How To Read A Guitar Chord Chart
Reading guitar chord charts is essential to becoming a good guitarist.
Today, I'll teach you how to read guitar chord charts. You'll need some basic musical knowledge, but I'll break down how to read a simple one.
If you need help learning more guitar chords, click here
What Is Music Staff?
The horizontal lines where music is written is called a music staff. The staff is divided into bit-size chunks by vertical lines called "bar lines," and those bit-size chunks are called measures or bars.
What Is A Measure In Music?
The music staff is broken up into bite-size chunks called "bars" or "measures." This makes reading the music easy to read. Each measure will ONLY have a specific amount of beats per measure as indicated by the time signature NO MORE and NO less. Very import things happen on the FIRST beat of the measure so this is critical to understand and internalize.
What are the numbers above a measure?
Depending on the context it this could refer to several things. In the chart at the top of the page these are used as "measure numbers." This way if I said, lets jump to measure 34 you don't have to count them one by one. Sometimes this are on every measure or as I have them just the first measure of each system of measures.
Numbers above a measure in music could also refer to the recommended fingers to use for the music. If the numbers are below a chord diagram then those would be the recommended fingers to fret the chord.
1 = index finger, 2 = middle finger, 3 = ring finger, 4 = pinky, T = thumb.
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Time Signature In Music?
A time signature tells you how many beats are in each measure. It consists of 2 numbers on top of each other. e.g., 4/4. The top number means how many beats per measure. The top number can be anything, but the bottom number represents a specific rhythmic value. When the number 4 is on the bottom, it means the quarter note is equal to 1 beat. Most popular songs in western music are in 4/4 time.
How To Read Rhythms For Guitar
Whole note = 4 beats(the whole measure)
Half note = 2 beats (half the measure in 4/4 time)
Quarter note = 1 beat
Eighth note = 0.5 of a beat
Sixteenth note = 0.25 of a beat
See video for breakdown
What Are Sections Of Songs Called?
Moderns songs (rock, pop, metal, country) will use some or all of the following sections of song:
Intro: The introduction of the song (no vocals)
Verse: Vocals enter and tells the story of the song
Prechorus (lift): Is used to bridge the gap from verse to chorus if there is too much disparity between the two.
Chorus - The hook, the main sing along
Interlude - Can be instrumental or have vocals. Acts like its own unique section
Bridge - is a totally different part of the song designed to "bridge" the first 2/3's of the song to the last. Helps get a bit more milage out of the song.
Outro - ending of song.
Sometimes, you may see sections of a song labeled "A," "B," "C," etc.
What is a double bar line when reading music?
This simply means its the end of a section (like a verse). Also, the end of a song will have a thin black line and a sold black line.
How Do You Chart Guitar Chords?
There are a few ways to write chords in a guitar chord chart.
- Write the chord above the measure
- Write the chord above the measure and include the chord diagram for the chord
- Write the chord above the measure and include all the chords in the song at the first of the song (under the title)
- Write the chord above the measure and also notate each note for the voicing in the notation
If you just have the name of the chord above the measure without specifically indicating which chord voicing to use the musician can interpret the chart as they see fit. They could play an open chord, bar chord, triad, etc etc.
How To Read Repeat Symbols In Music
Ideally we have the chart on as little papers as possible (like one page) so its easy to read. To do this we use repeat symbols.
A Sectional Repeat means to repeat everything in the section. You just repeat it once unless otherwise noted (there will be something like 4x above the measure). A sectional repeat has two sides. The "open" which is indicated by a thick line + thin line + 2 dots and the "close" which is the opposite. 2 dots + a thin line + thick line.
A single measure repeat means to repeat the previous measure. It looks like a % sign in the middle of the measure.
A double measure repeat means to repeat the previous TWO measures. It looks similar to the single measure repeat but it has two // with dots on each side and is on the bar line of two measures.
Be sure to watch the video on this page for further clarification.
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