 
The chord forms in this book conform generally to those found in other chord books, with certain enhancements. The vertical lines represent the strings on the guitar, with the thickest string shown to the far left and the thinnest string to the far right. The horizontal lines represent the frets on the guitar neck, these frets being numbered along the left side of the chord form.
The black circles and boxes are fingering symbols, which depict the fingering of the chord form. A boxed number indicates that the fretted note is the root, while a circled number indicates that the fretted note is a note other than the root. The particular fingering indicated is not mandatory. Indeed, different fingering may be advantageous, depending upon the other chord forms preceding and/or following the subject chord form. So the guitarist must exercise his or her own judgment in this regard.
Strings that are played while not fretted are commonly called “open strings” and are designated by the “Ο” symbol above the string. Strings that are not played or are muted are designated by the “X” symbol above the string.
When two strings are shown fretted by the same finger and connected by a straight or curved black line, that finger is laid down as a barre — either fretting (straight line) or fretting and/or muting (curved line) the strings between the finger symbols. The chord tone being played on a given string is shown below that string. The major scale degree corresponding to that chord tone is shown above the string. “NR” in the upper left corner of the chord form means "no root" – i.e., the chord form is lacking the root note.
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