Product Code Database
In music, a guitar chord is a set of Musical note played on a guitar. A chord's notes are often played simultaneously, but they can be played sequentially in an arpeggio. The implementation of guitar chords depends on the guitar tuning. Most guitars used in popular music have six strings with the "standard" tuning of the Classical guitar, namely E–A–D–G–B–E' (from the lowest pitched string to the highest); in standard tuning, the intervals present among adjacent strings are except for the major third (G,B). Standard tuning requires four chord-shapes for the .
There are separate chord-forms for chords having their root note on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth strings. For a six-string guitar in standard tuning, it may be necessary to drop or omit one or more tones from the chord; this is typically the root or perfect fifth. The layout of notes on the fretboard in standard tuning often forces guitarists to Permutation the tonal order of notes in a chord.
The playing of conventional chords is simplified by , which are especially popular in folk guitar, blues guitar and non-Spanish classical guitar (such as English guitar and Russian guitar). For example, the typical twelve-bar blues uses only three chords, each of which can be played (in every open tuning) by fretting six strings with one finger. Open tunings are used especially for steel guitar and slide guitar. Open tunings allow one-finger chords to be played with greater consonance than do other tunings, which use equal temperament, at the cost of increasing the dissonance in other chords.
The playing of (3 to 5 string) guitar chords is simplified by the class of alternative tunings called , in which the musical intervals are the same for each pair of consecutive strings. Regular tunings include major-thirds tuning, all-fourths, and all-fifths tunings. For each regular tuning, chord patterns may be diagonally shifted down the fretboard, a property that simplifies beginners' learning of chords and that simplifies advanced players' improvisation. On the other hand, in regular tunings 6-string chords (in the keys of C, G, and D) are more difficult to play.
Conventionally, guitarists double notes in a chord to increase its volume, an important technique for players without amplification; doubling notes and changing the order of notes also changes the timbre of chords. It can make possible a "chord" which is composed of the all same note on different strings. Many chords can be played with the same notes in more than one place on the fretboard.
The intervals between the notes of a chromatic scale are listed in a table, in which only the emboldened intervals are discussed in this article's section on fundamental chords; those intervals and other seventh-intervals are discussed in the section on intermediate chords. The perfect unison and octave intervals have perfect consonance. Octave intervals were popularized by the jazz playing of Wes Montgomery. The perfect-fifth interval is highly consonant, which means that the successive playing of the two notes from the perfect fifth sounds harmonious.
A semitone is the distance between two adjacent notes on the chromatic circle, which displays the twelve notes of an octave.
| +Intervals |
| Open consonance |
| Sharp dissonance |
| Mild dissonance |
| Soft consonance |
| Soft consonance |
| Ambivalence |
| Ambiguous |
| Open consonance |
| Soft consonance |
| Soft consonance |
| Mild dissonance |
| Sharp dissonance |
| Open consonance |
As already stated, the perfect-fifths (P5) interval is the most harmonious, after the unison and octave intervals. An explanation of human perception of harmony relates the mechanics of a vibrating string to the musical acoustics of using the harmonic analysis of Fourier series. When a string is struck with a finger or pick (plectrum), it vibrates according to its harmonic series. When an open-note C-string is struck, its harmonic series begins with the terms (C,C,G,C,E,G,B,C). The root note is associated with a sequence of intervals, beginning with the unison interval (C,C), the octave interval (C,C), the perfect fifth (C,G), the perfect fourth (G,C), and the major third (C,E). In particular, this sequence of intervals contains the thirds of the C-major chord {(C,E),(E,G)}.
Although established, the term "power chord" is inconsistent with the usual definition of a chord in musical theory, which requires three (or more) distinct notes in each chord.
The musical theory of chords is reviewed, to provide terminology for a discussion of guitar chords. Three kinds of chords, which are emphasized in introductions to guitar-playing, are discussed. These basic chords arise in chord-triples that are conventional in Western music, triples that are called three-chord progressions. After each type of chord is introduced, its role in three-chord progressions is noted.
