Genaaron Diamente

How many different types of guitar chords are there? Chances are, you already know how to play a bunch of different chords. You have probably learnt how to play them by associating different shapes and fingerings with different chord names. But you’ve probably also come across some chord symbols that look like hieroglyphs and have wondered from time to time, what do all these symbols and add-ons actually mean?

That’s what we’re going to try to break down in this lesson. In some ways, ‘figuring out’ chords is relatively easy. There are some obvious applications of numbers and labels that happen. The B Major 6 chord, for example, is made up of the B Major chord, as well as the 6th note of the Major scale. But some labels are not as obvious.

This lesson is not for the faint-hearted. We are going to cover a lot. But by the end of it, you should have the ability (or at least a one-page reference guide) to figure out any chord that you come across. Before we go into too much detail though, we need to go back to the basics and start from there.

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Jazz chords. Many guitarists abandon their chord learning journey before they have to cross that bridge. You can play Rock, Pop, Folk and pretty much everything you need, without having to learn weird jazz shapes. So why bother?

Firstly, the chords themselves are fun and interesting to explore, regardless of your intention to ever play jazz.

Secondly, they’re actually pretty easy to learn, if you can already play standard barre chords.

Thirdly, you only need to learn eight different chords in order to play most jazz songs. That’s right, if you simply learn these eight, relatively easy-to-play chord types, you can pretty much play any jazz song.

These eight chords are not an official list, but if you play enough jazz material, you will notice that there are certain chords that come up a lot more than others. In this lesson, we’re going to learn how to play these chords.

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Suspended chords are slightly altered versions of standard chords that sound colourful and interesting. In this lesson, we’re going to look at what suspended chords are, how they’re used, and how to play them.

This is the third lesson in the series of lessons on chords. In the first lesson, we looked at open chords, as well as a bit of theory relating to what chords are and how they are constructed. In the second lesson, we explored bar chords.

In this lesson we’re going to look at ‘suspended’ chords, or ‘Sus’ chords, for short.

‘Sus’ chords are (mostly) Major chords that have an extra note of the scale ‘suspended’ in the chord. There are two main types of Suspended chords:

• Sus 2
• Sus 4

We’re going to look at how to play these chords shortly. If you’re not interested in the theory that gets us there, simply scroll down and observe the chord diagrams. If you’re interested in knowing about the theory, read on.

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Bar chords are among the most useful things you can learn to play. Although they can be hard at first, once you’ve built up the necessary strength and technique required, you will have access to more chords than you know what to do with.

This lesson is technically the second lesson, in a series about chords. In the first lesson, we explored open chords, and looked at the basic building blocks of Major and minor chords. In this lesson, we’re going to explore bar chords – what they are, why they’re useful, and how to play them.

Before we jump right into the nuts and bolts of this lesson, it would be very useful to describe what we mean by the word ‘bar’, and go through a few technical examples.

Firstly, ‘bar chords’ are often referred to as ‘barre chords’. Actually, barre chords is probably a more technically correct name, but ‘bar’ is simpler, so I’m going to go with that.

‘Barring’ a fret simply means playing multiple notes simultaneously using one finger, in the same fret. To do this we flatten one finger (usually the 1st finger), so that it forms a ‘bar’. Have a look at the following image.

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Guitarists play chords. It is perhaps the most common role of guitarists, across genres, levels of experience, and styles. A beginner can start making meaningful music with just two chords, while a jazz nerd can explore chords in search for unique and interesting harmonies and sounds.

All of this is to say that chords form a very important part of every guitarist’s arsenal.

Before we go on, let me give you a bit of an introduction as to what this lesson is about. This lesson is actually the first lesson in a series of lessons. In this series of lessons, we’re going to explore chords, from the absolute basics of what chords are an`d how they’re used, to some quite advanced concepts, such as playing jazz chords and constructing your own voicings. Here is a list of the lessons in this series. Links will be updated as the lessons are posted:

• Basic chords (this lesson)
• Barre chords
• Suspended chords
• Essential jazz chords
• The complete guide to guitar chord names
• Drop 2 chords

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In this lesson we’re going to explore how you can take one chord and play it in many different unique ways.

In the previous lesson on triads and inversions, we learned how to form the major and minor triad and play inversions on the first three strings. Here’s a brief summary of that lesson.

The Major Triad

The Major triad is made up of the 1, 3 and 5 of the major scale. For example, the C Major triad contains the following notes:

C – E – G

The minor triad is made up of the 1, b3 and 5 of the major scale. For example, the C minor triad contains the following notes:

C – Eb – G

In the previous lesson, we constructed these basic triads and inversions using the first three strings of the guitar, like this:

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