Chord Shapes & Positions: The Less You Know The Better

Here we go. My plan is to show you how simple all this really can be.

First Things First: You're Only Using 5 Basic Shapes (CAGED)

Here are the 5 basic open Major chords, which are C Major, A Major, G Major, E Major, and D Major.

Now, these 5 basic shapes (CAGED) have a few neat “extra” things involved with them. One specific thing is the fact that their minor versions are simple to see in terms of their change in movement from Major to minor. The minor versions of these chords will all be in open position, but you won't want to play all of them in their open position.

Here are the “open” minor versions of these CAGED Major chords: Nah – I'm not playing the “open” Cm or the “open” Gm. Nope. Nuh uh. I'm not even sure I CAN play those in a way that all the notes ring clearly. So, if I'm saying don't play them (I am, really – don't) then how DO we play the Cm and Gm? Well, first:

1. There are NO Cm or Gm chords in this package, but there ARE barre chords (if you choose to play them) 2. If you decide to play barre chords, I'm giving you a cheat later on that will help you until you can finger them. Based on those two points, I guess you can assume that the only way to play a logical Cm or Gm is by using a barre chord. I mean, I suppose you could TRY to play the open Cm and Gm chords, but those are harder to play than their barre chord versions. So, stick with me for a moment.

How about we kick some of the shapes you saw above to the curb. We don't want 'em right now. All we want are the A and E shapes, both Major and minor:

Ok, so now we have our open A Major chord and our open Am chord. We also have our open E Major chord and our open Em chord. Pay attention to how each of them look.

From A Major to Am, the only affected change takes place on the B string. The Am goes DOWN in pitch to the 1 st fret. From E Major to Em, the only affected change takes place on the G string. The Em goes DOWN in pitch to the open G string. That's the only difference. Incidentally, the same does apply from D Major to Dm. That's a perfectly fine open chord change. But, it's not the focus. We just want those A and E shapes.

While chord progressions such as A Major to Am (and E Major to Em) take place in a variety of songs, you don't really need to worry about that right now. So, if you were wondering why the fingerings look slightly different in a few of the chords, fingerings CAN change depending on the chord progression being played. Actually, I'm about to remove the fingerings completely for those A and E shapes, both Major and minor. You'll see why in a moment.

“HEY! Where'd my chords go?”

My intention is NOT to confuse you. I want you to see the A and E shapes (Major and minor) in a different way.

The top two formations are both “E” style. How do we know? There's a black dot on both of the Low E strings.

The bottom two formations are both “A” style. There's an “X” on both of the low E strings. However, in the bottom right formation there is a black dot on THAT E string. It's the high E string.

Well, you now know every single basic Major and minor chord in any and every position. It's all thanks to the E and A Shape open chords.

Top Left = E Style Major barre chord Top Right = E Style minor barre chord Bottom Left = A Style Major barre chord Bottom Right = A Style minor barre chord

Did you catch that I said “now you know EVERY single basic Major and minor chord in any and every position?”

Here's how you take those patterns above and apply them to the fretboard: This diagram shows a few E Style Major barre chords on the fretboard for a visual representation. You'll also find all of the “primary” E style barre chords in tab format below the fretboard diagram.

Primary just means basic letter names like A, B, C, etc.

As you can see from the chord diagram in the upper left corner, it's just a matter of moving the open E Major shape around so that you “land” on your desired Major barre chord root note.

The tab has ( ) indicating the tell-tale shape.

We can do the same thing with the secondary notes, would would be F#(Gb) | A#(Bb) | C#(Db) | D#(Eb) | etc.

Personal Notes (space left blank if you need to make personal notes here) The same applies here. This time they are the secondary barre chords, but they are still based on the E Major chord shape.

Notice that once we move to the 12 th fret and beyond the notes all repeat. So, if you know the F# barre chord on the 2 nd fret you also know the F# barre chord on the 13 th fret.

