Learning B chords may seem intimidating for beginners. Thankfully, there are a few beginner-friendly techniques you can employ to gain this essential chord under your belt.
The first example is an A shape moved up two frets that requires finger strength to play effectively as it’s a barre chord.
Triad
Triads are one of the easiest and most accessible chord types. Composed of three notes stacked vertically into thirds with either major or minor middle notes, triads give each chord its own sound.
C major triad is one of the simplest chord structures, consisting of a root, major third and perfect fifth. Major triads feature bright sounds while minor ones tend to be darker and more contemplative. C major can easily be moved between keys without losing its qualities; therefore it makes an excellent starting point when learning chord shapes.
All major and minor triad shapes can be broken down into their component chord shapes to give you greater visibility into their connections across the fretboard and understand their theory behind them. If you already know CAGED chords, understanding their triad shapes will only enhance your knowledge by helping you move them from shape to shape while keeping their basic major or minor quality intact.
For greater understanding, it’s crucial to study intervals and their effect on chord sound. Intervals refers to the distance between adjacent notes in a scale; they determine whether a chord is major or minor by virtue of having either a perfect fifth (major chords) or diminished fifths (minor chords).
Triads are among the core elements of all styles of music, particularly guitar music. Triads serve as the cornerstones for numerous chord progressions across pop, folk, rock and metal styles and they can even be used to craft stunning arpeggios or heavy metal riffs. If you want to become an outstanding guitar player then taking time to practice the various triad shapes will become essential. Give yourself enough practice time and you will soon become a chord master!
Major
As your fingers become more proficient at playing barre chords, they will start moving up the fretboard more freely. Over time, major chords will become increasingly familiar to you; for this article’s purposes we are going to focus on one such chord – B major guitar chord. This four-note chord requires placing your pointer finger (middle finger) on the 2nd fret of string 4 for an E chord (although this doesn’t sound quite as full as A or Am7 chords, it still sounds good and will do). When strumming this chord only strings 1, 2, 3, and 4 should be played – remember not the low E string (for now!). Strum the chord and remember strummed strings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11& 12 as only these three strings should be strung – keeping in mind the low E string should not be played.
As musicians talk about chord progressions such as “one, four, five”, it refers to chords in a particular major scale – an essential aspect of music theory for guitarists. Understanding these key triads and chords within specific scales will assist your guitar playing progress immensely.
To play the major chord, place your pointer finger (middle finger) onto the 2nd fret of the 4th string and play an E note. However, by moving up one fret you will create harmony by playing that same note but at an octave higher pitch – almost like two singers singing together but in different tones to create harmony!
Moving up one semitone from a major second results in what’s called a major triad – instead of three unique notes we now have four, which forms its base chord structure. You should spend some time getting familiar with major triads before beginning playing guitar; practice moving from E major chords in one key to another as part of this transition process.