Rhythm Lesson 5: Acoustic Chords

Acoustic Chords are works for the whole hand. They can be used in both styles of strum and singular picking. They are notorious for the concept of the smooth and light feel of harmony. Below is a summery of the purpose and difficulties of each type of acoustic chord so you have an idea what you'll be working with. Afterwards, you will see collections of chord diagrams arranged by their known keys. Get to know them well and practice going from one to another often.

- Basic: These are chords that will take only 2 fingers to pull off. Every other string is practically open. These usually consist of finger positions that are simple and can be mastered in little time.
- Advanced: These are chords that will usually take 3 or more fingers and have fingering positions that will take some time to get used to. The hardest trick with any chord no matter what type is being able to get from one chord to another in a single, clear movement.
- Unusual: These are chords that are not commonly found in many songs. They are not the rarest or hardest but can be confusing to learn and master.
- Unique: These are the hardest and most weird chords you will ever find in a song. They require complicated fingering and can be the hardest to maneuver to from any other chord.
- Low Fretted: Low Fretted chords are found anywhere on the first 3 or 4 frets on any or all strings. They consist of the most common chords found in a song.
- Mid Fretted: Mid Fretted chords are sometimes low fretted chords played around the 5th to the 8th frets. At other times, they are reversed chords and unusual chords.
- High Fretted: High Fretted chords are usually unique chords that serve as especially melodic purposes like single picking. Although all the other types have their share of single picking use, these are the best or most unique types to use singular picking on.

Chord Reference
How To Read The Diagrams: In order to understand the following diagrams, you should know that the numbers shown, of course, represent what finger you are using where the number appears (1=first finger, 2=middle finger, 3=ring finger, 4=pinky) The diagram shows the fret board's strings sideways so that the nut is at the top, the top E string is all the way to the left, and the bottom high E string is all the way to the right. So you should see the strings running vertically, shown from left to right as follows: E A D G B E.

Chords Set E
Chords Set A
Chords Set D
Chords Set G
Chords Set B
Chords Set F
Chords Set Major 7th
Chords Set Extras
Barred Chords Example


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