COMPUTER GUITAR CHORD SYMBOLS
This isn't the exact way it is written on paper, but this is 
the only way I can do it on a computer without being able to 
use my music notation software. It has the same basic idea as 
the normal way though, and this way is used by a lot of people 
on sites like www.ultimate-guitar.com.


 ==============  This is the left edge of the guitar, right 
after the tuning keys and before the first fret. For the rest of
this page, I'll call it the double bar.

E  A  D  G  B  E
|  |  |  |  |  | 
|  |  |  |  |  |  These are the six strings of the guitar. 
When the guitar is in regular tuning (or Standard tuning) ,
the left one is the top (bass) E string, the second to the
left is the A string (or second string down from the top),
the third to the left is the D string (or third string 
down from the top), the fourth to the left is the G string
(or third string up from the bottom), the fifth to the 
left is the B string (or second string from the bottom) 
and the one on the right is the bottom (high) E string.

E A D G B E
===========
| | | | | | <-- 1st fret
|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | | <-- 2nd fret  
|-|-|-|-|-|  
| | | | | | <-- 3rd fret  
|-|-|-|-|-|    The lines that are like these |-|-|-|-|-| are 
the frets on the fingerboard of the guitar. These are the 
raised vertical lines on the guitar board. Although later, 
I'm going to be saying to put your fingers on the first fret 
or the second fret. I don't mean to put your fingers on the
fret itself. That means, you put them in the space just before
the fret. 

 G (or G Major) chord
====0=0=0==
| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|
| * | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|  
* | | | | *
|-|-|-|-|-|  The asterisks (*) are where your fingers are 
placed on the guitar. In a G chord, you'll have a finger on 
the third fret of the low E string, a finger on the second 
fret of the A string, and a finger on the third fret of the 
high E string. Sometimes (but hardly ever on tab sites!), 
they'll put numbers instead of asterisks. These are used to 
tell you which fingers to put where. 

G (or G Major) chord
====0=0=0==
| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|
| 1 | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|  
2 | | | | 3
|-|-|-|-|-|  The numbers on your left hand would be:
		   Thumb	1	2	3	4
					|					
				|	|	|					
				|	|	|
				|	|	|	|
				|  	|	|	|				
			|	|	|	|	|
			|	|  	|	|	|
			|	|	|	|	|
			|	|  	|	|	|
		   	Thumb   Ind    Mid      Ring   pinky     
		This would mean that on the G chord, your first 
finger (Index finger) will be on the second fret of the A 
string,your second finger (middle finger) will be on the 
third fret of the low E string, and your third finger (ring finger) will 
be on the third fret of the high E string.

G (or G Major) chord
====0=0=0==
| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|
| 1 | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|  
2 | | | | 3
|-|-|-|-|-|  While I'm still on the G chord, I'll tell you 
what the 0's on the double bar at the top stand for. 0 stands  
for Open, meaning that the strings are still played even 
though there are no fingers on those strings. Most of the 
time the 0's won't be there since most of the chords that 
don't have fingers over all the strings will still 
play the open strings. But sometimes there are chords where 
the strings aren't supposed to be played.



D (or D major) chord
X=X=0======
| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | 1 | 3
|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | 2 |
|-|-|-|-|-| In a D chord, the top two strings (low E and A) 
have an X written on the double bar. This means that they 
cannot be played. If you did, you wouldn't be playing a D 
chord; there is a name for it, but it's not a great sounding 
chord. It takes some practice getting the hang of doing 
chords like this so you don't accidentally strum the two 
strings that are not supposed to be played.

In a D chord, the top two strings (low E and A) are silent, 
the D string is left open but played, the G string is played 
on the second fret with the first (index) finger, the B string 
is played on the third fret with the second (middle) finger, 
and the high E string is played with the third (ring) finger 
on the second fret.

Hopefully all of this helps. Here's a few other good chords to
learn and practice with. These six chords are good starters for
changing from one chord to another.
  A major			   A minor
E A D G B E) 	    (E A D G B E)				   
0=0=======0		0=0=======0 		
| | | | | |		| | | | 1 |		
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		
| | 2 3 4 |		| | 2 3 | |		
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|	The only difference between A 
major and A minor is the B string changes from the fourth finger
on the second fret in A major to the first finger on the first 
fret to make A minor. Try moving between the two while 
strumming for a few minutes.


  C major	 	C major seventh      
X=====0===0	X=====0=0=0		
| | | | 1 |	| | | | | |		
|-|-|-|-|-|	|-|-|-|-|-|		
| | 2 | | |	| | 2 | | |		
|-|-|-|-|-|	|-|-|-|-|-|		
| 3 | | | |	| 3 | | | |		
|-|-|-|-|-|	|-|-|-|-|-|		
| | | | | |	| | | | | |		
|-|-|-|-|-|	|-|-|-|-|-|	The only difference between C major
and C major seventh is (again!) the B string. In C major, the 
first finger is on the first fret while in C major seventh, the
first finger is taken off and the B is open.

E major             E minor
0=======0=0 		0=====0=0=0
| | | 1 | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| 2 3 | | |		| 2 3 | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|  The only difference between 
E major and E minor is the G string (third string from the
bottom). In E major, the G string needs the first finger on the 
first fret, while in E minor, the first finger is taken
off and the G string is left open.

There's more to Chord Symbols, but these are the basics
and should be enough to get you started on them. 

Hope this helps.

Have fun and God bless,
Dave Green

PS: Here are some more chord symbols for you in 
case you figure out something that you like and want
to write it down. They are all written in Courier font
style, since that is the only font that keeps all of
the symbols in line with each other.

===========		=========== 		===========
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|

===========		=========== 		===========
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|

===========		=========== 		===========
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|

===========		=========== 		===========
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|

===========		=========== 		===========
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|

===========		=========== 		===========
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|

===========		=========== 		===========
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|

===========		=========== 		===========
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|
| | | | | |		| | | | | |		| | | | | |
|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|		|-|-|-|-|-|