Published:
2004-12-23
Updated:
2025-05-21
Learning Ukulele with Curt
A Guide to Guitar Chords
Covers basic guitar chords for beginning to intermediate guitar students. These are the chords that ALL guitar should know - regardless of style.
Author(s): Curt Sheller Publisher: Code: BC1GTR
Main Category: Chords Main Instrument: Guitar
Subjects: Chords, Beginner, Basics
24 June 2026
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Product Info
- Product Code: BC1GTR
- Author(s): Curt Sheller
- Publisher(s):
- Published: 23 December 2004
- Updated: 21 May 2025
- ISBN-13: 978-1-60321-035-5
- Size*: Book ANSI A (8.5 x 11 in), PDF A4 (210 x 297 mm)
- Pages: 58
- Hard Copy Price: $15.95
- PDF Price: $7.00
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Covers basic guitar chords for beginning to intermediate guitar students. These are the chords that ALL guitar should know - regardless of style.
Introduction
After playing guitar for over 40 years and teaching guitar for 20 years I saw that most guitar players struggle with movable chords forms and the more advanced chords commonly called "Jazz" chords.
Seeing that there was a lack of clear, concise and an organized presentation of material for guiding one through the maze of chords for the guitar. I decided to create just such a text.
This book provides a guide to the common basic open position chords all guitar players should know, an introduction to movable chord forms and more advanced 4-part jazz chords.
This book is designed as a guide to guitar chords. Covering basic open position guitar chords, movable chord forms, rock chords, how to transpose chords, learning the guitar fingerboard and an introduction to 4-part"Jazz" chords and more… It is proven material developed over the years from my private teaching and extensive research, study and application.
From a few basic chord shapes and a understanding of how chords are constructed your chord vocabulary can be dramatically increased without memorizing countless more chord shapes. There are too many chord shapes to memorize.
This book will take the mystery out playing and understanding chords on the guitar.
- Introduction 3
- Open Position Chords 7
- The Guitar Chord Diagram 8
- Movable Barre Forms 15
- “E/F” Barre Form 16
- “A/Bb” Barre Form 17
- “C/Db” Movable Form 18
- sus, add9 and Power 5 Chords 19
- Neutral Chords 20
- Barre Chords Fret Chart Summary 21
- Root & Fifth Chart 22
- Movable Triad Chord Forms 23
- Major Triads • String Family 1 2 3 & 2 3 4 24
- Minor Triads • String Family 1 2 3 & 2 3 4 24
- Diminished Triads • String Family 1 2 3 & 2 3 4 25
- Augmented Triads • String Family 1 2 3 & 2 3 4 25
- Tips for Remembering Triads 26
- Movable 4-Part Chord Forms 27
- Movable 7th Chords at Fret (1) • String Family 1 2 3 4 28
- Generic • Movable 7th Chords • String Family 1 2 3 4 28
- Additional 7th Movable Chord Forms 28
- Movable 7th Chords at Fret (1) • String Family 2 3 4 6 29
- Movable 7th Chords at Fret (1) • String Family 3 4 5 6 29
- Tips for Remembering 4-Part Chords 30
- 4-Part “Jazz” Chord Forms 31
- What is a Chord? 32
- A Few Chord Building Rules 33
- Creating the 4 Basic Chord Types 34
- Building More Advanced Chords 35
- Scale Interval Formula Chart 38
- Suggested Learning Order 40
- Transposing Chords & Progressions 43
- How to Transpose Chords 44
- Practice Chord Progressions 47
- Orlando Blues 48
- WC Swing 49
- Learning the Guitar Fingerboard 51
- Reference or Key Frets 51
- Enharmonic equivalents 53
- Sharps to Flats 53
- Flats to Sharps 53
- Standard Tuning Natural & Sharp Notes 54
- Standard Tuning Natural & Flat Notes 55
- Conclusion 57
- 16 FEB 2024 — NEW, every expanding version is abaialble with all the latest changes and additions.
- 9 NOV 2022 — The C5 chord on pg 10 fingering should be 2 1 4. not 2 3 4
- 24 DEV 2004 — (20041226.1.1) Error on page 21 fixed. C/Db should be same as A/Bb column.