Open Chord

This generally refers to any chord played at the far end of the guitar’s neck (open to 3rd fret region), near the nut, with some of the strings left to sound in the open position (that is, in their natural tunings). An example of an open chord would be a G Major in which only the first, fifth and sixth strings are fingered, leaving the second, third and fourth to ring out in their original tunings of B, G and D. Just one famous example of an open chord in a rock song is Rush’s “Fly By Night” which begins with an open D chord.