Guitar Chords 101 Berklee Pdf May 2026

A Practical Guide for the Modern Guitarist (Course Equivalent: HRM-112, Guitar Chords I) Introduction: Beyond the Open Chord Welcome to the Berklee method for guitar chords. If you’ve been playing basic open chords (C, D, G, Em) or barre chords (F, Bm), you already have a foundation. But to think like a professional guitarist, you need to move from memorizing shapes to understanding harmony .

| Family | Quality | Sound | Function | Example in C Major | |--------|---------|-------|----------|--------------------| | | Major | Restful, resolved | Home base | C, F (sometimes) | | Subdominant | Major/minor | Moving away | Transition | Dm, F | | Dominant | Major + b7 | Tense, wants to resolve | Creates need to return to tonic | G7 | guitar chords 101 berklee pdf

Play only the 3rd and 7th of each chord on the middle strings. No roots. This trains your ear to hear harmonic motion , not bass movement. Part 4: Voice Leading – The Berklee "One-Finger Rule" The most important concept: when changing chords, move each finger as little as possible . A Practical Guide for the Modern Guitarist (Course

| Chord | Shape (E-A-D-G-B-E) | Movement | |-------|---------------------|-----------| | Dm7 | X-5-3-5-5-X | | | G7 | X-5-4-3-3-X | Each voice moves by step or half-step | | Cmaj7 | X-3-2-0-0-X | Minimal motion | | Family | Quality | Sound | Function