When first learning how to read chord charts, don’t let the numbers intimidate you. They simply indicate which finger should fret each note.
The charts represent your guitar’s strings, with thickest string at the bottom and thinnest string at the top. Chords with an “X” denote which ones should not be played.
Major Triads
A triad is a chord formed from three alternate notes from any scale. The first note, known as the root, followed by major third and perfect fifth (C-E-G in this instance) makes up this chord.
Triads built on scale can either be major or minor. Triads created from do, re and sol are major, indicated by capital letters at their roots. Triads created from m and ti are minor; lowercase letters indicate their status.
Identification of chords begins by first determining their root note and then the intervals between their notes, which ultimately define whether or not they sound happy, sad, bright or melancholic – which explains why different triads can sound so dissimilar when made up of similar notes! Doublings and open spacings may alter how we identify it but do not alter its chord symbol.
Minor Triads
Simply stated, major chords consist of three notes while minor chords only require two notes to make music. Their main difference lies in sound: major chords are typically brighter and happier sounding while minor chords tend to produce darker and melancholic tones.
Named for their root note, both major and minor chords follow a common naming convention of being identified with either a letter m or n, respectively. A Dm chord, for instance, would fall under this category because its third note has been reduced.
Some chords may also be given an additional letter to distinguish them further, such as an Am7 chord. This is because adding a seventh makes for a much richer sound in its chord progressions chart. There are also diminished, augmented and ninth chords which can be added onto major chords to create different tones – these all can be found within its structure.
Major 7ths
There are two basic ways to construct a major seventh chord: stacking major thirds atop each other is an effective approach and gives major sevenths their distinctive jazzy sound.
The second way of creating major 7th chords is to add a major seventh note one half step down from its octave of scales; this gives major 7th chords their distinctively romantic sound.
These chords are known as extended chords and often written as major seventh or minor seventh chords.
To play a major seventh chord, start with its root on the low E string and strum all three strings at once; use this chart as a reference to see fingerings for all four different voicings of this chord; these chords can move freely up and down fretboard so feel free to experiment with different voicings! These are an excellent place to explore improvisation!
Minor 7ths
Learn the minor 7th chord type next, as it will add texture and emotion to your songs. It is commonly known as the minor seven flat five or half-diminished chord and its formula is 1b3-5b7.
This chord features an unexpected characteristic; its major third and fifth have been flattened slightly to give a more melancholic sound than standard minor seventh chords.
Below you’ll find an assortment of minor seventh chord shapes in both open and barre forms, with green numbers denoting frets and red X’s denoting which string(s) to mute (strum). To move these chords up the fretboard simply lower each note by one semitone – this will result in drop 2 minor seventh chord voicings.