CHORD TYPES

there are 4 main types of chords...

1. Major
2. Minor
3. Dominant
4. Diminished

each has a distinct emotional characteristic....

1. Major :) happy
2. Minor :( sad
3. Dominant :-p wacky (bluesy/country/leading chords)
4. Diminished :-| classical/scary/also a leading chord

there are many different kinds of each though, which produce more "jazzy"
and "ethereal" sounds....

1. Major
major7, add9, maj6 (or 6), major 7 #11, 6/9,
sus2, sus4
5 (a.k.a. "power" chord)

2. Minor
minor 6th, minor 7th, minor 9th, minor 11th
sus2, sus4
5 (a.k.a. "power" chord)

3. Dominant
7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, augmented, 7 b5, 7#5
5 (a.k.a. "power" chord)

4. Diminished
diminished and half-diminished

notice that suspended ("sus") chords can operate as both major and minor;
sus2, and sus4, this is because they do not contain a 3rd interval
(which would be major 3rd in a major chord and minor chord in a minor chord).
the same is true for a 5 (power) chord.

the most important thing to know about these 4 categories of chords is that,
what makes each unique is the triad that forms them (the triad refers mostly
to the combination of 3 fundamental intervals [the 1, the 3, and the 5])....

Major 1, 3, 5,
Minor 1, b3, 5
Diminished 1, b3, b5

so, notice that each of these has some sort of 1, 3, and 5.

and then the dominant is like a major (1,3,5) - but also adds a b7

Dominant 1, 3, 5, b7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
so, again, here is what defines each
Major 1, 3, 5,
Minor 1, b3, 5
Diminished 1, b3, b5
Dominant 1, 3, 5, b7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
to Determine which types of chords work within a certain key,
use the harmonized major scale...

I - ii - iii - IV - V(7) - vi - vii dim

major - minor - min - maj - dominant - minor - diminished

examples:
C Dmi Emi F G7 or G Ami Bdim (G7/B) or G/B
A Bmi C#mi D E7 or E F#mi G#dim (E7/G#) or E/G#
G Ami Bmi C D7 or D Emi F#dim (D7/F#) or D/F#
E F#mi G#mi A B7 or B C#mi D#dim (B7/D#) or B/D#
D Emi F#mi G A7 or A Bmi C#dim (A7/C#) or A/C#

by learning to play the harmonized major scales in the keys of C, A, G, E, and D,

you will be familiar with the 5 different ways to play;
major, minor, dominant, and diminished chords.

and thus, will be able to play any basic song in any key,

*if a song is in the key of C# (Db), D# (Eb), F, F# (Gb), G# (Ab), or B,

a guitar player will most often utilize a capo and then play the song by
transposing to a lower key, but treating the position of the capo as the open
position.
for instance, a song is in the key of C# (or Db)...
a guitarist might put the capo on the 1st fret and play the chords as if they were in
C,
fingering C#'s as C's, D#minors as D minors, etc...

lead guitar applications

if you are a self-accompanied (solo) singer-songwriter,
then all of the above chordal information will directly apply to you,
however, a lead guitar player will also,
re-transponse the chords to play in the same key, but in a higher register.
by retransposing, you can create more variety within the song,
have the basis for creating riffs for the song, and for beefing up the production.