Intermediate discussions of chords derive both chords and their progressions simultaneously from the harmonization of scales. The basic guitar-chords can be constructed by "stacking thirds", that is, by concatenating two or three third-intervals, where all of the lowest notes come from the scale.
| + !bgcolor=#dddddd | Chord !bgcolor=#dddddd | Root !bgcolor=#dddddd | Major third !bgcolor=#dddddd | Fifth |
The three notes of a major triad have been introduced as an total order tuple, namely (root, third, fifth), where the major third is four semitones above the root and where the perfect fifth is seven semitones above the root. This type of triad is in closed position. Triads are quite commonly played in open position: For example, the C-major triad is often played with the third (E) and fifth (G) an octave higher, respectively sixteen and nineteen semitones above the root. Another variation of the major triad changes the order of the notes: For example, the C-major triad is often played as (C,G,E), where (C,G) is a perfect fifth and E is raised an octave above the perfect third (C,E). Alternative orderings of the notes in a triad are discussed below (in the discussions of and chords).
In popular music, a subset of triads is emphasized—those with notes from the three major key (C, G, D), which also contain the notes of their relative minor keys (Am, Em, Bm).
The most basic three-chord progressions of Western harmony have only major chords. In each key, three chords are designated with the Roman numerals (of musical notation): The tonic (I), the subdominant (IV), and the dominant (V). While the chords of each three-chord progression are numbered (I, IV, and V), they appear in other orders.
| + Basic three-chord progressions |
| Dominant (V) |
| G |
| A |
| B |
| D |
| E |
Major-chord progressions are constructed in the harmonization of in triads. For example, stacking the C major with thirds creates a chord progression, which is traditionally enumerated with the Roman numerals I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii; its sub-progression C–F–G (I–IV–V) is used in popular music, as already discussed. Further chords are constructed by stacking additional thirds. Stacking the dominant major-triad with a minor third creates the dominant seventh chord, which shall be discussed after minor chords.
| + Minor chords !bgcolor=#dddddd;style="vertical-align:bottom;" | Chord !bgcolor=#dddddd;style="vertical-align:bottom;" | Root !bgcolor=#dddddd;style="vertical-align:bottom;" | Minor third !bgcolor=#dddddd;style="vertical-align:bottom;" | Perfect fifth |
| + Minor three-chord progressions |
| G7 |
| A7 |
| B7 |
| D7 |
| E7 |
Minor chords arise as the tonic notes of that share the same key signature with major keys. From the major key's I–ii–iii–IV–V–vi–vii progression, the "secondary" (minor) triads ii–iii–vi appear in the relative minor key's corresponding chord progression as i–iv–v (or i–iv–V or i–iv–V7): For example, from C's vi–ii–iii progression A–D–E, the chord E is often played as E or E7 in a minor chord progression. Among basic chords, the minor chords (D,E,A) are the tonic chords of the relative minors of the three major keys (F,G,C):
|
! Key signature ! Major key ! Minor key | |||
| B | F major | D minor | |
| C major | A minor | ||
| F | G major | E minor | |
The technique of changing among relative keys (pairs of relative majors and relative minors) is a form of modulation. Minor chords are constructed by the harmonization of in triads.
| + Dominant seventh chords !bgcolor=#dddddd | Chord !bgcolor=#dddddd | Root !bgcolor=#dddddd | Major third !bgcolor=#dddddd | Perfect fifth !bgcolor=#dddddd | Minor seventh |
| + Three-chord progressions |
| G7 |
| A7 |
| B7 |
| D7 |
| E7 |
These progressions with seventh chords arise in the harmonization of major scales in seventh chords.
For example, in the guitar (like other stringed instruments but unlike the piano), open-string open note are not fretted and so require less hand-motion. Thus chords that contain open notes are more easily played and hence more frequently played in popular music, such as folk music. Many of the most popular tunings—standard tuning, , and new standard tuning—are rich in the open notes used by popular chords. Open tunings allow major triads to be played by barre chord one fret with only one finger, using the finger like a Capodastro. On guitars without a zero fret (after the nut), the intonation of an open note may differ from then note when fretted on other strings; consequently, on some guitars, the sound of an open note may be inferior to that of a fretted note.
