Free Guitar Chords Lesson
As a beginner, you will probably be told that learning to play an instrument is very similar to learning a language. As far as guitars are concerned, learning the basics requires a lot of patience and practice – from stringing and tuning to chords and scales, learning to play the guitar is an experience unto itself. This article will deal with guitar chords, the different types of chords and how you can obtain free guitar chords from the Internet.
A guitar chord is a collection of notes that are played simultaneously or they could also be played in an arpeggio manner to give a sort of rippling effect. A scale on the other hand is where individual notes are played separately or one after the other. See where the difference lies? The most basic guitar chord would be a triad, which is when three notes are played simultaneously. The basic guitar chords are produced by using any of these notes – the 1st, 3rd or the 5th notes of a scale.
Though it may seem enormously challenging at first, developing a strong foundation or the basic knowledge of the theory behind playing the guitar and guitar chords can take you a long way when it comes to enhancing your guitar playing skills. If you don’t approach this subject in a technically sound manner, then understanding and playing guitar chords can be notoriously burdensome. This would mean that your fingers must be held at the correct angle otherwise your chords will end up sounding all bleak and muffled – a regular muted mess!
For instance, a ‘C’ chord would consist of the following notes (from the lowest to the highest order):
C, E, G, C & E
Wherein,
C – is present on the 5th string and is played on the third fret by using your third finger.
E – is present on the 4th string and is played on the second fret by using your second finger.
G – being an open string is present on the 3rd string.
C – is present on the 2nd string and is played on the first fret by using your first finger.
E – being the highest note is also an open note and should be played on the 1st string.
When playing such a chord, you are required to bend your fingers at the first joint while at the same time touching the strings with the tips of the fingers instead of the pads. This approach will make each note sound clearer and there will be no muffled or muted effect – or even dead sounds produced.
When picked, plucked or strummed, all guitar chords should be loud and clear and free of any kind of muting or buzzing.
All chords, even the classical guitar chords are usually built on the various notes of a scale. The name of each chord is entirely dependent on the distance that is present within that chord.
Types of Guitar Chords
Here are some of the different types of guitar chords that you’ll probably hear in your everyday music –
- Major
- Minor
- Augmented
- Diminished
- Dominant 7th
- Major 7th
- Minor 7th
- Augmented Dominant 7th
- Diminished 7th
- Suspended 4th
- Major 6th
- Minor 6th
- Six Add Nine
- Add Nine
- Major Ninth
- Minor Ninth
- Dominant Ninth
- Minor Eleventh
- Dominant Eleventh
- Major Thirteenth
- Minor Thirteenth
- Dominant Thirteenth, and so on.
Remember that when you are playing the classical guitar, you are playing guitar chords all the time! So, if you’ve ever heard or listened to Wes Montgomery playing solo in chords, you’ll be amazed at his skill and mastery.
There are many online promotional websites that distribute guitar chords for free and you can avail of these free guitar chords by signing up with these websites. Furthermore, if you are especially interested in learning chords, you could probably get free guitar chords from a musician friend.
However, it is quite unfortunate that many of the classical guitarists of today don’t even know the theory behind and the naming of the various guitar chords. So, go ahead and do yourself a favor and get into the groove of studying guitar chords. In doing so, you will only better your guitar playing skills and overall musicianship.
