Expand your chord vocabulary

Try out these variations on five basic open chord shapes

Learning chords is a lifelong process. There really are limitless shapes to discover – it’s just about how many you can retain in your mind at any one time. A great way to expand your chord vocabulary is to adapt the open shapes that every guitarist knows. That ‘expensive’ sound you’re probably after is just a few finger moves away.

Here we’re taking the five basic open position shapes (C,A,G, E and D), then, with just a change or two, turning them into some more inspiring chords. Have a go at some new progressions, and, as you gain confidence with these shapes, see if you can move them up the fretboard by turning them into barre chords.

1 Basic shape

Open C chord

Cmaj9 is often used in ballads and love songs and is a favourite of Johnny Marr who used it in Heaven knows i’ m miserable now by The Smiths.

C/G works great in fingerstyle.

2 Basic shape

Open A chord

Our Am11 shape has a sophisticated sound as used by fusion guitarists like John Scofield and Scott Henderson. Am6 is mysterious but unusual. Aadd9 is rich and warm.

3 Basic shape

Open G chord

The G shape is not as well used because the fingering overlaps with the E shape. Our G6/9 is popular in rockabilly and is used by guitarists like Brian Setzer and Scotty Moore.

4 Basic shape

Open e chord

Guitarists like Andy Summers and The Edge are keen on using sus and add chords to create richer sounding pop guitar parts. The Em11 chord here sounds expansive.

5 Basic shape

Open d chord

E7/D is an E7 chord (thus shown before the slash mark) over a D root note (placed after the slash). Nuno Bettencourt used E7/D in Extreme’s Holehearted.