Though many songs employ chords from one major scale, songwriters rarely rely solely on these chords for writing music. By including other chords from this scale as part of their repertoire, they are able to add variety and create different moods with their music.
To understand these other chords, it is necessary to explore their construction through triads. This will enable us to pinpoint what makes an instrument major or minor.
Root Note
Every structure requires a strong base to support it – and music chords and scales are no different! A root note provides this solid grounding. It serves as the lowest note when in root position of a chord, as well as being its starting point when creating inversions of that chord.
As an example, C major has its root note of C; when moving this chord to another octave, its root note changes to match what would occur naturally – for instance D in the second and F in the third octaves respectively.
CAGED chords may be complex for beginners to grasp at first, but open chords on the guitar offer many simpler alternatives for newcomers to grasp easily and play. For instance, to play a G major chord you would place your index finger on the open fourth string while your thumb hits on the first string, before strumming all six strings for an instantaneous G major chord!
Third Note
Major chords consist of three notes from its root scale; for instance, C Major Chord would include its first, third and fifth notes respectively. But not always in that order – musicians don’t always stick to one key! Therefore understanding how chords form when harmonically unifying various major scales is an invaluable piece of theory that should be learned.
Major thirds can also be combined to form more intricate triads; for instance, a G Major Chord starts from its root note before adding two major thirds (B and C) above it, followed by another major third (D).
This creates a minor triad, which sounds sad and melancholic. If we add another major third above this we create an augmented triad which sounds more colourful and dissonant; such chords might appear in pop songs for instance.
Fifth Note
Your first chords to learn should typically be major chords and minor chords; these form the core foundations of guitar chord theory. While other major-named chords may exist, these are likely extended or altered versions of basic major and minor chords.
An F power chord is considered a major chord because it only uses its root note and fifth note from A major scale, but by shifting that fifth up a semitone you create an E minor chord which has more melancholic qualities.
As with any major scale, when shifting the fifth up or down one semitone creates a minor or diminished triad respectively.
Final Note
A perfect fifth is the final note in any major chord, consisting of one whole step up from its root (C) plus two semitones up the scale to G.
Remind yourself that a major triad is composed of the first, third and fifth scale degrees from any major key. Musicians seldom remain loyal to using only one key, making it essential to learn scales across multiple keys.
Major chords consist of three notes; these additional notes are then combined into various types of chords to create different types of chords, including 7th chords and minor chords. Dominant 7 chords use only notes from a major scale while minor 7 chords add the third note but with its shape altered (such as My Bloody Valentine), making these chords integral components to understanding popular song’s chord progressions. Learning major chords on guitar is therefore essential to comprehending its chord progressions.