Everything About Chords
Articles on EVERY guitar chord type (maj, min, sus, dim, aug,7b5), and how chords are built from scales. I also cover popular songs that use "complex" chords, the best keys for open chords when using a capo on different frets, the "tendency" for every chord, chord names that equal other chord names, & more...
Download Chord Charts
I have many different PDF files for download. The basic ones are free. The LARGE files are for pay downloads only. Check out the downloads page for descriptions of all the files. I have over 2600 chords, chord "boxes", scales and intervals shapes, and I guarantee you that a lot are ones you've never seen.
Article Category Topics
The Categories page details the different articles by topic. The Blog link includes all my articles. The first 6 subcategories are for scale & chord types (man, min, dim, aug, sus, 7b5) The last 2 categories are Music Fundamentals (modes, rhythm, notation, song structures, etc.) and Guitar & Gear.(all the cool stuff).
My Chops
I’m just a regular guy who can play guitar: not like a world class player, but better than a hack. I played bass in a band for a short time, and taught myself to play simple blues on a piano. I used music theory and a lot of paper to sketch out and find voicings for every possible guitar chord.
Quotes Alley
“The wise musicians are those who play what they master.”
~ Duke Ellington
“The beautiful thing about learning (guitar) is that nobody can take it away from you.”
~ BB King
“I play the guitar because it lets me dream out loud.”
~ Michael Hedges
“The music is not in the notes but in the silence between.”
~ Mozart
“Magic is what we do, music is how we do it.”
~ Jerry Garcia
“Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.”
~ Lao Tzu
Member Area (Coming soon)
In the member’s area, I will have a number of programs, charts & PDF files that you will find extremely helpful.
The chord checker
Enter the notes for any chord you are using, and it will return the chord name and all other chords that most closely match that chord. This is helpful if you do not know the name or type of the chord and are unsure of which scale to use.
The scale checker
It is similar to the chord checker in that you enter the notes of any scale, or chord, and the results show all scales with all, or most, of the chord tones. It will give you ideas of different scales to use for riffs and solos. Sometimes the “off” notes great.
The tendency chart
You can put in any chord name and it will show the tendencies where that chord “wants” to resolve. For example, G7 has the strongest tendency to resolve to C major – no brainer. However, a G7 also has a “soft” resolve tendency to Gb major, F major, and A minor. This gives you more ideas when writing a song.
The chord substitute table
You can enter the notes of any 3 or 4-note guiatr chord and find every chord that also has those notes in it. This is an advanced thing that jazz guys use a lot to change the standard chords used in the cover of a popular song. For example, you could swap in an Abmaj7#5 for a Cmaj for a different sound.
The ultimate slash chord chart
I added every non-chord tome as the bass note for every 3 and 4-note guitar chord and ran that slash chord through my chord checker. The results showed me what chord you get when you add any note to the bass of a chord. I found 55 really interesting slash chords.
Keep in mind this these are not your standard slash chords. Standard slash chords have a bass note other than the root note. All you do is add any chromatic note and all 55 slash chords are shown for that note. For example, if you add a b13 in the bass of a sus chord, you get a m add9 on the IV (Gsus\Eb = Cm add9). Use this with the tendency chart for chord progression ideas.
Complete chord shapes, PDFs and more
My complete list of shapes for every guitar chord are only available in the member area. I see too many e-books available from a Google search that I’m sure it would happen to my chord files.
I will have chord, scale and tab sheets that you can download as PDF files. I have simple ones available for everyone, but there are more versions in the members area.
You can also print out lists of every guitar chord in any key you want. You can enter any Key and a formatted list of every chord with notes can be downloaded or printed.