How to Read Guitar Chords
Every guitarist needs to know how to read guitar chords. Any three or more notes played together form a chord. There are many different types of chords. Most chords are triads, meaning they have three notes. Most commonly a chord will have a Root note, a Perfect Fifth, and one other note, usually a Third. Chords can have any interval as a set of notes. Chords can also have octaves.
Chords are very diverse. Chords can be used for any purpose in a song, as an ominous intro, as a heavy verse, as an anthemic chorus, or as a progressive bridge.
Without chords, there would be no songs. A series of chords put together in a song is called a chord progression. Chord progressions are in a sense, large complex melodies that use multiple chords in sequence.
A chord progression is the foundation of a song, from the most daring Rush song to the simplest three-chord Punk song, from the most popular Michael Jackson song to the rarest underground music. With just three chords, a chord progression can be played, thus making a song. There are in fact many songs that only use three chords such as the music of many Punk bands.
Chord Progressions: Exploring Variations and Techniques
Chord progressions come in a large range of all different shapes and sizes. A chord progression can have any number of chords. A chord progression usually begins with a Minor chord and ends with a Major chord, there might be a Suspended chord in the middle.
A chord progression can have any series of chords or have those chords in any order. A song also has any number of sections with any number of chord progressions. Without chord progressions, a song cannot be made.
There are many different ways to pick the notes of an individual chord. Once you know how to read guitar chords they can be picked by many different people in many different ways. A chord can be strummed, sweep-picked, and arpeggiated.
There are Major chords, Minor chords, Power chords, Major Diads, Minor Diads, Minor Dominant Seventh chords, Major Dominant Seventh chords, Minor Sixth chords, Major Sixth chords, 6/9 chords, 11th chords, 13th chords, Diminished chords add 9 chords, Augmented chords, Suspended 2nd chords, Suspended 4th chords.
Types of Guitar Chords
Major chords have a major third. Major chords are used in all genres but are especially used in Pop. The relationship between Pop Music and Major Chords is the core of the Pop Hook.
Minor chords have a minor third. Minor chords are very common in Rock and Heavy Metal. Minor chords are core to sad songs and the Heavy Metal Twin Guitar Melody.
Any Heavy Metal guitarist should know how to read guitar chords. Power chords only have a Root note and a Fifth. Power chords are often used heavily in Rock and Heavy Metal. Power Chords are the main part of the classic heavy Rock riff along with palm muting, alternate or down-picking, and hammer-ons and pull-offs. Perfect 5ths are the most commonly used intervals in music, especially in Heavy Metal music.
Suspended 2nd has a Major 2nd note and is often used as a transition between other chords. Suspended 4th chords have a Perfect 4th note. Suspended chords are often used for suspense and creating unique melodies.
The Heavy Metal and Hard Rock band Van Halen were famous for their use of Suspended chords especially in tracks such as “Panama”.
Advanced Chord Structures: Augmented, Add 9, Dominant Seventh, and More
An Augmented chord is a chord with a raised fifth. An Add 9 chord is a minor or major chord with an octave of the Major Second (A.K.A. a note a step higher than the root). A Dominant Seventh chord is a Major or Minor chord with a Dominant Seventh note added. Sixth chords are major or minor chords with a Sixth note added. Dominant Chords are very rich.
Augmented, Sixth, and Seventh chords are also used because they sound richer than normal chords. Major and Minor Diads are the same as Major and Minor chords except they do not have a perfect fifth.
A Diminished chord has a Minor Third and a note one half-step lower than the Perfect Fifth. The Diminished chord is often used in classically influenced Heavy Metal for its darkness. Diminished chords are unique for being the most dark of all chords. The Diminished Chord is often used in Power Metal solos and Black Metal songwriting. Similar to the Locrian Scale, Diminished chords are often rare in most other music.
The Basics of Jazz Chords
A Ninth chord has a Third, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth. An Augmented chord has two Major Thirds. An Eleventh chord is a chord with an octave of a Perfect Fifth. A Thirteenth Chord is played with an octave of a Major Seventh.
A 6/9 chord has both a Sixth and an octave of a Major Second. These last so-called “Jazz” chords are very common in other more progressive, experimental, or complex types of music. Jazz are some of the most unique and special chords.
There are many chord shapes, which only proves the importance of knowing how to read guitar chords, Chord shapes are the fingering of a chord on a certain set of frets.
Certain different chord shapes can still be the same chord in terms of notes, for example, an Open G Major Chord, a G Major Barre Chord with the root note on the E String, and a G Major Barre Chord with the root note on the A String are all the same chord just with a different chord shape.
Chord shapes can use the same notes while using different strings and frets. Different chord shapes can be used to show the multi-varied flavors of different keys using different chord shapes can make a song sound more diverse and unique.
How to Diversify Open Chord Shapes
There are many different chord shapes are there for aspiring guitarists to use. Open chords are often considered the most boring chords to play often being called “zombie” chords, standard open chords are considered especially insulting when playing a cover of a song that does not use them. It’s not as though “zombie” chords have always been overused or that they can’t be used to create something unique but they are best avoided, especially in covers of songs that don’t use them.
Open chords are not well-liked because they are considered overused, and unskilled and they have very standard structure, for example, they have their bass note(lowest note) as the root when it really can be any note. Chords, where the root note is not the bass, can sound very unique and interesting.
The bass note can be the root, the second, the third, the perfect fourth, the flat fifth, the perfect fifth, the sixth, and the seventh. The bass note can also be major or minor. The bass note can be added to any chord through the use of the thumb, this was a technique used often by Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix especially popularized this style of chord in the song Little Wing.
However, Guitarists can still use open chords if they want and open chords are great for beginners. Barre chords and chords with non-root bass notes are often considered more advanced and are more well-respected.
Approach to Playing Cover Songs
Covers are yet another important application of knowing how to read guitar chords. It is also far more respected to play the accurate chords of a song than to change them, a creative cover is always appreciated though. A recording artist can make a song on their own with a very innovative cover.
An innovative cover is often highly appreciated by listeners. A cover is often viewed as a tribute to the original. The reason why playing the song as it is more respected is because it preserves the artistic intent of the original creator. A creative cover is even more respected because it adds an amount of originality and allows a guitarist to make a song they love on their own.
There is the fun fact many of Van Halen’s guitar covers made the song they loved their’s Van Halen is just one of many bands that made a song they covered into their own. A cover can give songs entirely different vibes with unique vocals and delivery styles to a song.
All of these chords can be used together to create complex and wonderful harmonies. Chords have an impressive and extremely large range and can be used however a guitarist likes. Chords add a new dimension to playing guitar in any type of genre.
