Guitar Chords Explained
A guitar chord looks like a shape to memorise, but underneath it's a simple recipe. Once you know the recipe, chords stop being random grips and start making sense — and you can build any of them yourself.
What a chord actually is
A chord is just a few notes sounded together. The most basic one — a triad — is built by picking a root note and then stacking two more notes a third apart. "A third apart" simply means skip a letter: start on C, skip D to reach E, skip F to reach G. Those three notes — C, E, G — are a C major chord.
Why major and minor feel different
The magic is in the middle note, the third. Keep C and G, but move the E down one fret (one semitone) to E♭, and the bright C major turns into a wistful C minor. That single half-step is the difference between "happy" and "sad" in almost all Western music. The root sets the name; the third sets the mood.
Sevenths and beyond — adding colour
Stack one more third on top of a triad and you get a seventh chord — four notes with a richer, more coloured sound. The dominant seventh(like G7) is special: it contains a built-in tension called a tritone that pulls strongly back toward the home chord, which is why it's the engine of blues, jazz and countless pop songs. Ninths, elevenths and thirteenths just keep stacking thirds for extra colour.
The same chord on guitar and piano
A chord is a set of notes, not a shape — so the same C major looks totally different on each instrument. The piano stacks the notes close together; the guitar spreads them across six strings and often doubles the root to fill out the sound. They're the same three note names either way. Seeing both at once is the fastest way to stop memorising grips and start understanding them.
Want to see it happen? In the interactive tool you can pick any root and chord type and watch every note light up on the fretboard and keyboard, with a panel breaking down exactly how it was built. Next, read about scales — the key that tells you which chords belong together.
Reading only gets you so far — open the interactive fretboard and watch these ideas light up on guitar and piano.
Enter the toolFrequently asked
What is a chord?
A chord is three or more notes played together. The most basic chord is a triad — a root note plus the notes a third and a fifth above it.
What makes a chord major or minor?
The middle note (the third) decides it. A major third above the root sounds bright and happy; a minor third — one semitone lower — sounds darker and sadder. Everything else stays the same.
How many guitar chords should a beginner learn first?
About eight open chords — C, A, G, E, D, Am, Em and Dm — let you play thousands of songs. Learn the shapes, then learn why they work so they stick.