Guitar chords are one of the core building blocks for any beginning guitarist. In this lesson we’ll cover G Major, C Major and A Minor chords.
Songs consist of an instrumental or vocal melody with chord progressions and lyrics that accompany it. When starting to write songs, start either with chord progressions or lyrics as your starting points.
G Major
G Major chord is one of the first chords most beginner guitarists learn to play, making it one of the more difficult chords to learn. Fingernails should reach all the way up to the sixth string; however, curving your fingers so only their tips touch these strings will eliminate this difficulty and stop other strings being blocked by meaty portions of your fingers.
This chord can be found across many genres of music and serves as the chord used in both British and New Zealand national anthems, along with popular songs like Sweet Home Alabama and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. As with most major chords, only one sharp (F) makes this chord easy to identify on sheet music without knowing its key signature. Furthermore, its notes in G major scale appear here, making this chord ideal for building other relative chords (which sound correct when played on top of each other).
C Major
C Major is one of the more well-known guitar chords and is typically one of the first things beginners learn. It is easy and versatile enough for all sorts of music – often used when accompanying G chords with additional chords before or after them; C often works great!
Like with all open chords, the low E string must not be hit directly if it produces a buzzing noise. That can be difficult at first and requires developing finger dexterity so you only touch those strings you wish.
To play the C chord, place your index finger on the 2nd string at 1st fret; middle finger on 3rd string 2nd fret and ring finger 5th string 4th fret – this creates a diagonal line across your fretboard that makes this chord very straightforward to play.
E Major
E Major is a versatile key, capable of conveying joyous, boisterous or dissonant feelings. It can propel an adrenaline-charged banger or add emotion to a slow ballad; 44% of songs we analysed on Hook Theory include E Major!
The chord shapes we employ for both E Major and E minor are identical, yet with one subtle difference: in E major, one string (G) is lowered by half-step in order to produce a sharp G sharp tone; this shift alters the interval between tones to become major third instead of minor third making the chord sound livelier and stronger.
To play an E Major chord, place your first finger on the second fret of the D string; your second and third fingers on their respective second frets on G and B strings respectively; strum all five of these top strings until they sound together without stopping on E string (this step must also include low E string).
A Minor
If you want to write songs or produce tracks yourself, it is essential that you understand minor chords. These chords often evoke sad or melancholic emotions and can add great depth and emotion to your compositions.
As is true for major chords, minor chords are also composed of triads. To compose one quickly and easily, simply create a major chord from its root note and lower its 3rd note by either one fret or semitone (depending on your fretboard layout). To form a minor triad: simply move down one fret or semitone on its 3rd note of that chord and use that as the starting point to construct one from three notes on either fretboard layout.
This process creates what’s known as a lowered or flat third, which results in a minor chord. Repeat it to find other minor chords by shifting down 3rd notes by different intervals – for instance a major second is two whole steps away while seven steps creates an eighth note chord.
There are multiple minor scales, such as natural minor, harmonic minor and melodic minor. Each scale offers its own set of chords and variations.