Becoming a good guitar player requires a strong knowledge of music theory and chord progressions. Recognizing chord movement and playing by numbers can help guitarists:
-Chart, learn and remember songs better
-Apply and use scales correctly
-Play by ear
-Compose music and improvise jams
-Apply guitar theory to the fretboard
Triads of the Major Scale
Guitar chord progressions are critical to guitar theory and stem from major scale patterns. Each of the major scale’s seven notes can be played as a chord. To build guitar chords, each note is combined with others three and five degrees ahead in the scale. Hence the terms root, third and fifth (or 1 3 5). These three chord tones are called a “triad”.
1-3-5, Root, Third, Fifth
Not all triads, or chords, in the major scale are the same. This is because some triads have major thirds (two whole-steps or four frets above the root) while others have minor thirds (one and a half-steps or three frets above the root). This occurs because the distance between major scale tones varies (some notes are a whole-step apart while others are a half-step apart). Coincidentally, the fifth intervals are all the same with the only exception being the chord built on the very last scale tone.
Play By Numbers
The major and minor chords in the major scale create the sequence major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, minor (flat 5). Often referred to as the “Nashville Number System,” the theory behind this sequence is one of the most important elements of music. Major scale chords are best represented by Roman numerals with major chords written in upper case and minor chords written in lower case as follows: I ii iii IV V vi vii
Learn Chords and Keys By Pattern
Different keys have different key signatures (sharps and flats), different notes, and different chords. But the major/minor number sequence remains the same regardless of key. The number system can be visualized on the guitar as a chord pattern so that guitar players needn’t be concerned with key signatures and notes. When this pattern is shifted around the neck, guitarists can instantly see all the chords for each key. Guitar players have a music theory advantage because of this ability to move patterns on the fret board.
Learn and Remember New Songs
Playing chord progressions and playing by numbers go hand in hand and the concept is easier on the guitar than many other instruments. Good players know the right way to map things out on the guitar neck. Visualizing chord patterns on the fretboard will help players group songs by number instead of trying to keep track of movement in other ways. No more minds cluttered with confusing chord information because everything can be simplified with numbers. This really helps guitarists learn and remember new songs.
Learn Guitar Music Theory
Charting chord progressions has more advantages than just playing songs. Progressions play a role in learning guitar theory including using pentatonic and major scale patterns properly, recognizing modes and modal scales, playing intervals and adding extensions to chords.
Hear and Play By Ear
How do some musicians seem to know what’s coming next in a song the first time through? Apparently, knowing where to look is half the battle. When a player maps out all the chords of a key, it’s possible to assume the chord change or even anticipate the chord movement before it happens. Many songs are based on typical progressions, and experienced musicians become very familiar with common changes. Often times numbers are called out on the stage. Many guitarists want to be able to understand these queues, not to mention sit around and talk theory with real musicians without feeling like an idiot.
Composing Music and Improvising
Mapping out keys, determining chord movement, applying scales and playing by ear are all necessary for song-writing and jamming. Guitarists don’t need to leave spontaneity to chance. When technical details are worked out before hand, improvising and composing becomes much easier (and better).
By: Desi Serna
About the Author:
Play Until Your Fingers Bleed!
Mr. Desi Serna (Google Me!)
Author of Fretboard Theory
http://www.Guitar-Music-Theory.com
Scales, Chords, Progressions, Modes
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Easy Guitar Chords are easy for guitar teachers and experts. But not for legions of beginners who give up when they discover playing easy chords turns out to be more time-intensive and physically demanding than they expected.
In my experience, it’s common for guitar players to (innocently) emphasise how easy new guitar chords are for beginners.
This is partly because of their enthusiasm for guitar playing.
It is also partly because their beginner days seem so long ago. And they have forgotten what it’s like to be a beginner. They only remember how easy guitar playing is now. And that is the perception of easy guitar that they pass on to (struggling) beginners.
In my experience it’s also common for guitar teachers to emphasise the difficulty of playing easy chords.
The most articulate voice in this regard, in my view, is Jamie Andreas of guitarprinciplesdotcom. He can explain in minute detail, the challenges of playing easy guitar chords and changing fluently between them. As well as the secrets of turning physical restrictions into expressive freedoms.
The innocent guitar player and articulate guitar teacher are worlds apart and I will not attempt to reconcile them in this article.
My aim is to simply lay out these so-called easy chords, so that you can make your own judgement and set your own criteria for what is and is not easy.
To do so, I need to explain the vertical and horizontal tab notation used in the guitar world.
I’ll take the D Major chord as the reference chord for this outline.
