Guitar/Chords

From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection

A chord is a combination of notes played simultaneously. The name of a chord is determined by its root note, and the relationship between the root note and the chord's other notes. A root note is usually the lowest note in a chord, but this is not always the case. Chords may be strummed or picked through. Beginners will find strumming much easier, and picking is examined in more depth in the Picking and Plucking chapter. Traditionally, a chord is defined as three notes played together. Because of this, double-stops and power chords are not kinds of chords, but kinds of intervals.

While chords are primarily used for rhythm guitar, basic chord knowledge is important for lead playing as well. The lead parts of many songs often require the use of chords, and in certain styles of playing, chords can make up the lead part entirely. Additionally, many lead patterns revolve around arpeggios, which are chords with their notes played in sequence, rather than together. For more information on arpeggios, see the Arpeggio and Sweep Picking chapter.

Chords are easy to play, but to understand why they sound how they do and why certain chords work better together than others, it is important to understand scales. While it is not necessary to have prior knowledge of scales to find this section useful, prior understanding of scales will definitely improve one's understanding of chords. It is recommended that before reading this section, one should familiarise themselves with general music theory first.

Different Kinds of Chords

Major Chords use the first, third and fifth note of the major scale. They are bright and happy sounding chords.

Minor Chords use the first, third and fifth note of the minor scale. They sound dark and melancholy.

Seventh Chords adds a seventh note (seven notes from the root on a major or minor scale) to the given chord. They sound slightly dissonant, and directs the focus of the progression to what follows it.

Sixth Chords adds a sixth to the chord. It does not sound dissonant like a seventh chord, because the sixth note is a major third below the root of the octave.

Suspended Chords removes the third from the chord, replacing the note with a second or a fourth. The guitar part in John Lennon's "Happy Christmas" uses suspended chords.

Barre Chords are chords you make while pressing all the strings down with your index finger. Barring is an important technique and greatly opens up the depth of the instrument.