Open chord

G major chord for guitar (open).

An A major chord for guitar (barre).

Violoncello chord on C  Play (help·info). Bottom two strings are open.

In music, especially guitar, an open chord (open-position chord) is a chord that is not fingered and fretted, the opposite of a barre chord, the strings of which ring, or sound, freely and fully.

'Cowboy' chord on C  Play (help·info)^[1].

Partial 'cowboy' chord on C  Play (help·info)^[1] (diminished chord).

In music, cowboy chord refers to open chords, chords with one or more open strings played within the first few frets, for example G major^[2]. See voicing (music). Angus Young of AC/DC is particularly well known for his use of open-position chords^[3].

The following sus and seventh chords (dominant and minor seventh) are also examples^[4]:

• Dsus4:[XX0233]
• Dsus2:[XX0230]
• Asus4:[X02230]
• Asus2:[X02200]
• Gsus4:[3X0013]
• D7: [XX0212]
• A7: [X02020]
• G7: [320001]
• E7: [020100]
• B7: [X21202]
• Em7: [0200(3)0], note: "(3)" is optional, may be 0 for an Em chord
• Am7: [X0201(3)]
• Dm7: [XX0211]
• Bm7: [X20202]

The 'cowboy' chord is the dominant seventh chord fretted on the guitar^[1]. If C7 the chord is played on the eighth fret.

See also: first position^[5].

Sources

1. ^ ^{a b c} Jacobs, Sid (2004). Mel Bay's The Changes Guide Tones for Jazz Chords, Line & Comping for Guitar, p.34. ISBN 0786672110.
2. ^ Koch, Greg (2004). Hal Leonard Country Guitar Method, p.6. ISBN 0634039490.
3. ^ Newquist and Maloof (2004). The Hard Rock Masters: The Way They Play, p.25. ISBN 0879308133.
4. ^ Koch (2004), p.32.
5. ^ Koch (2004), p.9.