Figure 1:
Name…………..D Major
Strings…………654321
Frets……………x00232
Fingers…………x00132
I’ll now explain this vertical string tab notation to you.
Line 1 tells you the name of the chord.
Line 2 indicates the strings from numbers 6 to 1 or from the fattest string to the thinnest.
The Frets line on line 3 indicates which fret on the particular string is played.
A string marked with an X means you do not play it with either hand.
A string marked zero means you leave the string open with no frets pressed or fingered.
A number of 1 or greater means that you will place your finger on that particular fret on that string.
The Fingering line on line 4 tells you which finger to use to play that fret on that string.
The next diagram describes the horizontal string tab for you.
Figure 2:
1|–2– ……………6|–x–
2|–3– ……………5|–0–
3|–2– ……………4|–0–
4|–0– ……………3|–2–
5|–0– ……………2|–3–
6|–X– ……………1|–2–
You will see the horizontal tab in two forms: one with the thinnest string 1 at the top of the tab. The other with the thinnest string at the bottom of the tab.
It’s the former you will see more of. Experienced players look at the guitar from the melody note down as in the left hand tab. To beginners it’s more natural to look at guitar from the bass note up, because that is what they can see of guitar as they play it.
To summarise, the strings are drawn horizontally and labelled accordingly. Horizontal tab does not allow as well as vertical tab for fingering information.
Now let’s lay out the chords that guitarists say is easy and teachers say are hard.
CHORD ONE: D Major In Open Position
Name…………..D Major
Strings…………654321
Frets……………x00232
Fingers…………x00132
1|–2– ……………6|–x–
2|–3– ……………5|–0–
3|–2– ……………4|–0–
4|–0– ……………3|–2–
5|–0– ……………2|–3–
6|–X– ……………1|–2–
CHORD TWO: D Major In 5th Position
Name…………..D Major
Strings…………654321
Frets……………557775
Fingers…………113331
1|–5– ……………6|–5–
2|–7– ……………5|–7–
3|–7– ……………4|–7–
4|–7– ……………3|–7–
5|–5– ……………2|–7–
6|–5– ……………1|–5–
CHORD THREE: D Major In 7th Position
Name……………D Major
Strings………….654321
Frets…………..10987710
Fingers………….431114
1|–10- …………..6|–10-
2|–7– ……………5|–9–
3|–7– ……………4|–7–
4|–7– ……………3|–7–
5|–9– ……………2|–7–
6|–10- …………..1|–10-
CHORD FOUR: D Major In 9th Position
Name……………D Major
Strings………….6 5 4 3 2 1
Frets…………….10 12 12 11 10 10
Fingers………….1 3 4 2 1 1
1|–10- ……………6|–10-
2|–10- ……………5|–12-
3|–11- ……………4|–12-
4|–12- ……………3|–11-
5|–12- ……………2|–10-
6|–10- ……………1|–10-
These are the standard D Major chords that guitar players and sales people tell you are easy. I invite you to grab your guitar now and try out any one of the above chords with only one question in mind: Is this easy or hard for me to do?
Here is one other D Chord for you to consider.
CHORD FIVE: D Major In Open Position
Name……….D Major
Strings……..654321
Frets………..000000
Fingers……..000000
1|–0– ……………6|–0–
2|–0– ……………5|–0–
3|–0– ……………4|–0–
4|–0– ……………3|–0–
5|–0– ……………2|–0–
6|–0– ……………1|–0–
Take a close look at this D Chord. Does it look easier or harder than the previous four?
Out of all the easy guitar chords discussed on this page, which looks the easiest to you? And why.
By: Taura Eruera
About the Author:
Taura Eruera is an author of several books on guitar, harmony, rhythm and melody. He has clocked up thousands of hours of class and private guitar teaching. His guitar practice in Auckland, New Zealand now focuses more on helping regular people play their first three guitar songs in their first lesson with learn easy guitar insights and results like easy guitar chords.
I
Beginner guitar players need to learn guitar chords in their study of the guitar. Playing guitar chords is fun and many people like to play guitar chords over playing lead guitar. Chord playing involves using a pick, or fingers, to strike at least two or more notes on the guitar at the same time. That is really the best way to describe it.
The most basic guitar chords for the guitar player are G Major, C Major and D Major. To play a G chord you take your second finger and put it on the third fret of the sixth string. Next, put your first finger on the second fret of the fifth string. Finally, put your third finger on the first string. Now you can strum your basic G Major chord.
The second chord usually taught is the C Major chord. This is played by using your third finger on the third fret of the fifth string, and your second finger on the second fret of the fourth string and finally, the first finger on the first fret of the second string. When playing the C Major chord, you need to be careful not to strum the sixth string. Make sure you are only strumming the last five strings.
