Also see:
All Major Chords
All Minor Chords
All Dominant Chords



Barre Chords and Barre Chord Extensions

  • These chords are called "Barre Chords" because you use your first finger (index finger) to barre across most of the strings - fretting all the notes in a straight line. The diagram shows this with the blue line.

  • These chords are different from open chords in that they can be played on any fret of the guitar - giving you chords of different keys, but maintaining the same hand shape. This gives you a great vocabulary to play most songs using only a handful of chord shapes.

  • All chords are classified into 3 categories: Major, Minor and dominant.

  • The Barre Chords are organized by "string set".
    A string set is defined by - which string the root note (bottom note) is on. There are 3 string sets:

    Chords with root on 6th string (Low E).

    Chords with root on 5th string (A).

    Chords with root on 4th string (D)





  • Major chords on the diagram are expressed as just the letter of the chord (Example: A denotes A major).

  • Minor chords on the diagram are expressed as the letter of the chord followed by the symbol "m" (Example: Am denotes A minor).

  • Dominant chords on the diagram are expressed with the letter of the chord followed by any of the following: 7, 11, 13. (Example: A7 denotes A dominant).

    • Barre Chords on the guitar

  • Here are some of the possible extensions you can add to basic "vanilla" barre chords. They are just added tones, which will make the sound character of the barre chords a bit more interesting.

    • Barre Chord Extensions on the guitar






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