Beginners to guitar should start out by learning these easy chords; their shapes are straightforward and versatile enough for many different songs.
C and E form a minor third chord, giving it its distinctive sound. This type of triad chord is among the most frequently found.
Scales
The open A minor chord requires only three fingers to play and is an ideal way for beginners to begin exploring more open chords. Comprised of A (the root note), C and E – often featured in slow or mellow songs due to its deep sound – it often makes up the chord structure in slow ballads or ballads.
Musical melody relies on the balance between consonance and dissonance to create its melodic qualities. Consonant notes should sound pleasing to the ear while dissonant ones create tension that adds character.
The order of notes in a scale determines its sharpness or flatness, which has an impactful impact on chord sound. For instance, A minor scale has both a flat third and perfect fourth note, producing an appealing sound when played over an Am chord – perfect for creating melodic lines with interesting melodic progressions in improvisational music!
Fingerings
Many composers compose fingerings that can be played either strummed or rolled with the thumb, leading to changes in tone quality between upper and lower strings – not always desirable.
As much as possible, I use the “c” finger for chords when possible to maintain consistent tone quality on all strings. Although this may seem like a small thing, this practice makes a dramatic impactful statement about a passage; for instance Villa-Lobos’ Prelude No 1 contains three intervals that could be played using only thumb strummed notes; but using “c” fingers instead will maintain consistent tonality for all three notes at once! For instance a passage containing three bass intervals with three bass notes which could also strummed using only thumb or thumb; alternatively playing bass notes using “c” fingers instead will ensure consistent tone quality between strings while keeping uphold on both.
Some may find it challenging to move the fingers of their left hand around in search of fingerings, but the effort will surely pay off. With time and practice it will become second nature to make this part of their everyday routine.
Triads
Triads are the simplest form of musical chord and often serve as the base for more complex guitar chords and progressions or songs. Triads provide an easy starting point when developing unique progressions or songs of your own!
Minor triads resemble major triads in that both contain a root note and an interval known as the perfect fifth (in this instance 7 frets or 3 and a half tones above it), which provides musical consonance and resolution that helps triads sound stable and harmonious.
Minor triads differ from their major counterparts in that the former contains a major third (4 semitones from the root note), while minor triads contain only minor thirds (2 semitones apart from it), creating different tones and character to your music – adding tension or melancholy depending on their placement in your chord progressions. As with major triad shapes, always mute any thick strings using your palm while strumming.
Inversions
Chord inversions allow you to alter the sound of a chord without changing its form. They typically involve taking the root note from a triad and shifting it either up or down one octave; this gives it a unique sound while helping avoid awkward or cumbersome transitions between chords.
Take for instance the open Am chord above: when played in its first inversion, we will have its third note (E) playing bass and its fifth (G).
The second inversion takes the same chord and inverts it by shifting it up an octave, still remaining closed, but now containing D as its seventh tone in its bass position and G as its fifth, giving it more minor sound and being the more frequently employed inversion.