Open Seventh Chords for Guitar

Open seventh chords are so called because they are seventh chord fingerings that include strings played with no fingers on frets, or ‘open’. A seventh chord being the first note (or ‘root’), third note, fifth note and seventh note of the scale. These are among the first chords a beginner guitarist will learn, featuring in both Grade 1 and Grade 2.

In the diagrams that follow you will see the first four frets of a guitar neck – low E string on the left side, and the nut toward the top – if these terms are unfamiliar, check out Guitar Basics. The following guidance applies to all fretbox style diagrams on this site, and many others:

An ‘O’ above a string means play that string ‘open’ (no fingers on frets).
An ‘X’ above a string means do not play that string at all.
The black dots direct you to place a fingertip in that location, with the numbers being the suggested finger to use – 1=Index, 2=Middle, 3=Ring, 4=Pinky.
The coloured dots are the root note, so in an A minor scale the note A will be coloured. The note G would be coloured in G major and so on.

And these are the open seventh chord shapes most commonly used on the guitar. You will note that not all chords are shown, this is because the others are so arduous to play in the open position you’re better off playing the full barre chord.

Open Seventh Chords

These are the popular ways to hold the open seventh chords on guitar. The suggested fingerings have proven the most successful but you may find others work better for you and your physical circumstances – if any are uncomfortable, persevere but also experiment. Be sure to keep your thumb in the middle of the back of the neck and check the strings left to ring open are ringing clear. Also be sure not to play the strings marked ‘X’ – those notes are not in the chord, and will make the result less pleasing to the ear!

Open Major Seventh Chords

Major seventh chords are built using the first (root), major third, fifth and major seventh notes of the scale. These are the most commonly used open position shapes, you will note that there are two fingerings shown for D, your choice of using a separate finger for each or barring. I use the barre:

Open Dominant Seventh Chords

Dominant seventh chords are built using the first (root), major third, fifth and flattened seventh notes of the scale. These are the most commonly used open position shapes:

Open Minor Seventh Chords

Minor seventh chords are built using the first (root), minor third, fifth and flattened seventh notes of the scale. These are the most commonly used open position shapes:

You’ll find footage of me demonstrating the seventh chords in the videos below, as well as loads of other video lessons HERE

And that’s the Open Seventh Chords. You can find more articles on scales and guitar technique to help you develop as a player here. If you’ve got any questions please get in touch on Facebook or Twitter.

Now practice practice practice!