Worship Chord Shapes

[Curtis Boykins]

Inthis post I wanted to create an outline of chord shapes that can equip any guitarist, electric or acoustic, to be able to get up on stage at their church and fill in the mix nicely. Many people ask us about transposing, so here is a great solution. If I had these basic chords given to me when I was younger I would have most likely advanced in my playing much quicker.

With each of the chord shapes outlined in this post there are countless variations. In my own playing, I have developed many preferred alternative chords that I play differently than what is listed here. After mastering these basics, I encourage everyone to pursue deeper knowledge of theory and the fretboard so you can easily explore alternative chord voicings. Many chord choices I have found have come from learning other songs and developing an ear for what works, so keep practicing!

With all of the chords, I have listed out the general 7 chord shapes you would need for each song. Most worship songs are simple and call for the 1, 5, 6, and 4 chords (that progression is the most common). To keep things simple, for guitar, you can get away with interchanging the 1/3 with the 1, and the 5/7 with the 5. If all of these numbers are confusing you, do not worry about it, but I would encourage you to research The Nashville Number System as you practice.

These are the most basic chords anyone could probably know. Many people play them differently, but most of the time this is how I roll. I rarely play the high E string with these chords and if I do I will alternate what note I choose depending on what emotion I want (i.e. 0, 2, 3). If you have a capo, you should be able alternate between these G and D open chord shapes to play in any key.

These box chord shapes will allow you to play in any key, but without a capo. These will give you some different voicings to help you play better with other guitarists as well as open the door for more lead guitar options. Make sure to practice using your fretting hand to mute any unplayed strings to make things cleaner.

If you listen to contemporary church music you will probably notice that there are certain chord progressions that are used quite often. In this lesson we will be taking a look at two of those progressions. The first progression is a 14541 progression in the key of G major. I will show you two different ways to play this progression so that you have some options when choosing which chord voicings to use. The second progression is a 1564 progression in the key of E major. This is probably the most common progression in this style of modern church music. I have supplied you with the TAB, notation and chord diagrams for each progression.

Now instead of playing regular open chords for this 14541 progression I went ahead and gave you some less common chord shapes for the G, C and D chords that you can use to play the progression. These chords use mostly just the top four strings for a completely different and lighter sound. Again, if you are not familiar with the shapes just check out the chord diagrams or TAB.

The next progression that we are going to learn is a 1564 progression in the key of E major. In the key of E major the 1 chord is E major, the 5 chord is a B major, the 6 chord is a C# minor and the 4 chord is an A major. The 1564 progression in the key of E major would be E major, B major, C# minor and A major. Check out the chord diagrams and the TAB if you do not know the shapes for the chords that we are using.

Play around with these progressions and start to try to memorize what they sound like and how the chords flow. If you work on this you will start to recognize these progressions in some of the church music that you are learning or just listening to.

When learning guitar, it is always easiest to begin with the chords that use open strings. The good news is that you can play almost all Christian music without the use of barre chords. In fact, you can play most music (Christian or secular) by learning only 6 major chords and 6 minor chords and then using a capo to play the other keys.

Each key in music has only 3 major and 3 minor chords that you need to know. I recommend that you start with the key of G. The chords you need to learn, in order of importance, for the key of G are: G, D, C, Em, Am, Bm.

There are two ways to play the G chord. The second one leads nicely to an alternate version of the C chord and is used when you need to switch between the G and the C chord a lot in a song. It is optional but can make playing in the key of G a little easier with certain songs.

There are two ways to play the C chord. The Cadd9 version (the 2nd diagram below) can be used in the key of G to replace any C chord. It has a little more color than the C chord and leads very easily to the Alternate G chord (2nd G chord) above. It is an optional chord, but many people like how it feels and sounds. Notice how similar in shape it is to the Alternate G Chord.

The Am chord can be played either with or without the 7th. Anytime you see an Am chord you can play the 7th chord in its place if you wish, with the exception of the key of A minor where it is best to stick to the Am chord. I recommend learning both. Notice how similar the two chords are to each other.

