page_title: Guitar chord
section_title: Alternate tunings
hierarchical_section_title: Guitar chord / Fundamental chords / Alternate tunings
caption_attribution_description: English: A three-by-three illustration of major-thirds tuning. Each row concerns exactly one natural note: C, D, or G. Each column concerns exactly one type of chord: Minor, major, or dominant seventh.
context_page_description: In music, a guitar chord is a set of notes played on a guitar. A chord's notes are often played simultaneously, but they can be played sequentially in an arpeggio.
  The implementation of guitar chords depends on the guitar tuning. Most guitars used in popular music have six strings with the "standard" tuning of the Spanish classical guitar, namely E-A-D-G-B-E'; in standard tuning, the intervals present among adjacent strings are perfect fourths except for the major third. Standard tuning requires four chord-shapes for the major triads.
  There are separate chord-forms for chords having their root note on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth strings. For a six-string guitar in standard tuning, it may be necessary to drop or omit one or more tones from the chord; this is typically the root or fifth. The layout of notes on the fretboard in standard tuning often forces guitarists to permute the tonal order of notes in a chord.
  The playing of conventional chords is simplified by open tunings, which are especially popular in folk, blues guitar and non-Spanish classical guitar.
context_section_description: There are many alternate tunings. These change the way chords are played, making some chords easier to play and others harder.
  Open tunings each allow a chord to be played by strumming the strings when "open", or while fretting no strings.  Open tunings are common in blues and folk music, and they are used in the playing of slide guitar.
  Drop tunings are common in hard rock and heavy metal music. In drop-D tuning, the standard tuning's E-string is tuned down to a D note. With drop-D tuning,  the bottom three strings are tuned to a root-fifth-octave (D-A-D) tuning, which simplifies the playing of power chords.
  Regular tunings allow chord note-forms to be shifted all around the fretboard, on all six strings (unlike standard or other non-regular tunings). Knowing a few note-patterns—for example of the C major, C minor, and C7 chords—enables a guitarist to play all such chords.
caption: Chords have consistent shapes everywhere on the fretboard for each regular tuning, for example, major-thirds (M3) tuning.
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