Chord Diagrams

For each tuning in the manual, a set of 28 chord diagrams is included, ranging from the common major and seventh chords used in most Hawaiian songs, to more complex chords often found in jazz arrangements and “standards”.  An example of one of these diagrams is shown at the left. This one is for C major chords in the Taro Patch (open G) tuning. The dots on the neck show all the possible notes that can be played as part of a C chord. The black dots indicate “root” (C) notes of the chord; the green dots are other chord notes in a C chord (i.e. either E or G).

Note that these diagrams don’t show individual chord positions, rather all the fret positions that can be used to create the chord in various places along the neck. It is left to the readers to select the specific string and fret positions, based on where along the neck they want to play the chord and how many strings will be included in the chord.

Example 1:  The diagram at the left shows a basic C chord position played in the lower fret positions — in this case the first and second frets — and using strings 1 – 5.  The 6th string can be fretted at the 2nd fret to create a full, six-string chord, as shown in the top diagram, but the more common version is to fret the 1st, 2nd, and 4th strings as shown in the diagram, and playing strings 1 – 5.  Another full 6-string version of a C chord can be played by barring all six strings at the 5th fret.