How Many Guitar Chords Are They?

This is a simple yet though question for a guitar teacher to answer. Chords are named based on the 12 chromatic scale notes so they should be 12 chords right, or is it? Because every chords can also be a major, minor, dominant 7th, minor 7th, diminished, augmented, and there’s the add 9th, the suspended chords and so on. And it gets more confusing for the fact that every chord can also be played in many different locations on the fretboard in various fingerings. So perhaps the best way to understand chords is by looking into the formula for creating a chord itself.

Chords are easy to create, press any three notes on different strings on you guitar and play then together and you got a chord, you may end up with a good sounding chord or a total nonsense but it is still a chord. In short, chord can be thought of as a combination of any three notes (tones) played together. However, there is a formula that you can use to produce a good sounding chord.

Basic chords are created by applying a formula known as; Triads. Triads are a combination of three notes of the major scale that are a third apart from each other. Here’s an example of how triads are used to form the ‘C chord’:

C__D__E__F__G__A__B = C Major Scale

1__2__3__4__5__6__7

In the above example, the note (C), (E) and (G) are a third apart, forming a triad that makes up a ‘C chord’. So regardless of their order and location on the guitar fretboard, any combinations of these three notes are considered as a ‘C chord’ and this is why chords can be played in multiple locations in various fingerings on the fretboard.

So is it necessary to learn all of the different types of chords? Well, it actually depends on your goal and expectation for learning the instrument. If you are learning the guitar for personal entertainment and leisure, then knowing just the basic major and minor chords might be enough because with just these type of chords, you can basically play any song that you wish to learn. In the other hand, if you are learning to play for a more serious musical purpose for example to be in a band and write your own song or to have a career as a musician, then you will obviously need to learn beyond just the major and minor.

Want to learn more about the formula for constructing chords? 

Here's a chord formula chart for some of the most commonly used chords.