By now I am sure you know what we would do with our A style chords as well, but we're working “in E” at this point so how about we see what happens when we do the same thing using the Em open chord shape and move it around on the fretboard.

It's the same thing and won't require any big diagram.

This is EVERY Primary and Secondary E Style Minor barre chord using the open Em chord shape.

The ( ) is showing the Em chord shape without reference to the original open notes.

As you move up and down the fretboard, those, of course, would be barred with your 1 st finger. What You Know At This Point:

You know every single position (other than their open shape) for any and every E style barre chord. Remember that the term “E style” is a broad term, so in order to determine whether it's a Major or minor “shape” you'd simply look at what the tell-tale sign of the chord really is. In this case I used ( ) to show you. However, it doesn't even take that to notice them. Since you know that the open E Major and open Em chords only change one string movement either up or down (in E style it's always the G string as a reference) then you could quickly tell what specific chord is being used based on the style. Before I show you the A style versions (which are identical in movement to these – just on the “A” string root) here's a quick recap:

1. You only need to know the E Major OR Em chord open shape. If you know the E Major open chord shape, take your 1 st finger OFF the G string and you have an Em. If you know the Em open chord shape, put your 1 st finger ON the G string on the first fret. In every E style barre chord, the “G” string is your tell-tale location.

2. You take the E Major or Em chord shape in its open position and move it anywhere on the fretboard. Use your 1 st finger to barre what WERE open notes for either of those chords and you have yourself a barre chord. It just depends on where you move the open formation on the fretboard as to what barre chord you're playing.

3. Fingerings DO change when you move the open E Major or Em chord shape, but that's pretty self-explanatory. You'll have a cheat sheet for the fingerings, but with a few logical glances at the fretboard you'll know how you want to form the barre chord.

Personal Notes (space left blank if you need to make personal notes here) So, the “A Style” barre chords. Well, you already know the E style, so again – how about just one tab with the open A shapes beside them? I think that'll do just fine. Remember: You'll know it's an “A Style” because the Low E string will be marked with an “X” - or – in tab form – likely just not showing any notes on the Low E string.

Ok I highlighted the high E string. Here's why: I never (in chord format) play these notes. I just barre my 3 rd or 4 th finger over the D, G, B, and high E strings. You'll still get the note you need using the A Major barre shape as shown above in every instance.

For example, take the C Major barre chord. The 3 rd fret high E string note is a “G” note. You need that dude to make the C Major chord. But, that same “G” note is also found on the 5 th fret D string. So, it's still there. I'm just being honest about that. I can't stand that finger formation because it just isn't easy to play for me. That being said, I DO form the full A style minor versions. Those are easy to play. So – you might have noticed how I labeled these chords. You might wonder why I used sharps instead of flats. If you didn't notice that I'll tell you anyway – because it's important...somewhat.

Technically speaking, a chord is supposed to be labeled sharp when it moves up in pitch and flat when it moves down in pitch. Take a progression using what I've labeled above. We start on Em and then move DOWN to C#m. In theory, this would be a change of Em – Dbm. We're moving down. But, I am personally more familiar with the “visual” reference of C#m. The same applies with a chord like F#m. I see it and I know its location. If I saw it in a song and it said “Gbm” I might have to think about it for a second – but it's the SAME chord. It's just the visual process of the whole thing.

It's IMPERATIVE that you recognize chords with their “dual” names. Here's a cheat:

A# = Bb | A#m = Bbm C# = Db | C#m = Dbm D# = Eb | D#m = Ebm F# = Gb | F#m = Gbm G# = Ab | G#m = Abm

Guess what? You know every single Major and minor chord on the fretboard both using the E style (Major and minor) as well as the A Style (Major and minor) – all thanks to those open E (Major and minor) and open A (Major and minor) chord shapes.

“But there are more chords than that!”

Right you are. There are chords like C7, F#m7, Am7, all those fun guys. We'll get into those in a future installment – and as you can guess – they are all templates based on a few other basic chord shapes!