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CHORDS

101

Guitar Close Up
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Major

Minor

AUGMENTED

Diminished

THERE

ARE

4

TRIAD

CHORD TYPES

(TRIADS ARE 3 NOTE CHORDS)

Basic Chords

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Complex Chords

Open chords 

(& Fancy 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th chords) 

Sometimes have 6 notes requiring you to use techniques, like barring and arching, to play them.

Basic chords are just 2-3 notes.

 Intervals (Smallest) 

5th chords

Octaves (with 2 notes) 

* Power Chords & Triads (3 notes) 

* These are easier to hold and produce the same tonal quality.

Open chords and Fancy 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th chords sometimes have 6 notes requiring you to use techniques, like barring and arching, to play them.

Image by Joshua Sortino
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LEARN YOUR

1ST POSITION

OPEN

CHORDS

-ISH

Major

A-C-D-E-F-G

Minor

Am-Dm-Em

DOMINANT

B7

Image by Sam Dan Truong

Tips

Learn how to read a chord chart snd some pointers to help you on your journey.

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Guitar & Dojo Chords

Start building your chord vocabulary with the D and G chords. These versatile chords are found in every style of music ,

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Show Me What You Got!

Once you can play chords... start learning techniques to add to them. Techniques are an extra "Layer"that adds texture and style to chords.

Image by sydney Rae

Switcheroo!

What goes up...must come down. There is no right or wrong way. Just what sounds good. Listen to how just changing the order and rhythm created a new work of art.

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Say What!?

There are different ways to hold different chords... It depends on your experience holding and changing chords. Try to hold the A major chord with different fingers once you've mastered the most comfortable way.

Image by Robert Anasch

Sweet!

Let's add a new chord!! A lot of times when using a 3 chord progression you will hear artists repeat one chord for two measures. You hear this in other songs too! Like the verse in "Good Riddance" by Green Day, or the chorus in "Heathens" by 21 Pilots. 

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