How to understand the meaning behind guitar chord names – and why it matters

The Who's Pete Townshend puts his hands over his ears live onstage and wears a modded Gibson Les Paul.

In theory, the name of a chord should describe its content, especially if it differs from the root-3rd-5th of a standard major chord. In guitar circles, describing a chord as ‘G’ without any other information would usually mean a G major chord.

Once we get into minor chords (with a b3) and 5 chords – often called powerchords and which don’t have a 3rd at all – it’s necessary to include these extra details to make sure everyone is on the same page (sometimes literally!).