Learn Chords
- Jay EuDaly
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
What’s the Best Way to Learn Chords?
Not this way:
I don't even know where to begin. Not because these chords are wrong; the diagrams are correct and the names are correct - mostly (all the "dim" chord diagrams are actually full-diminished 7th chords).
Where are the Major 9 chords? Minor 9's? Half-Diminished? Major, Dominant and Minor 13ths?
With a few exceptions, everything is in first position, that is, frets 0-4. Many of the chords use open strings. Among other reasons, that’s why the voicings are inconsistent. Take for example the maj7 column (4th column from right), the voicings from low to high are:
Abmaj7 is 5-R-3-7
Amaj7 is R-5-7-3
Bbmaj7 is is R-5-7-3
Bmaj7 is R-5-7-3
Cmaj7 is R-3-5-7-3
Dbmaj7 is R-3-5-7-3
Dmaj7 is R-5-7-3
Ebmaj7 is is R-5-7-3
Emaj7 is R-5-7-3-5-R
Fmaj7 is R-3-5-7
Gbmaj7 is R-3-5-7
Gmaj7 is R-3-5-7
Most use 4 strings but a couple use 5 strings and one uses 6 strings. What’s the logic? But let's not quibble over details. It's the methodology that's screwed up.
There are 132 chords on this chart; who's going to remember all that? And in the almost-impossible case that someone actually does memorize and retain these 132 chords by rote, what do they know?
Well, they don't know the answers to any of the "Why?" questions. Like, “Why do some use 4 strings and some use 5? Why is the 5th of Abmaj7 in the bass and all the other maj7 chords have the root in the bass?
Secondly, they know an extremely small fraction of all possible chords, with no understanding of voicing, the differences between types (Major? Minor? Major7? Minor7?), or how chords fit together in progressions and songs. The diagrams don’t even give fingerings (I will concede there is some value to requiring the student to figure out the fingerings for themselves).
What about different voicings? What about inversions? What about frets 5-22 (or however many frets your guitar has)?
Instructing someone to “learn these chords” and then putting 132 chord diagrams in front of them is an example of what I call “random acquisition.” It’s all by rote with no underlying logic or methodology.
No thinking, no context, no understanding, just rote memorization.
There is a better way. Since I focused on the major 7 chords let’s start there. Take a look at these screenshots:
1) I define a 7th chord and explain the difference between each type:
2) I show and explain the nomenclature:
3) I present a single voicing and codify all possible positions:
6) I diagram all 5 types in 3 positions:
5) I give instructions on how to drill every chord in every key in every position:
6) I demonstrate all the above in a video:
Notice the chord diagrams embedded in the video have color-coded and labeled intervals.
The above is the first lesson of “Vertical Truth: Chordal Mechanisms for the Guitar: Unit 4: 7th Chords.” It's a PDF download from MasterGuitarSchool.com.
It covers 5 types. The original “Chord Encyclopedia” at the beginning of this blog omitted the half-diminished. Every one of the 15 chord diagrams are voiced exactly the same - R-5-7-3 - from low to high. Each type can be played in every key in every position. That covers the entire neck.
That’s Lesson 1. There are 12 lessons in the series on 7th chords.
Instead of working through forty-eight 7th chord diagrams by rote (and still be missing half-diminished) from the first picture of chord diagrams that opened this blog which only covers frets 1-5, you work on 15 chord diagrams systematically, in a specified order and drilled two different ways in a specific order. That gives you 5 types of 7th chords in 3 positions in all 12 keys, and covers the entire neck.
And you know the names of ALL of them!
Isn't that more efficient? Isn't that more achievable? Plus it's a foundation that can be (and is) built upon to get to all inversions and all other 7th chord voicings that are possible on the guitar.
For more info:
The only thing that is presupposed in Lesson 1 of Unit 4 is knowledge of the Key Circle. That is covered in my 5-Lesson Foundational Series.
The 5-Lesson Foundational Series teaches the Circle of Keys as an organizational mechanism by which you ensure that whatever you learn is drilled in every key in all possible positions. It also gives you a method to find any note, anywhere, without memorizing note names on every string. That is a beautiful thing!
Almost every lesson I teach presupposes these 5 lessons.
Site membership is not required, you can download the 5-Lesson Foundational Series right here with no further obligation or commitment:
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