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Minor chords add depth and emotion to a song’s arrangements, creating the subtle touches needed to bring its melody alive with depth and emotion. They can add melancholy or anticipation in songs of any mood; creating melancholic sounds in joyful melodies or setting an expectant atmosphere during dramatic compositions.
How to Play a Minor Chord
Minor chords will add depth and variety to your music, even though they can feel more complicated than major ones. Practice them regularly until they become part of your routine.
As with major chords, minor triads consist of three notes–the root note, minor third and fifth notes. As previously explained for major chords, minor thirds differ by being one half step lower than major thirds; music notation denotes these chords by writing out their letter followed by “m” for minor.
Example of A Minor Chord for Beginner Guitar PlayersThe A minor chord can be written out as A, C and E; it should be one of your initial minor chords to learn as a beginner guitar player and it is widely used in popular songs such as Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.
Starting off your study of minor sixth chords with this chord can also provide a good way to learn minor sixth chords. To play one, simply move your finger that holds down the second fret on A up one fret to create F sharp and give your chord an expectant sound. Practice this voicing several times until your fingers remain in their proper places to avoid buzzing; once mastered try exploring additional variations or extensions of this voicing.
How to Change a Major Chord into a Minor Chord
Chords are fundamental elements in music. They make up much of the melody and harmony found within songs, as well as creating atmosphere and creating different moods within songs such as sadness or hopefulness. A simple chord change can significantly change its tone!
To convert a major chord into a minor one, all that’s required to create an effective minor chord is moving its minor third interval up or down from its root note. This can easily be achieved on the fretboard if you know where each chord’s root note lies; for instance, switching G major barre chord to C minor simply by moving its major third down two and a half frets to F.
An effective way of using major-to-minor chord substitutions is on V-iv progressions of major keys. A V-iv progression typically includes a dominant 7th chord as part of its structure; to change into minor keys simply move that chord up or down one minor third interval.
Subtle changes between minor and major keys are a staple in rock music. Experiment with them on your songs and observe how they alter the mood of a tune.
How to Change a Minor Chord into a Major Chord
Simply lower its third note one octave for an easy way to create tension and drama in your song by creating minor chords.
To understand how this works, let’s use the same chord progression from our earlier example but in a major key instead. The progression will still end on a minor tonic chord but we will switch out A minor chord for C major chord and immediately hear its change of tone.
This technique is straightforward to learn and can make songs feel much larger and more dramatic than they would if constructed in minor key chords. Plus, this approach adds authenticity to their sound!
Once you’ve mastered this chord progression, experiment by shifting major and minor keys of other songs in your library to see how they sound. Next, explore Fender Play’s extensive library of chords, scales and theory lessons so that all this knowledge can be put into action! Start your free 30-day trial now.