Music One Studios - The 28 Chords FAQ
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There are Only 28 Chords on each worksheet. There are in each, only 3 basic chords types (three Minor chords, Three Major chords and ONE diminished) + the 7 basic chords can be extended by using a 7th , 9th , or 11th. There are several different ways to analyze the 28 chords in each Key, That is what gives the Illusion that 1000's of chords exist. But there is on fact only 28 chords in Each Key. Here's the 28 Chords that are in "C" (remember, you can move any chord up > 12 frets and it will be the same chord.)

C major

C major 7th

C major 9th

C major 11th

D minor

D minor 7th

D minor 9th

D minor 11th

E minor

E minor 7th

E minor 9th

E minor 11th

F major

F major 7th

F major 9th

F major 11th

G major

G major 7th

G major 9th

G major 11th

A minor

A minor 7th

A minor 9th

A minor 11th

B diminished

B diminished 7th

B diminished 9th

B diminished 11th


- Any song written in the Key of "C", will use only these chords unless it changes to another Key. This is 1 of the 12 Keys! (this is Important in learning the chords- You MUST learn it in Your Head first- practicing on paper is far more efficient than practicing on the guitar!)

That is all of the Chords for the Key of "C", That's IT. When you fill in the all of the Notes for any of the chords above, then there are about twenty or more ways that you can make that one chord. All of the Worksheets are the same, Each will have just the 28 chords.

7 basic Chords (major, minor and diminished)

x 4 extensions (basic chord, 7th , 9th , 11th )

= 28 Chords!!!

A lot of times - a song will change to another Key, and scholars analyze the Chords from the original Key which causes A LOT of confusion. ( example - Playing in the Key of "C" and then changing to the Key of "G" but still WRITE out the music in the Key of "C")

This sounds confusing so just learn the basic 28 chords

Another confusing practice is "Inversions" This is naming a chord by what order the NOTES are in. (example - The "C" major chord uses only the notes C, E and G! --- when you play the C major chord you play all three notes together, If you play the C note FIRST (c, e, g,) - That is considered the ROOT INVERSION ---When you play the E note first (e, g, c) - That is considered the 1st INVERSION and when you play the G note first (g, c, e) - That is considered the 2nd INVERSION. Either way the Inversions above are still just a "C major" chord!

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