Chords

30 EASY AND
POWERFUL CHORDS
By Claude Johnson

The following 30 chords are all played in the open position, meaning we are taking
advantage of open strings. This makes them easy to play. I would definitely
recommend learning all of these, if you don't know them already. Let's begin:

Open Chord #1: E minor
This is one of the easiest chord to play, it's an E minor chord in its first positionwith
open strings. The chord structure of the minor chords are: Root, a minor 3rd and a perfect
5th .

Also let's take a look at this chord in a musical context…

Open Chord #2: E major
This is another easy chord to play, it's an E major chord in its first position with open
strings. The chord structure of the major chords are: Root, a major 3rd and a perfect 5th .

Here it is:

And let's take a lookat this chord in a musical context…

Open Chord #3: E7 (dominant chord)
This is another really easy chord to play. it's an E dominant 7 or E7 chord in its first
position with open strings. The chord structure of the dominant chords are: Root, a
major 3rd , a perfect 5th and a minor 7th .

Let's take a look at this chord in a musical context…

Open Chord #4: Emaj7
This is an E major 7th chord inits first position with open strings. The chord structure of
the major 7th chords are: Root, a major 3rd , a perfect 5th and a major 7th .

Let's take a look at this chord in a musical context…

Open Chord #5: E7sus4
This is another really easy chord to play, it's an E dominant7 with a sus 4th in its first
position with open strings. The sus 4 means suspended 4th , so here we replace the major3rd for a perfect 4th . The chord structure would be: Root, a perfect 4th , a perfect 5th and a
minor 7th .

Let's take a look at this chord in a musical context…

Open Chord #6: Esus4
This is an E major chord in its first position with open strings with a suspended 4th . The
chord structure of the major sus4 chords are: Root, a perfect 4th , and a perfect 5th .

Let's take a look at this chord ina musical context…

Open Chord #7: A minor
This is another easy chord to play, it's an A minor chord in its first position with open
strings.

Let's take a look at this chord in a musical context…

Open Chord #8: A major
Another `Must know' chord, it's an A major chord in its first position with open strings.
As we already have seen, the chord structure of the major chords are: Root, a major 3rdand a perfect 5th .

Let's take a look at this chord in a musical context…

Open Chord #9: A7
This is an A dominant chord in its first position with open strings. The chord structure of
the dominant chords are: Root, a major 3rd , a perfect 5th and a minor 7th .
Let's see how to play it:

Let's take a look at this chord in a musical context…

Open Chord #10: Amaj7
This is an A major 7th chord inits first position with open strings. The chord structure of
the major 7th chords are: Root, a major 3rd , a perfect 5th and a major 7th .

Let's take a look at this chord in a musical context…

Open Chord #11: A sus2
This is an A major sus2 chord in its first position with open strings. The sus2 means that
it has a suspended 2nd so the chord structure would be: Root, a major 2nd , a major 3rd ,a
perfect 5th and a major 7th . In the example below I didn't put the 3rd so it can be used like
a minor chord too. Check it out!

Let's take a look at this chord in a musical context…

Open Chord #12: A minor 7

This is a minor chord with the add of a minor 7th . So the structure would be: Root,
minor 3rd, a perfect 5th and a minor 7th .

Let's take a look at this chord in a musical context…Open Chord #13: Asus4
This is an A major chord in its first position with open strings with a suspended 4th . The
chord structure of the major sus4 chords are: Root, a perfect 4th , and a perfect 5th .
Let's see how to play it!

Let's take a look at this chord in a musical context…

Open Chord #14: D major
Another `Must know' chord, it's a D major chord in its first position with open strings.
As...