The last most common chord is the D Major chord. Sometimes beginners have trouble with this chord. You have to smash your fingers into a tiny area. To play a D chord you put your first finger on the second fret of the third string, then put your third finger on the third fret of the second string and finally, your second finger on the second fret of the first string. You strum only the 4 last strings.
Make sure you curl the fingers you are not using. First play each note by itself to make sure they are clear then play them all together for your first chord. If you are not getting the sound you want check your finger positions. Make sure you are pressing hard enough to create a clean sound, but not too hard. Incorrect position of the fingers and not pressing the strings hard enough are the two most common reasons why you will not get good sounding guitar chords.
To play the chords you need to learn how to read the chord charts. The frets are on the horizontal lines and the strings are on the vertical lines. The vertical lines represent the number of strings and the number is the fret number. If there is an “x” on a line that means you do not play that string. If there is an “o” on the line that means you should strum the string but do not press your finger on it.
These are some basic instructions to get a beginner guitar player playing chords. Since songs and music theory are structured from chords, this is the ideal place to start when learning to play a guitar. Practicing guitar chords is important not only for beginners. but seasoned players as well.
By: Jeffrey Veal
About the Author:
Jeff has been playing the guitar since 1987. You can visit his latest website about acoustic guitar amps which will also help guitar players find cheap guitar amps from all manufacturers for their guitar.
How do you use guitar chord diagrams? A complete understanding of how to read and use diagrams of guitar chords is essential knowledge for any guitar player, from the “greenhorn” beginner to more advanced players. The best and easiest path to becoming a competent guitar player is by learning some chords and then applying them to learning the rhythm parts of songs. Guitar chord diagrams help you do just that!
What is a Guitar Chord Diagram?
A guitar chord diagram is a graphical representation of a single guitar chord, often referred to as a “chord box”. It is basically a box in the shape of a rectangle that shows you how to play a particular chord. It represents the guitar fretboard, and shows you exactly where to place your fingers to form the chord, and which strings to strike to play it. It is truly amazing how much useful information is packed into such a small package.
How to Read a Chord Diagram
There are several different styles and formats, but all chord diagrams have these common elements:
• There are six lines that represent the strings of the guitar. Depending on the format of the chord box, the strings run vertically up and down the page (most common), or else across the page horizontally.
• For vertical diagrams, the string on the left represents the low E string (thickest one), and the string on the right is the high E (thinnest string.)
• There are a series of lines running across the string lines (at a right angle) that represent the frets.
• The string lines and the fret lines come together to form a grid representing the guitar fretboard.
• Circles or dots are placed on the grid to show exactly which strings to press on which fret to play the chord.
With just this basic information on a chord diagram, you can form and play any guitar chord. The best part is that you don’t need to know how to read standard musical notation, or even guitar tabulature, to read a chord diagram. Well enough words! View examples of guitar chord diagrams here.
Here are some additional features of chord diagrams that pack in even more useful information:
• At the top of the box is a thicker line representing the guitar nut, or end of the neck
• An “x” symbol above the nut line means “Do Not Play This String”.
• An “o” symbol above the nut line means that the string is played open (not fingered.)
• Numbers (1 to 4) on the dots (or under the box) indicate which finger to use on that string, with 1= the index finger, and 4= the little finger.
• A line or bar running across two or more strings indicates a “Barre Chord”, in which one finger presses more than one string.
Tips for Using Guitar Chord Diagrams
1. Chord Diagrams are the single most powerful tool for learning and improving your guitar playing. Make good use of them!
2. Individual chord diagrams can be combined to form chord charts. These are a practical means to learn basic chords, chord families and sequences, and songs.
3. Make use of the wealth of free online resources to help you learn about guitar chord diagrams and chord charts. One such resource is The Guitar Players Toolbox.
Play well!
Copyright 2005 Peter Bussey of http://www.guitar-players-toolbox.com
This article can be reprinted freely online, as long as the entire article and the resource box are included.
By: Peter Bussey
About the Author:
Peter Bussey has been an avid guitar player for over 10 years. In 2004 he became Editor of The Guitar Players Toolbox, a website dedicated to helping advancing guitar players improve with practical tools, tips, and information. Visit http://www.guitar-players-toolbox.com for a variety of free, practical resources such as guitar chords, guitar chord charts, song chords, and much more.
Related articles by Peter Bussey on Ezinearticles.com:
[http://ezinearticles.com/?id=79784>Basic Guitar Chords: How to Easily Master the Guitar Chords You Must Know