What's the prettiest chord?

9 Beautiful Chords on Guitar and How to Actually Play Them Cadd9. Gsus4. Em9. Am(add9) Amaj7. Dsus2 and Dsus4. Bb13. C#m9. More items... •

blitzguitar.com - 9 Beautiful Chords on Guitar and How to Actually Play Them

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Chords are probably the very first thing guitar players learn when they start playing guitar. Think about the hundreds of songs you can play with a handful of chords. If you use a guitar capo, things are even easier because you can transpose the chords in different positions of the guitar neck.

It sounds good, right?

The problem is, playing the same chords over and over again is the main reason why you get bored of playing the guitar. All the songs sound the same, and after a while you find yourself thinking “How can I learn new chords?” or “When can I learn intermediate chords?” In this fingerstyle guitar lesson, I am going to show you nine beautiful chords on guitar and how to actually play them. Once I show you the chord, I will demonstrate how to play it in a beautiful chord progression.

These are the beautiful chords we will learn:

Cadd9 Gsus4 Em9 Am(add9) Amaj7 Dsus2 and Dsus4 Bb13 C#m9 Emaj7

About Chords and Extended Chords

Before we start playing any chords, you need to learn about extended chords. The list of chords we are about to learn includes many extended chords. An extended chord is a simple chord (or basic chord) played with additional notes from the scale.

The difference between basic and extended chords is that:

A basic chord has three note only, the root note, 3rd, and 5th. The root note gives the name to the chord; the 3rd determines if the chord is major or minor, and the 5th is the perfect, diminished or augmented interval inside the chord. Extended notes such as 7th, 9th, 11th, and 13th add beautiful colors to the basic chords.

Enjoy these chords guys.

The Cadd9 chord is an extended chord that can be used in the C major and G major key as well as relative minor keys such as A minor or E minor.

It’s a basic triad with the extended 9th.

The notes of the Cadd9 chord are C E G D (root, major 3rd, perfect 5th, major 9th)

This is the Cadd9 chord diagram:

The Cadd9 chord is a beautiful open chord that fits perfectly between chords such as G or E minor. The additional note D creates a resonating cluster with the top E string open. The chord progression I am about to show you is Cadd9 | G | Am | Fadd9|. The F chord is also played as an add9 chord.

2. Gsus4 Chord

The Gsus4 is a very popular chord on the guitar.

Also called “Suspended” chord, the Sus4 is an extended chord played with the root note, 4th, and 5th. Because this chord doesn’t have the 3rd, it can be neither major or minor. That explained the “Suspended” label. The notes of the Gsus4 chord are G C D (Root, perfect 4th, and perfect 5th).

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This is the Gsus4 chord diagram:

One of the things I like a lot about the Gsus4 chord is that it’s easy to create simple voicings within the chords. We can move the 4th back to the 3rd and use the voicing to create a simple melodic idea.

Check the example below.

3. Em9 Chord

The Em9 chord I am about to show you is indeed one of the most popular chords on the guitar. The cluster between the F# and G is pretty much the reason why I love this chord so much. The m9 is a chord with root, minor 3rd, perfect 5th, minor 7th, and major 9th. We add the minor 7th even though it doesn’t show in the chord name.

The notes of the Em9 chord are E G B D F#.

This is the Em9 chord diagram:

As I was saying, I love the cluster between the note F# and G and between the note D and E. With this chord we can come up with a simple yet beautiful chord progression like this one: Em9 | Cadd9 | G | D |

Check the example below.

4. Am(add9) Chord

The Am(add9) chord is another great chord that will take you from beginner to intermediate level. This chord can be quite stretchy on the little finger, so I highly recommend that position your left hand correctly (more info in this article). The add9 chord is a basic chord played with the major 9th. The notes of the Am(add9) chord are A C E B (Root, minor 3rd, perfect 5th, and major 9th).

This is the Am(add9) chord diagram:

I love the exotic sound of the Am(add9) chord. Once you overcome the initial struggle, you will find yourself playing this chord over and over again. The chord progression is Am(add9) | Am(add9)/G | Fmaj7 | % |. Repeat the Fmaj7 for two measure.

5. Amaj7 Chord

There is one word that best describes the Amaj7 chord, and this is “Dreamy.” The maj7 is indeed one of the most satisfying chords family to explore, learn, and put into practice. The Amaj7 chord is a basic chord with the extended 7th. The notes are A C# E G# (Root, major 3rd, perfect 5th, and major 7th).

This is the Amaj7 chord diagram:

It’s easy to write a beautiful chord progression when you work with such an amazing chord. In this example, we are going to play Amaj7 | Dmaj7 | Amaj7 | Esus4 |.

6. Dsus2 and Dsus4

Let’s explore more suspended chords in D major key.

You already learned that the suspended chord is a chord played without the 3rd.

The difference between the Sus2 and Sus4 chord is that

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With the Sus2 we lower the 3rd of the chord down to the 2nd. With the Sus4 we raise the 3rd of the chord to the 4th. The notes for the Dsus2 are D E A (root, major 2nd, and perfect 5th). The notes for the Dsus4 are D G A (Root, perfect 4th, perfect 5th).

This is the chord diagram of both chords.

Using both DSus2 and DSus4 in the same chord progression make it easy to write awesome chord progressions. You can actually write a song with just these two chords.

Let me show you an example.

7. Bb13 Chord

Let’s explore a Jazzy chord progression with the Bb13 chord.

The 13th chords are extended chords played with root, 3, 5, 7, and 13. Just like the Em9 chord, the Bb13 will also have the 7th. For the Bb13 the notes are Bb D F Ab G (Root, major 3rd, perfect 4th, minor 7th, and major 13th).

This is the chord diagram:

With such a jazzy chord we can’t help but playing jazzy chord progressions. In this example, we are going to play Ebm9 | Bb13 | Dbmaj7 | Dbmaj9 |. Some of these chords are stretchy so take it step-by-step.

8. C#m9 Chord

Let me show you one of my favorite chord on the guitar, the C#m9. This chord is insanely beautiful, and it can be played with both strumming and fingerpicking technique. It’s a basic chord with the extended 7th and 9th. The notes of the C#m9 chord are C# E G# B D# (Root, minor 3rd, perfect 5th, minor 7th, and major 9th).

This is the diagram of this beautiful chord:

This chord works beautifully with chords such as A, E, F#m, and B major. If we also add extensions to these chords, the result is guaranteed.

This is a chord progression with the C#m9 chord.

9. Emaj7 Chord

Last but not least the Emaj7 chord made it to this awesome list.

This chord is a basic chord with the extended major 7th.

The notes are E G# B D# (Root, major 3rd, perfect 5th, and major 7th).

This is the diagram for the Emaj7 chord:

The Emaj7 chord is a beautiful dreamy chord that can be played along with the Amaj7, C#m9, or B major. In this example, we are going to focus on a simple example using Emaj | Amaj |x2

Let’s Wrap This Up

I hope you enjoyed learning these beautiful chords.

The goal for this lesson is to show you that you can quickly implement beautiful chords into your playing as long as you put them into practice.

Good luck with this lesson.

blitzguitar.com - 9 Beautiful Chords on Guitar and How to Actually Play Them

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