One of the great things about learning to play the guitar is the fact that learning how to read sheet music isn’t an absolute requirement. Some of the most famous guitar heroes from over the years didn’t know how – from Eric Clapton to Eddie Van Halen… with Jimi Hendrix thrown in for good measure.
However, there certainly is nothing wrong with taking the time to learn to read music. After all, all it does is help to expand your understanding of music theory and enable your overall development as a guitar player. It can be a challenge, though, and that’s why tools such as guitar chord charts are so helpful for guitar players of all skill levels. From the very beginner all the way to professional players, it’s a valuable skill to know how to read guitar chord diagrams and charts.
In the simplest terms, a chord is simply three or more notes played at the same time. Learning to play them is typically one of the first things that any beginner guitarist learns to play. The big question is ‘Where do I put my fingers, and what strings am I supposed to play’? And how exactly should I read all these chords and learn to play them? What is an open chord? And what major and minor chords?
C♯o Guitar Chord
Whether you’re trying to learn to play the guitar from a printed book or from resources found online, you most likely have come across little grid-like pictures that look similar to this:
These are guitar chord charts and they’re the simplest way you’ll come across showing you how to play a particular chord. For example, above you see the chord shapes for three major chords: G, C and D.
A guitar chord chart (also known as a guitar chord diagram) is pretty easy to understand once you know what all of the lines, dots, X’s and O’s mean. So let’s take a minute to review how they’re laid out and how you’re supposed to read each element of a guitar chord chart.
C Dominant 7th Guitar Chord
There are essentially two types of chords that you’ll come across: open and barre. Chart charts are great in that the same format can be used to show you how to play both types.
Now that you have your fingers in the right position, strum the D, G, B and high E strings all at the same time (looking at the chart, the D string has an ‘O’ over it, meaning that it’s played open). As you might remember, the X’s in a guitar chart mean that the low E and A strings are not played at all.
Barre chords are different from open chords in that one (or more) of your fingers are used to hold down more than one string at a time. The same chord chart legend can be used for them as well, but there are a few differences.
Strum With Confidence: Basic Chords Every Guitarist Should Know
Since we used a major D chord for our example on open chords, let’s use the same for our barre chord example as well:
The chart above shows how to play a D chord, but it uses a barred fingering pattern and is played on the fifth fret instead. Do you notice the slight differences between the barre chord charts and the ones we looked at for open chords? There are a few to note:
If you want to learn more about barre chords, make sure to check out our helpful article where we go in more detail and help you learn those tricky barre chords.
Playing The Minor Guitar Chord
Now that you know how to read guitar chord charts, playing along to your favorite songs and learning new chords is all the more fun and easy. If you haven’t already, now is a good time to start learning the most important beginner guitar chords and put your new skills to good use. And don’t forget to watch our YouTube video on how to read guitar chord charts!
Learning to play the guitar is a journey that will lead to great satisfaction. While many of the topics and theories that are used may feel overwhelming for beginners, there are plenty of tools to help and show how things may be a lot simpler than they seem to be at first glance.
Chord charts for the guitar are a simple and intuitive way to show you the proper finger placement to play any type of guitar chord. From a simple open major chord to more advanced jazz-theory type chords, learning how to read them is an essential skill that any guitar player needs to take the time to understand.
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If guitar playing and learning how to read guitar chords seems challenging at first, keep practicing and building up muscle memory on your fingers.
How To Guides Learn Suspended Chords on the Guitar If you’re familiar with the basics of playing guitar chords, you already know the difference between minor and major chords. Even if you don’t know the music theory behind them, you can maybe tell whether a chord is major or minor based on how it sounds. But did you… Read more Article Open Tuning on the Guitar Posted on September 4, 2023 Article Guitar Calluses and Finger Pain Posted on September 4, 2023 Article Learn to Play with Online Guitar Lessons Posted on September 1, 2023Even with very little music experience, the ability to read guitar chords is easily attainable. This article will teach you how to read guitar chords in the next 5 minutes!
Follow the instructions below and you will be able to not only identify the chord but eventually you will be able to masterfully play the chord. Once you have a basic understanding of what the guitar chords are, you will then be able to build upon this foundation to expand your guitar knowledge and skills.
Guitar Chords Scale, Poster, Music Fingerboard, Notes, Theory, Acoustic Electric Guitar, Wall Chart, Reference Picture, Canvas Material, 40.6 X 68.9 Cm (guitar Chord Chart)
First, you have to understand what you are looking at on the chord chart. When looking at basic sheet music you should first notice that there are six vertical lines. Each of these denotes one of the six strings on your guitar as far as it is concerned.
If you take the time to familiarize yourself with your guitar, you will notice that the first line on your chart is the E string which is also the thickest string on your guitar. If you strum this string without holding down any other strings, you are playing an open E note.
The next thickest string is the A string, followed by the D string, then the G string, the B string and finally, the e string. The lower e string is the thinnest string and unlike the previously discussed E string, this one is referenced with a lowercase e instead of a capital E.
How To Read Guitar Chord Charts & Diagrams
It is important to point out that if you are playing guitar left handed everything will be the exact opposite. The smallest string, e, will be at the bottom rather than at the top.Also, please note that some guitars can have seven or eight strings but today we will focus on a six string guitar because this is something very important.
Simply speaking, the vertical lines are associated with the note that you will play (see above) while the horizontal line is associated with the frets located on the neck of the guitar. Use the placement of the symbol, explained below, to determine which fret you should play the note in.
Generally, the chord chart will only include five frets. If you are to play in a higher fret or one closer to your body, then it will be indicated by a number. If you are to play on the first fret, then you are to play the fret closest to the end of the guitar.
How To Read Guitar Chord Charts And Tabs
While the vertical line determines the note, the horizontal line determines the octave and what the pitch of the note will be.
Now that you know which note on the chart is associated with which guitar string, you must understand the various types of symbols. An X or O will be placed above the chart rather than on the specific note. An X on the note means to not strum the note whereas an O means to strut openly.
If the circle is shaded black, it means to fret the string or to compress the string by holding it down. If the circle is shaded blue, this also means to fret the string but it further indicates that it is a root note and the name of the chord is named after this note.
How To Read Chord Diagrams
When looking at a chord chart, you will also notice a number of the shaded circles from 1 to 4. These numbers indicate which finger you hold down the corresponding note with. A number one means to hold the chord with the index finger while a number four indicates to use the pinky instead.
Once you begin to see chords, you will begin to notice that many of the same chords are repeated over and over. These include the C, A, G, E, and D chords. Once these are mastered, playing different pieces will become easier due to this repetition and increased familiarity
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