Chords to Know

Any kid learning guitar has probably picked up a chord book, sheet, pamphlet, poster, whatever, and thought "holy shit! how am I ever going to get all that under my belt?!"...and for good reason. There are a bajillion chords that are playable on the guitar. Even the most accomplished jazz guitarist usually doesn't have them all under his or her belt. So what chords do you really need to know to get started? Here they are. If you don't really know much about chords, you probably want to read up on the "building chords" theory lesson before starting this. The chords are all in diagram form below:

Part I - Learn These, Then Start a Band

On second thought, please don't. Probably the reason that there are so many spectacularly bad bands out there is because that is exactly what they do. "This is G? Cool. D? Awesome? A? Sweet! And C? Ok, now I have the chords to write every song I will every put out!" Ugh. Bad policy really. These however are the basis for many of the other chord "shapes" that appear around the fretboard. No matter how opposed to memorization, practice, etc, if you can't muster up the will to learn these basic chords, you're through as a guitar player. So get to work!

These basic chords are all played within the first couple of frets. It might make sense now that most folk, country, and early rock songs, those that are entirely chord-based, use pretty much only these chords, or slight variations on them. The reason that these chords come as a unit has to do with the fact that they can all be played without shifting. This allows you to switch between them very quickly and easily once you become acustomed to the chords. Among these chords, learn the major chords first:

 Major chords
  E     F       G      A       B    C      D
|-0-----1-----|-3--3--(0)----|------0----|-2----|
|-0-----1-----|-0--3---2-----|-4----1----|-3----|
|-1-----2-----|-0--0---2-----|-4----0----|-2----|
|-2-----3-----|-0--0---2-----|-4----2----|-0----|
|-2----(3)----|-2--2---0-----|-2----3----|------|
|-0----(1)----|-3--3---------|-----------|------|

You may already know some (if not all) of these. Either way, set to learning these as quickly as possible. A few quick notes before you get to work:: a) there are two different commonly used G major chords, and both are there, b) notes in parenthesis are often omitted in play, c) as far as fingerings go, some may be awkward, but for the most part, if it doesn't make sense, you're probably playing it wrong. Try switching up your fingers until it makes more sense.

The next batch that you wil want to learn are the minor chords in the same area. Here ya go:

 Minor chords
  Em   Fm       Gm   Am     Bm   Cm      Dm
|-0-----1-----|-3----0----|-2-------3--|-1----|
|-0-----1-----|-3----1----|-3----1--4--|-3----|
|-0-----1-----|-3----2----|-4----0--5--|-2----|
|-2-----3-----|-0----2----|-4----1--5--|-0----|
|-2----(3)----|------0----|-2----3--3--|------|
|-0----(1)----|-3---------|------------|------|

As far as learning these is concerned, change is what you need. Don't get your fingers in place and then hold them there while you confidently strum the chord for twenty minutes. Not only does this do you no good whatsoever, but it will also make everybody within ear shot think you are an annoying and talentless douchebag. Try to get your fingers accurately into the right position as quickly as possible, strum the chord to make sure you're playing it right and properly depressing the strings (no buzzing, etc.), and then let it go entirely. Move your hand away and then try to get the chord quickly again, repeating the process. Once you start getting each chord on most of your attempts, start switching it up. Practice going quickly between chords. Go between G, C, and D, from D to F, E to Am, etc. You'll know you've "arrived" when you can play a different chord per beat cleanly at about 120 bpm (beats per minute). Emphasis on clean. No speed is worth anything if it doesn't sound crisp and clean.

So get these under your belt and you will be well on your way.

Part II - Dominant and Minor Sevenths

Majors and minors have no flavor. For the real deal, you gotta throw in some spice, some unusualitiness...that's not a word, but you know what I mean. Sevenths are one of the first ways people learn to do this. Only dominant and minor sevenths will be discussed here as they are the most common in music that you'd be using the above major/minor chords to play.

If you don't understand what a seventh chord is, read the lesson on chords. I can't go into that here. Below are some of the more common ways to play some basic seventh chords. As you can probably tell, there is not a seventh chord for every chord listed above. This is because there are not always unique shapes for the most common form of a given chord. For instance, if you want to play a G dominant seven, the best way to do it (instead of the chord listed below) would just be to play the F7 barre (if this word is scary just hold out to Part III) shape in some form. Below are your dominant and minor seventh chords:

 Dominant Sevenths
  E7    F7      G7   A7      B7    C7     D7
|-0-----1-----|-1----0--3--|-2-----0----|-2----|
|-0-----1-----|-0----2--2--|-0-----1----|-1----|
|-1-----2-----|-0----0--2--|-2-----3----|-2----|
|-0-----1-----|------2--2--|-1-----2----|-0----|
|-2----(3)----|-2----0--0--|-2-----3----|------|
|-0----(1)----|-3----------|------------|------|


 Minor Sevenths
  Em7  Fm7    Am7  Bm7    Dm7
|-0----1----|-0----2----|-1----|
|-0----1----|-1----0----|-1----|
|-0----1----|-0----2----|-2----|
|-0----1----|-2----0----|-0----|
|-2----3----|-0----2----|------|
|-0----1----|-----------|------|

Part III - Barre Chords and Shifting Shapes

Coming Soon!