Reading Chord Diagrams
Reading chord diagrams is an essential part of learning to play the guitar. Whether you are learning rock, blues, pop, country, or jazz it is crucial to understand the basics of reading chord diagrams. In actuality, it's actually quite simple.
There are three main parts of a chord diagram to understand:
1) The Chord Name
2) The fretboard
3) The fingers
Let's use the C chord and look at each aspect seperately.
There are three main parts of a chord diagram to understand:
1) The Chord Name
2) The fretboard
3) The fingers
Let's use the C chord and look at each aspect seperately.
C
THE CHORD NAME
This is the easy part. The letters at the top of each chord diagram tell you what the chord is. In this example, this is a C chord. Each chord has a main component that may or may not be followed by qualifiers. The main component is the root note of the chord. For example: C, G, F#, D, Bb. The qualifiers change certain parts of the chord. Some examples would be Cadd9, Dsus, G7.
*For now we will only deal with major chords. Minor chords will be covered in another lesson.
This is the easy part. The letters at the top of each chord diagram tell you what the chord is. In this example, this is a C chord. Each chord has a main component that may or may not be followed by qualifiers. The main component is the root note of the chord. For example: C, G, F#, D, Bb. The qualifiers change certain parts of the chord. Some examples would be Cadd9, Dsus, G7.
*For now we will only deal with major chords. Minor chords will be covered in another lesson.
C
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Now that we have learned the three parts of a chord diagram, let's put it all together.
The Chord Name is C. This is a "C chord".
First String: Open
Second String: First Finger, First Fret
Third String: Open
Fourth String: Second Finger, Second Fret
Fifth String: Third Finger, Third Fret
Sixth String: Don't Play
If you can understand this diagram you are ready to move on to the 5 Basic Chords.
Now that we have learned the three parts of a chord diagram, let's put it all together.
The Chord Name is C. This is a "C chord".
First String: Open
Second String: First Finger, First Fret
Third String: Open
Fourth String: Second Finger, Second Fret
Fifth String: Third Finger, Third Fret
Sixth String: Don't Play
If you can understand this diagram you are ready to move on to the 5 Basic Chords.