presence can often be indicated with a “Major” written above a chord diagram.
When playing these, make sure your thumb is in its proper spot – typically near the middle of the back of the guitar neck with its point up. Check each string to ensure they don’t buzz or produce dead/muted notes as you strum the chord; with practice this shouldn’t become necessary after some time!
Learn the different major chord types and how they’re constructed so you can explain to others why someone plays them in a certain manner. Over time, this should come naturally as you gain more experience with music theory; an excellent way of doing this is through our series of guitar music theory guides.
Minor Chords
Once you have an understanding of major chords, it’s time to add minor guitar chords into your repertoire. Minor chords provide an effective way of creating tension by switching the mood of a song from happy to sad or vice versa – an essential skill when performing music!
Minor chords can be identified with lowercase’m’s such as Dm or Mi, and tend to sound more melancholy than major counterparts. You should also learn some minor seventh and dominant seventh chords shortened simply as “7s,” such as D7 or B7.
These chords are essential in making music. When playing these chords, ensure you play each string and note individually so you don’t miss any notes or muffle any sounds. Also try keeping your fingers close together and arched like the letter C so they won’t hit strings or frets unknowingly.
Alternate Chords
Chords are one of the easiest and most straightforward methods of playing guitar songs. Since most chords share similar shapes and locations on the fretboard, learning them should be straightforward. Plus, chords add tons of texture to any tune!
Guitarists who wish to change the sound of a song through chord changes often turn to shifting position changes as one means of doing this. Chords not being played in root position (where all three notes form a triad) may also be written with an additional “//”.
Some chords such as a B chord may require additional finger strength for you to master them, but don’t let this deter you from learning them; the effort will certainly pay off! Many musicians create beautiful music using these “alternate” chords which often sound just as great if not better than standard chords.