Major vs Minor

You've already played both major and minor chords. The difference is their emotional quality:

Major chords sound bright, happy, resolved
Minor chords sound dark, sad, tense

The technical difference comes down to one note: the third. A major chord has a major third (4 semitones above the root), while a minor chord has a minor third (3 semitones). That single semitone difference completely changes the character of the chord.

The Open Minor Chords

You already know Em and Am. Let's add the third essential open minor chord: Dm (D minor).

Index finger: fret 1, string 1 (high E)
Middle finger: fret 2, string 3 (G)
Ring finger: fret 3, string 2 (B)

Strum from string 4 down. Don't play strings 5 or 6.

Dm has a melancholy, haunting sound. It's used extensively in pop, folk, and classical music.

Chord Families (Diatonic Chords)

In any major key, there are 7 chords that naturally belong — these are called the diatonic chords. They're built by stacking thirds from each note of the major scale.

In the key of C major the chords are:

C (I) — major
Dm (ii) — minor
Em (iii) — minor
F (IV) — major
G (V) — major
Am (vi) — minor
B° (vii°) — diminished (rare, you can ignore this for now)

Notice the pattern: Major, minor, minor, Major, Major, minor, diminished. This pattern is the same in EVERY major key — only the letter names change.

This is why G-C-D-Em sounds great together — they're all in the key of C (or G). They're family.

Common Chord Families

Here are the most guitar-friendly keys and their chords:

Key of G: G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em
Key of C: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am
Key of D: D, Em, F#m, G, A, Bm
Key of A: A, Bm, C#m, D, E, F#m
Key of E: E, F#m, G#m, A, B, C#m

If you know what key a song is in, you immediately know which chords are likely to appear. This makes learning songs much faster — you can often guess the next chord.

Tab Examples

e|--1--|
B|--3--|
G|--2--|
D|--0--|
A|-----|
E|-----|

Strum from string 4. Don't play strings 5 and 6.

e|--0--0--0--0--|--0--0--0--0--|--1--1--1--1--|--3--3--3--3--|
B|--1--1--1--1--|--1--1--1--1--|--3--3--3--3--|--0--0--0--0--|
G|--0--0--0--0--|--2--2--2--2--|--2--2--2--2--|--0--0--0--0--|
D|--2--2--2--2--|--2--2--2--2--|--0--0--0--0--|--0--0--0--0--|
A|--3--3--3--3--|--0--0--0--0--|-------------|--2--2--2--2--|
E|-------------|-------------|-------------|--3--3--3--3--|

All four chords belong to the key of C major. They naturally sound good together.

Chord Diagrams

X X O

Tips

The pattern Major-minor-minor-Major-Major-minor works in every key

Roman numerals: uppercase = major, lowercase = minor

The I, IV, and V chords are always major; the ii, iii, and vi are always minor

If you know 3-4 chords in a key, you can play most songs in that key

Practice Exercises

Learn the Dm chord shape and check all strings ring cleanly

Practice switching: Am↔Dm, Dm↔C, Dm↔G

Play the C-Am-Dm-G progression with the universal strumming pattern

Write down the chord family for the key of G from memory (G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em)

Pick a song you know and try to figure out what key it's in based on which chords it uses