Guitar chord in the abstract musical-theory of chords for all instruments. For example, in the guitar (like other stringed instruments but unlike the piano), open-string notes are not fretted and so require less hand-motion. Thus chords that contain open notes are more easily played and hence more frequently played in popular music, such as folk music. Many of the most popular tunings—standard tuning, open tunings, and new standard tuning—are rich in the open notes used by popular chords. Open tunings allow major triads to be played by barring one fret with only one finger, using the finger like a capo. On guitars
Regular tuning Western guitar, which has six strings, major-thirds tuning has a smaller range than standard tuning; on a guitar with "seven" strings, the major-thirds tuning covers the range of standard tuning on "six" strings. Even greater range is possible with guitars with "eight" strings. Major-thirds tuning was heavily used in 1964 by the American jazz-guitarist Ralph Patt to facilitate his style of improvisation. This tuning is like that of the lowest four strings in standard tuning. Consequently, of all the regular tunings, it is the closest approximation to standard tuning, and thus it best allows the transfer of a knowledge of