Three String Guitar Chords

June 5th, 2017
guitar, music
The high three strings of a guitar are G-B-E, which is an interval of a third and then a fourth. The other strings of my guitar are broken right now, so I've been playing around with what chords work on these three strings.

There are three different major chords, each corresponding to a different permutation of 1-3-5:

(I've labeled each finger with its scale degree, which is kind of non-standard but seems useful.)

1-3-5: "barred-A"
|-5-|---|---|
|---|---|-3-|
|---|---|-1-|
5-1-3: "barred-D"
|---|-3-|---|
|---|---|-1-|
|---|-5-|---|
3-5-1: "barred-E"
|---|-1-|---|
|---|-5-|---|
|---|---|-3-|

Each major chord also has a corresponding minor chord:

1-b3-5: "barred-Am"
|-5-|---|---|
|---|b3-|---|
|---|---|-1-|
5-1-b3: "barred-Dm"
|b3-|---|---|
|---|---|-1-|
|---|-5-|---|
b3-5-1: "barred-Em"
|---|-1-|---|
|---|-5-|---|
|---|b3-|---|

I think the music theory name for these would be "inversions", since the root (1) isn't always the lowest note.

(These are fun to play around with on their own, but I also think if I were trying to figure out more trumpet parts they would be pretty helpful for thinking about voicings.)

Comment via: google plus, facebook, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Differential diagnosis of loveshyness

In my life coaching practice, I see a lot of male clients who have trouble getting dates (including fairly severe trouble, such as never having been kissed in spite of being in their thirties).

via Thing of Things February 6, 2026

2025-26 New Year review

This is an annual post reviewing the last year and setting intentions for next year. I look over different life areas (work, health, parenting, effectiveness, etc) and analyze my life tracking data. Highlights include a minimal group house, the usefulness…

via Victoria Krakovna January 19, 2026

Family Christmas

Unlike many families my family celebrates Christmas with really really a lot of our family. This past year there were about 29 people at my Grandfather's house in the week around Christmas. I know what you're thinking: how does that work? It's…

via Lily Wise's Blog Posts January 3, 2026

more     (via openring)