Glossary of Guitar Chord Terms

arpeggio - a chord played one note at a time in ascending or descending order

augmented - a chord using the 1st, flat (♭) 3rd, and flat (♭) 5th notes from a major scale

barre chord - a common, movable guitar chord using one finger to fret multiple strings at the same time

chord - a group of specific notes from a major scale played together

dominant 7 - a major chord using the flat (♭) 7th note of the major scale

flat (♭) - the note one half step, or semitone, down from the original note

inverted chord - a chord where the notes are swapped into a different order of the same notes

key - a group of chords based on the notes of a scale

major chord - a chord using the root (1st), 3rd, and 5th notes from a major scale

minor chord - a chord using the root (1st), 3rd flat (♭), and 5th notes from a major scale

moveable chord - a guitar chord form that can be moved up and down the fret board

open chord - a chord played with one or more strings played open without any fretted notes on the fretboard

power chord - a guitar chord using the root note and 5th note of a major scale, also known as a 5th chord. Power chords are neither major or minor because they don't use a 3rd

progression - an order chords are played together based on their chord key

triad - a chord using the (intervals of 3) first, third, and fifth notes of a major scale