Now that you've mastered open chords and learned a few tunes, you're ready to expand your skills by exploring new chords and positions on the guitar neck.
Power chords (5 chords) are versatile, simple shapes used frequently in rock, pop, and metal. They contain only two notes: the root and the fifth. Octave shapes reinforce melodies by doubling notes at different pitches. Notice that the octave shape with the root on the D string is different than the others, that is because G -> B is a major third away (4 half steps). The guitar uses fourths (5 half steps) for every other string on the neck (E -> A, A -> D etc.)
Practice:
First two measures: harmonizing power chords with the major scale
Last two measures: harmonizing power chords with the natural minor scale.
Barre chords let you move familiar chord shapes up and down the neck, unlocking many more chords.
Getting Started with Barre Chords:
Step 1: Mini Barre - Use your pointer finger to press down the third fret of the high E and B strings.
Step 2: "Half" Barre - Place more fingers down
Step 3: Full Barre - Catch the Low G root with the barre
Step 1: Mini shape - No barre required, nice simple minor shape..
Step 2: "Half" Barre - Place more fingers down with our existing shape.
Step 3: Full Barre - Barre the high E and the B root on the A string.
Minor Third: To transform our E shape into a minor shape, we just need to flatten the third (Em shape). Lift the finger on the G string and replace it with our barre flattening the third by one half-step.
Major Third: To transform our Bm shape into a major shape we can raise the third (A shape).
Notice that we can see the E major and A minor open chord shape within the barre in our full shapes.
Try harmonizing a scale using the two primary barre shapes (E major, A minor), then explore barring other familiar open chord shapes.
Shell voicings are simplified chords that typically contain only the root, third, and seventh—omitting the fifth. But why leave out the fifth?
The fifth note of a chord provides stability but contributes the least melodic character or color. Removing it simplifies our chord shapes without sacrificing the chord’s identity, allowing us to highlight the more expressive intervals—the third and seventh. We also free up one of our 4 possible fingers, allowing the player to extend by thirds beyond the 7th adding more color to our chords (Ex. 9th, 11th, 13th).
When we harmonize a scale, we build chords by stacking notes from the scale in intervals of thirds. Let’s use the C major scale as an example:
If we harmonize this scale starting from C (stacking thirds), we get:
This gives us a CMaj7 chord (C–E–B) as a shell voicing.
Let’s explore how Dominant 7 and Minor 7 chords emerge from harmonizing the scale:
The addition of the 7th interval transforms chords by adding emotional depth and complexity:
Try harmonizing the C major scale with some these three-note shell voicings, emphasizing the root, third, and seventh:
Here are some examples of shell voicings, 1 - 3 - 7 and 1 - 7 - 3 refers to the order of the notes in the chord. As you practice, listen closely to how adding the seventh changes the mood and depth of your chords, making your playing richer and more expressive.
You’ve worked with triads (1-3-5) and shell voicings that add the 7th. Stack one more third and you hit the 9th—that bright, breathy colour you hear in jazzy chords. Keep stacking and you’d reach the 11th and 13th, but for now we’ll stay focused on 9ths so you can apply them immediately.
On guitar you almost never grab every note. We keep the shell (root + 3rd + 7th), drop the 5th, and hang the 9th on top. Same fretting logic you already know, just one more note.
These extended 9th chords can add new feeling and texture to your playing and each extensions feels different. Harmonize the shapes in a scale and you're good to go.