practice question for instructors

Sorry,

The open chords are the 'cowboy' ones the guys are describing. They are called 'open' because you play them in first position (from the first fret) and strings are played open as part of the chord....

have you checked out the beginner lessons on this site? The open chords are covered there.....

Originally Posted by: txladykatThanks! I actually understood the concept behind creating major chords from the scale (1, 3 and 5). The dominant 7th my teacher gave me were different. I did notice that E7 and A7 has two different ways of being played. Of course, the one you reference above is easy and I can do that with no problem. The ones I have a hard time with are the ones that require 4 fingers. My teacher taught me E7 as the Emaj with the pinky playing the added D at the third fret. I am going to check out the lessons posted below.

But why is that my teacher is teaching me to play dominant 7th with G#, E, B and D as opposed to the two options you listed above?

The D is included in the tab, it's where I wrote "open" @ the forth string up, which is the D string. Just play that string without a finger on it and you have your D note. The D note is required, that's what makes the E-Major chord a E7 chord.
An A7 would use the same formula we used to figure out E7, only this time we need to use the A Major scale: A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G#. The seventh note is G#, but remember, you have to flatten the 7th note back 1/2 step (one fret) because the chord is A7. So take G# down 1/2 step and you have G.
If the chord said Amaj7 (A Major 7) you would not flatten the 7th. You would use G# with an A Major chord because it states Amaj7. Make sense?
All you need to do for an A7 is
e|---|------|open (This is the fifth)
b|---|--C#-| ring (or pinky) finger 2nd fret (This is the third)
g|---|------|open (this is the dominant 7th note)
d|---|--E---|index (or Middle) finger 2nd fret (This is the fifth)
a|---|------|open (This is the root note "A")
E|---|------|open (Optional) or don't play low E string (it is the fifth so it works).

thanks everyone! now the "open" chords make sense to me. I never could figure out what was the difference between open and major chords. So open chords are anything played in the first octave at the top of the fretboard, right?

Originally Posted by: txladykatthanks everyone! now the "open" chords make sense to me. I never could figure out what was the difference between open and major chords. So open chords are anything played in the first octave at the top of the fretboard, right?

I think you've gone a bit too far... A major chord is the first, third and fifth notes of a major scale played together. An open chord is any chord played with at least one open string (played with no frets down). You can play an open E Major chord:

e--0--
B--0--
G--1--
D--2--
A--2--
E--0--

Open chords are usually played in the first position - i.e. fingering starts at the first fret. Apologies if I've sounded patronising.... I'm not, just trying to be clear... I hope I am! :D