How can we tell a story with chords? Which chords make the story sad, melancholic, joyful, or calm?

If it’s true that music should always express an emotion, then it’s in our best interest to acquire the tools that would allow us to communicate this feeling.

For guitar players, these tools are harmony (the chords), melody (the scales), and rhythm (the beat). You have to develop a good level of skills to be able to transform these three elements into music.

In this guitar lesson, I am going to show you five emotional chords and how to use them. We are going to explore five different keys, and for each key, you will learn one emotional chord.

I am also going to show you the types of chord progressions I would play and which kind of emotion each chord convey.

We will learn:

Em chord played with a shape that emphasizes the minor 3rd. Purely sad chord.
Dm(add9) chord played with the note cluster that makes this chord dark.
C major chord played with the 153 chord shape. A lovely emotional chord.
Am(add9) chord. Same chord shape with different bass. Deep thinking kind of emotional.
C#m9 chord. Positive emotional chord progression. One of my favorite.

You can get the tab on my Patreon page.

Enjoy this lesson.

Tab Available on Patreon

Tab Here.

Emotional Chord 1: E minor

In this example, we are going to play a simple E minor chord.

The chord is played in position VIII with the low E string open, the D string fret 9, the G string open and the B string fret 8. Leave the A and top E string out.

This chord shape makes the chord sound extremely sad.

Try to play a basic E minor chord, then switch to this shape to hear the difference.

One thing I noticed is that minor chords sound sadder when you play a chord shape that emphasizes the minor 3^rd.

The voicing for this chord is the B string fret 8, the note G, which is indeed the minor 3^rd of the E minor chord.

Bulb moment: Make a minor chord even sadder by playing the chord shape that emphasizes the minor 3^rd.

The chord progression I am playing along with this chord is Em, Dadd11, C, Dadd11, Em, D6, Cmaj7.

And we are just getting started.

Emotional Chord 2: Dm(add9)

The Dm(add9) is an extended chord. Extended chords are chords that have added notes beyond the 7^th such as 9^th, 11^th, and 13^th.

The basic D minor chord is built with these three notes: D, F, and A (Root, minor 3^rd and fifth). Every additional note we add to this chord will make it extended.

The additional note we are adding to this chord is the 9^th.

The Dm(add9) shape looks like this:

The chord progression I like to play around this chord is Dm(add9), Bb(#11) and Csus4.

Emotional Chord 3: C major

Not all emotional chords have to be played with minor chords.

We can build emotional chord progressions with major chords too. A major chord will convey different emotions such as sweet, love, gentleness and devotion.

The chord I am showing you in this lesson is a simple C major chord played in position X. The root note of the chord, the note C is played on the D string fret 10. I am also playing the note G on the G string fret 12, and the note E on the E string fret 12.

Pluck this chord one time. It sounds sweet right?

The chord progression I am going to play along with this chord is C, G/B, Am, G, F, G, Am, G/B, C.

To make the chord progression even gentler, I avoided the notes on the A and low E string. Chords without deep bass notes tend to sound sweeter.

Bulb moment: Make chords sound sweet by avoiding low bass notes.

Emotional Chord 4: Am(add9)

The Am(add9) is another beautiful extended chord.

This chord sounds very emotional and melancholic, like a person who feels sad thinking about the past.

This chord is played like this:

The chord progression I like to play with this chord goes as follows: Am(add9), Fmaj7(#11), Am(add9) and Gadd11.

Emotional Chord 5: The C#m9

Minor chords can sound positive.

In this example, I am going to show you an emotional chord in C# minor key that sounds positive, dreamy and happy.

The chord is C#m9 played with the root note C# on the A string fret 4, the minor 7^th B on the G string fret 4, the major 9^th on the B string fret 4 and the minor 3^rd played on the top E string open.

Check the diagram below.