Unlike the piano, the guitar has the same notes on different strings. Consequently, guitar players often double notes in chord, so increasing the volume of sound. Doubled notes also changes the chordal timbre: Having different "string widths, tensions and tunings, the doubled notes reinforce each other, like the doubled strings of a twelve-string guitar add chorusing and depth". Notes can be doubled at identical pitches or in different octaves. For triadic chords, doubling the third interval, which is either a major third or a minor third, clarifies whether the chord is major or minor.
Unlike a piano or the voices of a choir, the guitar (in standard tuning) has difficulty playing the chords as stacks of thirds, which would require the left hand to span too many frets, particularly for dominant seventh chords, as explained below. If in a particular tuning chords cannot be played in closed position, then they often can be played in open position; similarly, if in a particular tuning chords cannot be played in root position, they can often be played in inverted positions. A chord is inverted when the bass note is not the root note. Additional chords can be generated with drop-2 (or drop-3) voicing, which are discussed for standard tuning's implementation of dominant seventh chords (below).
When providing harmony in accompanying a melody, guitarists may play chords all-at-once or as arpeggios. Arpeggiation was the traditional method of playing chords for guitarists for example in the time of Mozart. Contemporary guitarists using arpeggios include Johnny Marr of The Smiths.
Another feature of standard tuning is that the ordering of notes often differs from root position. Notes are often inverted or otherwise permuted, particularly with seventh chords in standard tuning, as discussed below.
For the C major chord (C,E,G), the conventional left-hand fingering doubles the C and E notes in the next octave; this fingering uses two open notes, E and G:
Major Chords (Guide for Guitar Chord Charts)
For the other commonly used chords, the conventional fingerings also double notes and feature open-string notes:
The B major and F major chords are commonly played as , with the first finger depressing five–six strings.
To create F minor from the F major chord (in E major shape), the second finger should be lifted so that the third string plays onto the barre. Compare the F major to F minor:
The other shapes can be modified as well:
(in standard tuning)
Sus2
Sus4
The suspended fourth chord is often played inadvertently, or as an adornment, by barring an additional string from a power chord shape (e.g., E5 chord, playing the second fret of the G string with the same finger barring strings A and D); making it an easy and common extension in the context of power chords.
"Alternatively voiced" seventh chords are commonly played with standard tuning. A list of fret number configurations for some common chords follows:
In standard tuning, chord inversion depends on the bass note's string, and so there are three different forms for the inversion of each major chord, depending on the position of the irregular major thirds interval between the G and B strings.
For example, if the note E (the open sixth string) is played over the A minor chord, then the chord would be [0 2 2 0 0 0]. This has the note E as its lowest tone instead of A. It is often written as Am/E, where the letter following the slash chord indicates the new bass note. However, in popular music it is usual to play inverted chords on the guitar when they are not part of the harmony, since the bass guitar can play the root pitch.
Open tunings improve the intonation of major chords by reducing the error of third intervals in equal temperaments. For example, in the open-G overtones tuning G–G–D–G–B–D, the (G,B) interval is a major third, and of course each successive pair of notes on the G- and B-strings is also a major third; similarly, the open-string minor-third (B,D) induces minor thirds among all the frets of the B-D strings. The thirds of equal temperament have audible deviations from the thirds of just intonation: Equal temperament is used in modern music because it facilitates music in all keys, while (on a piano and other instruments) just intonation provided better-sounding major-third intervals for only a subset of keys. "Sonny Landreth, Keith Richards and other open-G masters often lower the second string slightly so the major third is in tune with the overtone series. This adjustment dials out the dissonance, and makes those big one-finger major-chords come alive."
