This song begins with an accessible chord progression played fingerstyle, before transitioning into more complex strumming patterns when entering the chorus. Be sure to bring along a guitar pick for assistance to keep up with its fast pace!
Intro and verse chords include A minor, D major with an F sharp sharp, G chord and E minor seventh chords.
1. C Major Triad
A major triad is composed of three notes; its bottom note, or “root,” the major third and perfect fifth notes are common chords used across a range of musical genres and styles.
Triads can be constructed out of any note on any scale; however, major, minor and diminished are typically used.
Learning triad shapes is essential to expanding your fretboard freedom, as triads help you understand how scale shapes interact with chords and one another.
Start learning triad shapes using the CAGED system. Each chord shape serves as a visual landmark to help you locate it on the fretboard more quickly. As you become more acquainted with each chord shape, begin isolating its individual notes for further study.
2. C Minor Triad
Introducing the C Minor Triad is an excellent way to expand your repertoire and can help create darker, melancholic or somber moods in music. Additionally, this chord sounds fantastic when played with a low E string (though this may present issues for some players).
This chord is known as the Neapolitan sixth or chromatic predominant chord due to how its ascending melody raises both scale degrees 6th and 7th when ascending whereas normal minor would do otherwise.
Learning this chord is an integral step in becoming a guitarist, moving away from open and barre chords into the wild frontier of triads. However, it’s essential that new guitarists don’t overdo things by practicing for too long; learn the chord slowly instead by practicing for short spurts each day for just a few minutes each. Your progress will be faster if this approach is followed!
3. D Major Triad
Next we will study a D major triad, also known as a tonic chord in D Major. This chord can be played either alone or as part of a progression; famous examples include Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn” and DNCE’s contemporary hit song, “Cake by the Ocean”.
Triads are made up of the first, third and fifth notes in any scale. In this lesson we will demonstrate how to assemble a D major triad starting on its initial note – D.
Learn to use figured bass notation to communicate chord quality. A figured bass diagram uses numbers above each chord symbol as markers that represent intervals from its root note (usually known as the root note) to the note being referenced, such as D and A in this instance (a 5 above each chord symbol indicates this interval).
4. D Minor Triad
D minor is an easy chord to learn, fitting well under most open string shapes as a root chord and often used as such in songs. Furthermore, its own minor key makes this chord ideal for transitioning between major and minor keys.
This triad typically takes the shape of fingers two, three and four on the fretboard – see diagram. This arrangement is commonly known as the D minor triad in sixth position; however, other positions may also work for this composition.
Each triad contains three unique pitch classes – a minor third at its base, major third in the center and perfect fifth on top – which combine to define its chord quality. Rearranging these notes in various ways creates various inversions of each triad.
Chords can be divided into five distinct qualities – major, minor, diminished, augmented and suspended – each offering its own distinctive sound.