Chords

A | BЬ | B | C | DЬ | D | EЬ | E | F | GЬ | G | AЬ

What is a chord? The simplest definition for a chord is that “a chord is a combination of 2 or more notes strung together”. On the guitar the most notes possible in a chord is 6, because there are only 6 strings on the guitar. You can win a Grammy by knowing just 2 chords. Believe me! A lot of musicians have become Millionaires by singing songs with just 2 chords! And yes, some of those songs are really unbearable. And hey, if they can do it, so can we. It’s just luck and opportunity. Most songs have 3 chords at least. This section covers briefly about chords. More detailed explanations about chord construction is provided in the 'scale theory' section. The chord generator on my site provides only the primary chords. If you want to learn how to hold more complex chords you will have to buy a book on chords.

Major, Minors and chord progressions:

Chords are basically classified as Majors and Minors. And a Chord progression is a series of chords derived from the fundamental chord, which is also known as the ‘key’. There are some really easy rules to follow, which can make you grasp and play by ear very soon. Just try to understand the concept and stick with the rules.

Country music for example is always (almost) in the key of a Major. They are followed by one or two other chords, which are also majors. In fact, I can’t think of a Country song that is in the key of a minor. Take this as a clue. If you are trying to play a Country song then there is a 99% chance that it will be in the key of a major. And once you figure out the key, you will be able to immediately figure out the remaining chords by following some simple rules to figure out the related chord for that particular key. Another good example is Rock & Roll oldies which, are always (almost) in the key of a major.

A Major chord sounds happy and bright, while a Minor chord is more melancholic. A particular song has to start in the key of a major or a minor. Musicians have their own preferences. I personally prefer Chord progressions of the Minor key rather than the Major key. This preference also applies to Bands as a whole. Some Bands play exclusively songs off the key of a Major while the other play it off the key of a Minor. Some bands like Dire Straits play an equal number of songs on both keys. Deep Purple did most of their songs off Minor keys, while Van Halen seems to prefer Major keys. Now, remember those frets & notes stuff, which we just learned? Well you will need them here if you are going to be playing some chords. So it will help if you went back and refreshed some of that stuff, because we are going to learn chord progression.

Let’s take the Key of C Maj., the most common key in modern music. Two related chords to C Maj. are F and G. Look at the Chord finder page on how to hold these chords. Let’s play the song “Oh when the Saints go marching in”. Note: If a chord is not denoted with a Min. or a Maj. Then it will be assumed that it is a Maj.

“(C) Oh when the saints, oh when the saints, oh when the saints go marching (G) in. oh when I (C) want to be in that (F) number, oh when the (C) saints go (G) marching (C) in”.
The Chords are in brackets. Strum your guitar in a downward motion only, 1,2,3,4 and change the chords according to the patterns above. Try playing it in different order (substitute G for C etc. and see how it sounds. It will sound wrong and bad). Once you get comfortable with changing the chords fast enough to keep up with the song, try strumming the strings differently by 1(down) 2(mute) 3(down) 4(mute).

Mute:
What is that? Well muting is done when you strum the strings and then raise your fingers holding the strings just before the string sounds the chord (notes). Try it. You will get a chord that sounds like ‘chug ’ ‘chug’. It should sound 1(down) 2(chug) 3(down) 4 (chug).

Strumming:
There are plenty of ways to strum your guitar. It mostly depends on the beat , speed/tempo etc. of the song. Try holding one chord and try out strumming the strings in different tempos. You can also pick the strings one by one, from top to bottom and from bottom to top(Ballads by 'Scorpions' are good examples). In reality this is very hard to teachin writing. That's why it's important that you take lessons from a teacher. And most of all practice or just play SOMETHING! Get to know the chord patterns.

Secrets of chord progressions.

When you are trying to play a song in a particular key, then you are very often confused with trying to find the rest of the chords for that particular song. There are some simple rules to follow which will enable you to do just that. Below is a table showing related chords for the keys of the major scale. The first column shows the key (Major) and the rest of the chords are the related chords for that particular chord. The superscript ‘°’ under column VII means the chord is diminished. It’s a special chord, the details we won’t pursue now. The chords in the table below are commonly referred to as the diatonic scale.



I II min III min IV V VI min VII o
A Bm C#m D E F#m G#o
A# Cm Dm D# F Gm Ao
B C#m D#m E F# G#m A#o
C Dm Em F G Am Bo
C# D#m Fm F# G# A#m Co
D Em F#m G A Bm C#o
D# Fm Gm G# A# Cm Do
E F#m G#m A B C#m D#o
F Gm Am A# C Dm Eo
F# G#m A#m B C# D#m Fo
G Am Bm C D Em F#o
G# A#m Cm C# D# Fm Go

Let’s do an example. Let’s say that you are playing a song in the key of A, then there is a good possibility that the immediate chords for the key of A is going to be the chords under the column of IV and V, which is D and E respectively. Especially if the song is a Country song this rule is a good one to follow.

Relative Minor:
Sometimes you might find some chords and you might have difficulty in finding just one remaining chord to complete the song. In that case try the relative minor chord, which is the chord under column VI. For example if you are playing a song in the key of C, then the relative minor chord for C (major) is Am.

The 7th chord:
This is a transition chord, i.e., this chord is used as a bridge between the Key chord on column I and the chord under column IV. This is a simple rule to follow and should not be taken for granted. It might not fit all songs. But nevertheless you can check it out. It will certainly add some color and will also train your ear. For example if you are playing a song in the key of G and if the next 2 chords are the chords under columns IV(C) and V(D), then you can play the G7th chord before you go to C. Try playing the chords G, C D and then play G, G7th, C and D. How ever you should not play G, G7th, D and C. The 7th chord can be applied only if the next chord you are playing is under column IV. D is under column V not IV.

Quiz: A song has the chords C, G, F. The key is C. Can you play the C7th chord while transitioning from C to G?

Ans: No way!!! G is under column V, not IV. So the C7th chord can’t be played. However if the second chord happened to be F, then the C7th chord can be played. Note that this should not be taken for granted.

Some Progressions

Here are some common chord progressions. We will go into the theoritical parts of it later on in the scale theory section, We will practice some of the progressions which you can use to sing along to your favorite song on the radio. Get the chords from my chord generator. If a chord is simply denoted by it's letter without a major or minor depicted, then it's a Major. Try adding the 7th chord where appropriate and get a feel of the difference.

Basic Chord Progressions(Major Key)
Key progression
A A,D,A,E,A
B B,E,B,F#,B
C C,F,G,C,G,F
D D,G,A,D,A
E E,A,E,B,E
F F,A#,C,G,C
G G,C,D,G,C

Basic Chord Progressions(Minor Key)
Key progression
Am Am,G,F,E | Am,C,D,F,Am,E,Am | Am,Dm,E,Am
Bm Bm,A,G,F# | Bm,D,E,G,Bm,F#,Bm | Bm,Em,F#,Bm
Cm Cm,G#,A# | Cm,A#,G#,G
Dm Dm,Gm,A# | Dm,A,Gm
Em Em,Am,D | Em,D,C,B
Fm Fm,A#m,C#,D#
Gm Gm,D#,F,D | Gm,F,D#,D


Chord Transposition

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