Repetitive open-tunings are used for two non-Spanish classical-guitars. For the English guitar the open chord is C major (C–E–G–C–E–G); for the Russian guitar which has seven strings, G major (G–B–D–G–B–D–G). Mixing a perfect fourth and a minor third along with a major third, these tunings are on-average major-thirds regular-tunings. While on-average major-thirds tunings are conventional open tunings, properly major-thirds tunings are unconventional open-tunings, because they have as their open chords.
Further simplifications occur for the regular tunings that are repetitive, that is, which repeat their strings. For example, the E–G–c–e–g–c' M3 tuning repeats its octave after every two strings. Such repetition further simplifies the learning of chords and improvisation; Cited by and This repetition results in two copies of the three open-strings' notes, each in a different octave. Similarly, the B–F–B–F–B–F augmented-fourths tuning repeats itself after one string.
[[File:First and second inversions of C-major chord on six-string guitar with major-thirds tuning.png|thumb|upright=1.5|alt=The C major chord and its first and second inversions. In the first inversion, the C note has been raised 3 strings on the same fret. In the second inversion, both the C note and the E note have been raised 3 strings on the same fret. |In major-thirds tuning, chords are inverted by raising notes by three strings on the same frets. The inversions of a C major chord are shown.]] A chord is inverted when the bass note is not the root note. Chord inversion is especially simple in M3 tuning. Chords are inverted simply by raising one or two notes by three strings; each raised note is played with the same finger as the original note. Inverted major and minor chords can be played on two frets in M3 tuning. In standard tuning, the shape of inversions depends on the involvement of the irregular major third, and can involve four frets.
It is a challenge to adapt conventional guitar chords to new standard tuning, which is based on all-fifths tuning.
The fundamental guitar-chords—major and minor triads and dominant sevenths—are tertian chords, which concatenate third intervals, with each such third being either major (M3) or minor (m3).
When playing seventh chords, guitarists often play only a subset of notes from the chord. The fifth is often omitted. When a guitar is accompanied by a bass, the guitarist may omit the bass note from a chord. As discussed earlier, the third of a triad is doubled to emphasize its major or minor quality; similarly, the third of a seventh is doubled to emphasize its major or minor quality. The most frequent seventh is the dominant seventh; the minor, half-diminished, and major sevenths are also popular.
Minor seventh chords have the following fingerings in standard tuning:
Major seventh chords have the following fingerings in standard tuning:
Only two or three frets are needed for the guitar chords—major, minor, and dominant sevenths—which are emphasized in introductions to guitar-playing and to the fundamentals of music. Each major and minor chord can be played on exactly two successive frets on exactly three successive strings, and therefore each needs only two fingers. Other chords—second chord, Power chord, seventh chord, and ninth chord—are played on only three successive frets.
Dominant ninth chords were used by Beethoven, and eleventh chords appeared in Impressionist music. Thirteenth chords appeared in the twentieth century. appear in many musical genres, including jazz guitar, funk, rhythm and blues, and progressive rock/progressive metal.
Major 9
Minor 9
Whole tone scales were used by King Crimson for the title track on its Red album of 1974; whole tone scales were also used by King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp on "Fractured".
Quartal harmony has been used in jazz guitar by Jazz guitarist such as Jim Hall (especially on Sonny Rollins's The Bridge), George Benson ("Skydive"), Kenny Burrell ("So What"), and Wes Montgomery ("Little Sunflower").
Harmonies based on fourths and fifths also appear in folk guitar. On her 1968 debut album Song to a Seagull, Joni Mitchell used both quartal and quintal harmony in "Dawntreader", and she used quintal harmony in "Seagull".
Quartal and quintal harmonies also appear in alternate tunings. It is easier to finger the chords that are based on perfect fifths in new standard tuning than in standard tuning. New standard tuning was invented by Robert Fripp, a guitarist for King Crimson. Preferring to base chords on perfect intervals—especially octaves, fifths, and fourths—Fripp often avoids and especially , which are sharp in equal temperament tuning (in comparison to thirds in just intonation).
Alternative harmonies can also be generated by stacking second intervals (major second or minor second).
|
|