The last chord you need to learn in the key of G is the Bm chord. The standard Bm chord is a barre chord so I recommend learning the Bm7. You can play a Bm7 any place you see a Bm chord except in the key of B minor.

The final key is C. The two new chords to learn for the key of C are F and Dm. I also recommend learning the Gsus to complete your knowledge of suspended chords on the 5th scale degree (suspended dominant chords).

2 Chords, also known as sus2 chords, are a very simple way to add some extra color or movement to your chords. The D2 and A2 are very easy to play. Use the D2 and A2 as replacements for the D and A chord when you want a more "earthy" sound. It is also fun to go between the 2 chord and the major chord to add some movement within the same chord.

Most of the minor 7th chords have already been included in the first section, "What Christian Guitar Chords Do I Need to Know?" I recommend starting with the Am7, Bm7, Em7, F#m7, C#m7, Dm7. The only one that we haven't looked at is the Em7.

Dominant 7th chords were very common Christian guitar chords but they now tend to sound dated and are rarely used in modern worship music. Still, I think every guitarist should be familiar with them because they are used a lot in older music and jazz. A dominant 7th chord is the 7th chord built on the 5th scale degree of the key. It will always be a major triad with a minor seventh. I recommend starting with the G7, D7, A7 and E7.

The Major 7th chords are somewhat rare in modern worship music, but can add a nice jazz flavor to your music. I recommend starting with the F, C, G, D and A chords. Notice that some of the Major 7th chords are easier to play than the major chords.

Learning to play the correct bass allows you to accompany with only your guitar and still capture the correct chords in their correct inversions. The key to playing slash chords is to make sure that the correct note - the note to the right of the slash - is the lowest sounding note in your chord. To do this you will need to know the names of the notes for at least the first 5 frets on strings 4-6 (the lowest sounding strings.)

Power chords are useful for the acoustic guitar player but essential for the electric guitar player. Any time you play with heavy distortion you should use power chords. The nice thing about power chords is that there are only 2 shapes: the 3 string version and the 2 string version. You can use the 3 string power chord on strings 5 and 6 (the two lowest sounding strings). You can use the 2 string power chord on strings 4-6.

Power chords, like barre chords are moveable chord shapes and require a thorough knowledge of the pitch names on the lower sounding strings (strings 4-6). The examples above would be the F and Bb power chords, respectively.

Barre chords are much easier to play on electric than acoustic guitar. If you know your barre chords then you don't need to use a capo. Barre chords are moveable chord shapes and you should know at least the major, minor and suspended versions using the E and A shape. It is also good to know the dominant and minor 7th barre chords.

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Wow! This is really good information and I will certainly use these chords in our praise and worship. I want to get this clear, so if I use the G chord form what fret will I play the progression? Do I play it at the standard position or other positions? Same with the D chord form, at which fret do I play the progression? What I mean is what is the reference key for each type of chord form. Is the G chord form for the G key andthe D chord form for the D key? If the key of a song is in G, do I use the G chord form and if the key of a song is in D, do I use the D chord form?

All of your examples we will in the key of C Major for Major, and A minor for minor. This is because these are the most basic keys in music, involving absolutely no accidentals (sharps or flats), which makes them the prime slate for learning.

Perhaps the most common progression used in worship guitar is the I, IV, I, V, or the tonic, subdominant, tonic, dominant progression. This progression, when used in C Major, would consist of the chords C, F, C, and G. Using the basic triads, we would come up with the notes C, E, G for our I chord, F, A, C for our IV chord, and G, B, D for our V chord.

Another great progression, which is very similar to our first, is the I, IV, V, I progression, or the tonic, subdominant, dominant, tonic progression. Another tonic based progression, when used in C Major, this progression consist of the chord C, F, G, and C. Our basic triads would be C, E, G for our I chord, F, A, C for our IV chord, and G, B, D for our V chord.

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