This provides a basis for an imminent guitar chord tutorial post, transferred from my old web site. Do not use the photos as a technique guide. They are just to supplement the diagrams.

Open chords

Open chords use open strings in their construction, and cannot be moved up the neck. There are a few standard open chords that are easy to make, which are shown here.

A

   0   1   2   3   4    
E O|---|---|---|---| E
B  |---|-3-|---|---| C#
G  |---|-2-|---|---| A
D  |---|-1-|---|---| E
A O|---|---|---|---| A
E X|---|---|---|---|

Am

   0   1   2   3   4    
E O|---|---|---|---| E
B  |-1-|---|---|---| C
G  |---|-3-|---|---| A
D  |---|-2-|---|---| E
A O|---|---|---|---| A
E X|---|---|---|---|

C

   0   1   2   3   4    
E O|---|---|---|---| E
B  |-1-|---|---|---| C
G O|---|---|---|---| G
D  |---|-2-|---|---| E
A  |---|---|-3-|---| C
E X|---|---|---|---|

D

   0   1   2   3   4    
E  |---|-2-|---|---| F#
B  |---|---|-3-|---| D
G  |---|-1-|---|---| A
D O|---|---|---|---| D
A X|---|---|---|---|
E X|---|---|---|---|

Dm

   0   1   2   3   4    
E  |-1-|---|---|---| F
B  |---|---|-3-|---| D
G  |---|-2-|---|---| A
D O|---|---|---|---| D
A X|---|---|---|---|
E X|---|---|---|---|

E

   0   1   2   3   4    
E O|---|---|---|---| E
B O|---|---|---|---| B
G  |-1-|---|---|---| G#
D  |---|-3-|---|---| E
A  |---|-2-|---|---| B
E O|---|---|---|---| E

Em

   0   1   2   3   4    
E O|---|---|---|---| E
B O|---|---|---|---| B
G O|---|---|---|---| G
D  |---|-3-|---|---| E
A  |---|-2-|---|---| B
E O|---|---|---|---| E

F

   0   1   2   3   4    
E  |(1)|---|---|---| F
B  |(1)|---|---|---| C
G  |---|-2-|---|---| A
D  |---|---|-3-|---| F
A X|---|---|---|---| 
E X|---|---|---|---| 

Note that this F isn’t really an “open” chord as it doesn’t use any open strings.

G

   0   1   2   3   4    
E  |---|---|-4-|---| G
B O|---|---|---|---| B
G O|---|---|---|---| G
D O|---|---|---|---| D
A  |---|-2-|---|---| B
E  |---|---|-3-|---| G

Bar chords

Bar (or barre) chords do not use open strings, and use a finger (typically the index finger) as a bar to act as a capo. There are also other moveable chords that do not require a bar as such but also do not use open strings.

A good way to remember these is to relate them to the open chords above. This is often referred to as the CAGED method, after the name of the common open chords. I’d like to expand this a bit and call it CAGED EDAm, or something equally cheesy, to include the open Em, Dm and Am chords. I also show the F shape, although this is just the top four strings of the E shape.

So for every open chord, there is an equivalent moveable chord; and any major or minor chord can be formed on any string using any of these shapes. You therefore have a good choice of chords, which can reduce the need to move around the neck.

CAGED EDAm: major example

Let’s take an example: Bb. When I say “based on the nth fret” below, that is the fret that the low root note is on.

Bb using the C shape based on the thirteenth fret

   9   10  11  12  13    
E  |(1)|---|---|---| D
B  |---|-2-|---|---| Bb
G  |(1)|---|---|---| F
D  |---|---|-3-|---| D
A  |---|---|---|-4-| Bb
E X|---|---|---|---|

(note that we can’t use the first fret as the top three strings’ fingering would be off the end of the fretboard!)

Bb using the A shape based on the first fret

   0   1   2   3   4    
E  |(1)|---|---|---| F
B  |---|---|-4-|---| D
G  |---|---|-3-|---| Bb
D  |---|---|-2-|---| F
A  |(1)|---|---|---| Bb
E X|---|---|---|---|

Bb using the G shape based on the sixth fret (difficult!)

