In music for stringed instruments, especially guitar, an open chord is a chord that includes one or more strings that are not fingered. An open string vibrates freely, whereas a fingered string will be partially damped unless fingered with considerable pressure, which is difficult for beginner players. In an open chord the unfingered strings are undamped, and the player is able to exert maximum pressure on the fretted strings, to avoid unwanted damping. On a regular six-string guitar, an open chord can have from one to six open strings sounding. In contrast, all of the strings are fingered for a barre chord, which requires greater technique to be allowed to ring freely. To damp a barre chord, a player simply needs to relax the fingers. Fully damping an open chord requires the player to roll the fingers of the left hand over the open strings, or else damp with the right hand. Guitarists use capos, which are devices that clamp down the strings to create a movable nut, to play open chords in different keys. With a capo on the first fret, the guitarist can finger the shape of the open A minor chord, but the result will be a B minor chord. Open chords on guitar are used in a wide range of popular music and traditional music styles.
Cowboy chords
In guitar music, open chords are also called cowboy chords owing to their simplicity and reminiscence of a "cowboy strummin' away on the prairie."
Advanced open chords
Advanced guitar chords may rely on the use of open strings alongside strings fretted in higher positions. For example fretting the E-barre shape on the fifth fret without the barre allows the open E, A and E to ring alongside the higher position E, A and C#. The strumming on the middlesection of "Stairway to Heaven" is played using such chords. Chord books are available including such chords, but many guitarists experiment to form their own distinctive chords.
Other strings
When composers instruct string section players to play double stops or triple stops, they often include one or two open strings in the chord voicing, unless they are writing for a virtuoso soloist. When writing for amateur or youth ensembles, composers typically use open strings to form double stops; in this fashion, the player only has to "stop" one note. Using open strings in double stops and triple stops also improves the resonance and sustain of the chord, because open strings ring more fully and longer than "stopped" strings.
