LESSON #1 www.guitar-tracks.com

THE 7TH FRET OPEN CHORD POSITION.

The 7th fret of the guitar can be a valuable locator. The note on the 7th fret of a given string, is the octave of the following open string, e.g. 7th fret 5th string = octave of the open 6th string (E).

For those of you with a math mind, here is why. An octave is 6 tones (12 frets). Since we tune the guitar on the 5th fret, we can say that a string (opened) is 5 frets in advance if compared to the following open string (e.g. the 5th string is 5 frets in advance if compared to the 6th string).

5 frets + 7 frets = 12 frets= octave.

The only exception is the normal exception of the 2nd string (tuned to the fourth fret).

Notes of the 7th fret:

B E A D G B

This gives us access to several open chords on the seventh fret. The open strings of the chords below, are those of the original E or A shapes respectively. The forms displayed are all major chords but feel free to experiment with different types.

E

E

E

A

A

A

7

7

7

7

7

7

A shape

C&A shape

C shape

D shape

F&D shape

F shape

C&A and F&D are hybrid shapes