Guitar Chords in E Major
Diatonic Triads in E
The guitar chords in E Major. In this set of chords, we will move the F#m shape to the G#m (fret 4), rather than use a G form (with a flatted 3) for the G#m.
We have a majority of bar chords here as well (I,ii, iii, IV, V, vi) - keep in mind that you can use fragments or smaller pieces of any chord. The dominant 7, B7, is included and substituted in the chord scale for D#o.
The Major Keys: C G D A E B F# Gb Db Ab Eb Bb F
Practice fretting all of the guitar chords in E.
Practice the scale. If you need help interpreting the Scale Frame in the middle box above, please consult this lesson. There are 4#'s in the key of E.
Play the Chord Scale and the progression (I-vi-ii-V7-I). Remember, it's fine to utilize pieces or fragments of these chords. 4 string voicings (1, 2, 3, and 4 strings) are common.
Memorize the following:
How many guitar chords are there?
This depends on what you consider a chord. A chord is defined as 3 or more tones played simultaneously, or sounding together (typically built every other tone in a 7 tone scale).
Yet, 2 notes is a mini-chord (doublestop). And, really every single tone is a combination of a fundamental tone (the root) and a series of overtones, so in this way a single tone can be heard as a chord.
So, if we stick with 3 or more, and just standard tuning, the human hand can play roughly 250,000 chords. Do we need to know the names of all of them? Ouch. Brain space issues. Really, we only need about 50 to play 97% of all pop music.
I recall in a lesson once (I have lesson stories that could be a movie...wink), a Mom used to sit in on the lesson. The student was a 9 year old girl (the girl guitar revolution is happening - this girl could really play - especially once we removed the 50's style 3-note at a time guitar method).
We were building new chords, and the Mom looked right at me and said, with a heavy sigh, 'how...many chords are there?' We belly laughed for about 5 minutes. It struck me that she was dead on. The way she said it summed up so many student's overwhelm...please, man, stop with all the chords, how many do I really need?
Everyone has a unique way of counting things. I could say there are a million chords and justify it using logic. Or, there are only 5 (CAGED) and make a good case for that. Or, there is only one. We are all one big harmonious chord. Give me a break.
Guitar Chords in E Major using a Linear perspective
