Closed Position Chords

Closed Position Chords look very simple on paper, they contain no big intervals between notes as do Drop 2, Drop 3 and Drop 2 and 4 chords, but when you try to play them on the guitar they pose some serious problems as far as finger stretches are concerned. While there are numerous fingerings listed below, not all of them will fit under your fingers, depending on your hand size, so try each one out, keep the ones that are playable, and forget the rest. As you develop as a player you will find that your fretting hand will be able to reach a greater distance on the fretboard, so coming back to these chords once in a while is a good idea to see if you can grab a few new voicings from time to time.

Closed Position Chords are built by stacking four notes together, on adjacent strings, with the following interval patterns:

• Root Position: R-3rd-5th-7th
• 1st Inversion: 3rd-5th-7th-Root
• 2nd Inversion: 5th-7th-Root-3rd
• 3rd Inversion: 7th-Root-3rd-5th

Feel free to use this page as a reference point for Closed Position Chords, rather than memorize them all at once.

The following chord dictionary contains Closed Position voicings for:

• Major 7
• Dominant 7
• Minor 7
• Half Diminished
• Diminished
• Minor Major 7

******

Closed Position Major 7 Chords

******

Closed Position Minor 7 Chords

******

Closed Position Dominant 7 Chords

******

Closed Position Half Diminished Chords

******

Closed Position Diminished Chords

******

Closed Position Minor Major 7 Chords