Guitar chords form the cornerstone of most songs. Even if you don’t intend on singing yourself, learning some basic chords will allow you to contribute rhythm parts in songs you listen to or write yourself.
Notes stacked vertically indicate chords; when fretting them together at once for fuller sound.
1. Triads
Triads are the simplest type of chord, created by taking three alternate notes from any scale and stringing them together into a chord. Triads can be created in all major keys as well as diminished, augmented, and minor forms.
Each triad has its own distinct sound due to the intervals between its constituent notes; therefore even when playing the same sequence of triad shapes starting from a string set, every one will produce unique results.
Learn the major and minor triad shapes for all of your string sets to quickly identify them on the fretboard and play them anywhere on it, while simultaneously understanding why each triad sounds the way it does. Once you master triad theory, understanding other chord types will become much simpler; simply flattening out third can transform any major triad shape to its minor equivalent!
2. Chord Progression
Chord progressions are an invaluable asset in the arsenal of any songwriter, particularly for songs without lyrics. A well-crafted chord progression can tell a song’s story without resorting to words alone.
Step one in creating a chord progression is finding your “one” chord, or tonic chord of whatever scale you are using. Typically this means major chords but feel free to experiment with minor ones too! One advantage of popular music chord shapes is they tend to be simple, recognisable shapes which only require moving two fingers between them for movement between chords.
Extreme’s song More Than Words offers an example of such a progression: just two major chords (I and V) and one minor chord (D). This chord progression works because it naturally fits with C Major key. Intervals similar to scale patterns create familiarity.
3. Scales
Scales form the cornerstone of music theory and provide a framework to develop melodies, harmonies, and chord progressions. Therefore, understanding them is an invaluable skill for any guitarist – be they composer, songwriter, or improviser.
Scale patterns are sequences of notes arranged in ascending or descending order with specific intervals between them, while scale positions refer to areas on the fretboard where particular scales can be played using various string and finger combinations.
Example of A Minor Pentatonic Scale. Beginners can learn this series of five notes that make up this scale easily, and it can be seen in songs such as Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and Junior Wells’s “Hoodoo Bluesman”. Furthermore, beginners may find this scale easier as it only includes open strings and the second and third frets of their guitar.
Scales provide beginning guitarists with a comprehensive overview of chord formation, while at the same time providing an understanding of other scale patterns (such as major) which contain similar shapes ( such as major scale). Furthermore, scales serve as an important basis for developing arpeggios and scale inversions.
4. Intervals
Intervals are essential building blocks that enable you to easily construct chords, scales, and arpeggios. By understanding interval shapes you can form relationships between two notes without needing to memorize all their keys individually – making the learning of chords and scales far simpler!
An interval represents the total number of staff positions – or note names – it covers, starting from the lowest pitch (a perfect unison). This includes any accidentals added by accidentals; for instance, an augmented seventh (C-E#) shares the same interval number with its major seventh counterpart but it extends by one semitone wider.
Quality in an interval is determined by its width between pitches; for instance, minor thirds (C-E) typically produce weaker tones compared to major thirds which tend to sound stronger and more steady, giving rise to minor qualities in chords derived from either major scale. Musicians rarely stick strictly to one major scale when writing songs; rather they will frequently take inspiration from different keys when choosing chords to use as starting points for compositions.