Many musicians associate major chords with happy music and minor chords with sad. Perhaps this was learned during music school or from growing up surrounded by Western pop songs that follow similar chord progressions.
However, major does not automatically equate with happy, while minor is associated with sadness; there’s more at play here – intervals and how we psychologically interpret them are also key components.
1. C Major
C Major is an ideal key for singing songs, with no sharps or flats and making musical creativity easier for musicians to grasp.
Assuming you want to play ascending scale, start by using your left-hand thumb, second finger and third finger in succession: C, D and E on either end. From there you can switch and play down.
Scales are an effective way to build up picking speed. Try practicing them along with a metronome at a slow bpm rate to build it up gradually!
2. G Major
G Major chord is one of the more frequently-used open chords among beginner guitarists and one that they tend to learn first.
To play this chord, place your index finger on the 5th fret of A string and your ring finger on 3rd fret of low E string – make sure that heavy palm mutes are used here!
3. D Major
D major is usually the first chord most beginners learn as it sounds good without taking up too many fingers. Additionally, it can be combined with other chords to form beautiful sounding progressions.
Moving this shape up one fret adds a C# bass note, increasing brightness of the chord while making it into a major seventh chord (steps one, two and three of a D major scale). Furthermore, this shape can also be muted without producing jangling open strings when muted.
4. E Major
Happier Than Ever is a clever and entertaining song that keeps listeners guessing. Using major intervals with some sharp accents thrown in for extra interest, the Circle of Fifths may make more sense here than first appears.
Practice moving the enclosure across the fretboard until you can do it effortlessly – this exercise will strengthen both your finger muscles and fretboard knowledge!
5. F Major
In this lesson we explore the F major scale and chords. Additionally, we learn to identify scale degrees according to their names (tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant dominant note/tone and leading note / tone).
Harmonizing the F major scale provides us with an array of chord progressions which can be utilized when writing songs in this key. Furthermore, this reinforces concepts like harmony and melody as musicians utilize chords to produce music.
6. A Major
A major chord can bring a lot of happiness when played on A, as its three notes comprise its tritone formula.
Barre chords are so called due to how quickly and easily they can be moved between strings by barring your finger flat across multiple strings at once, making them quick and simple to change sound levels quickly and effortlessly.
7. B Major
You might recognize the B major chord from songs written in E’s key. While not as straightforward to play as open voicings, with enough practice you should find success playing it.
This variation of a B chord sounds much like an F chord but has an additional high note for more sound color and variation. It works especially well when played alongside barre chords.
8. C Minor
C minor is an ideal key for songs that need to sound more somber or heartbreaking, such as ballads.
This key features diatonic chords, which consist of notes drawn from one scale. Musicians often think of scales as color palettes that they organize into patterns.
9. D Minor
The key of D minor has long been associated with female melancholy and feelings of loss, making it one of the most sought-after keys for classical composers to work in.
Though D# minor and D major can both offer great lamentations, starting out in D is an excellent place to begin exploring sadness musically. Try this movable barre chord version, and experiment with percussive strumming while holding onto fingers two and three to create percussive strumming effects.
10. E Minor
Billie Eilish’s Happier than Ever is an unexpected song with an alluringly delicate start that quickly builds into an explosive rock anthem. The chord progression in this tune uses E minor, an easily recognized shape across genres.
Try playing this chord using its open position variant (G string left open in standard tuning) – this version is much leaner than its more familiar E minor shape and may be the ideal choice in certain contexts.