   2   3   4   5   6    
E  |---|---|---|-4-| Bb
B  |(1)|---|---|---| D
G  |(1)|---|---|---| Bb
D  |(1)|---|---|---| F
A  |---|---|-2-|---| D
E  |---|---|---|-3-| Bb

Bb using the E shape based on the sixth fret

   5   6   7   8   9    
E  |(1)|---|---|---| Bb
B  |(1)|---|---|---| F
G  |---|-2-|---|---| D
D  |---|---|-4-|---| Bb
A  |---|---|-3-|---| F
E  |(1)|---|---|---| Bb

Bb using the D shape based on the eighth fret (long fingers!)

   7   8   9   10  11    
E  |---|---|-3-|---| D
B  |---|---|---|-4-| Bb
G  |---|---|-2-|---| F
D  |-1-|---|---|---| Bb
A X|---|---|---|---|
E X|---|---|---|---|

Bb using the F shape based on the eighth fret

   4   5   6   7   8    
E  |---|(1)|---|---| D
B  |---|(1)|---|---| F
G  |---|---|-2-|---| D
D  |---|---|---|-3-| Bb
A X|---|---|---|---|
E X|---|---|---|---|

CAGED EDAm: minor example

OK—now we’ll look at a minor chord example: Gm. This can be formed in three ways, based on open E, D and A minor:

Gm using the Em shape based on the third fret

   2   3   4   5   6    
E  |(1)|---|---|---| G
B  |(1)|---|---|---| D
G  |(1)|---|---|---| Bb
D  |---|---|-4-|---| G
A  |---|---|-3-|---| D
E  |(1)|---|---|---| G

Gm using the Dm shape based on the fifth fret

no photo, sorry!

   4   5   6   7   8    
E  |---|-2-|---|---| Bb
B  |---|---|---|-4-| G
G  |---|---|-3-|---| D
D  |-1-|---|---|---| G
A X|---|---|---|---| 
E X|---|---|---|---| 

Gm using the Am shape based on the tenth fret

   9   10  11  12  13    
E  |(1)|---|---|---| D
B  |---|-2-|---|---| Bb
G  |---|---|-4-|---| G
D  |---|---|-3-|---| D
A  |(1)|---|---|---| G
E X|---|---|---|---| 

This technique can be used with any chord shape. For example, having found out that Em7 is Em with an open D string, you can use the “Em7” shape like the Em shape but with the little finger lifted to get any m7 chord.

Self test question 1

At which fret would you base the C shape of Ab major?

Reveal…

   7   8   9   10  11
E  |(1)|---|---|---| C
B  |---|-2-|---|---| Ab
G  |(1)|---|---|---| Eb
D  |---|---|-3-|---| C
A  |---|---|---|-4-| Ab
E X|---|---|---|---|

Self test question 2

What chord is this? Try to recognize it without working out the individual notes.

   2   3   4   5   6
E  |(1)|---|---|---|
B  |---|-2-|---|---|
G  |---|---|-4-|---|
D  |---|---|-3-|---|
A  |(1)|---|---|---|
E X|---|---|---|---| 

Reveal…

Self test question 3

   0   1   2   3   4
E O|---|---|---|---|
B O|---|---|---|---|
G  |-2-|---|---|---|
D  |---|-3-|---|---|
A O|---|---|---|---|
E X|---|---|---|---| 

The above chord is Amaj9. Convert this to a “moveable chord” and work out Ebmaj9 with an “Amaj9” shape.

Reveal…

   5   6   7   8   9
E  |(1)|---|---|---|
B  |(1)|---|---|---|
G  |---|-2-|---|---|
D  |---|---|-3-|---|
A  |(1)|---|---|---|
E X|---|---|---|---| 

Photos

People have asked how I took all the photos, which looks painstaking. I wrote the page first, and thus had a list of all the chords that would be needed (and yes, I missed one…). I then set my Digital 8 camcorder (this was some time ago, probably 2000) on a tripod, and played though all of the chords one at a time, monitoring the feed on the TV and moving fingers around to get the best view.

I then captured the video onto my computer, and used VirtualDub to quickly run through the file, picking out and capturing the best images for each chord.