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Basic Guitar Chord
Structure
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A basic guitar chord is when three or more notes are played at
the same time. The two simplest kinds of chords are
'major' and 'minor'. You can take any note then add
the notes that are a major 3rd and a perfect 5th
above to form a major chord.
A major guitar chord then is made up of a root, major 3rd
and perfect 5th. In practice, A major would simply
be written as A, and C major would be written as C.
Let’s take a
moment to study basic guitar structures further:
If you play the
open E string 1 then play the note at fret 1, the
pitch rises. This rise in pitch is called a
'semitone'. If you continue this up the string,
after 12 semitones you reach the octave E at fret
12. So, on the guitar, moving your finger along a
string by one fret (which is the same as shortening
the length of the string by one fret) raises the
pitch by a semitone. If you move your finger along
by two frets, the pitch is raised by two semitones.
Two semitones are equal to one 'tone'. In order to
name these 12 notes we need to add to the seven
letter names A B C D E F G. This is done by using
'sharps' (#) and 'flats' (b). The 12 semitones along
your E string 1 are named like this:
E – F – F#(Gb) – G – G#(Ab) – A – A#(Bb) – B – C –
C#(Db) –
D – D#(Eb) – E
[_______________OCTAVE_________________]
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A sharp raises
the pitch of a note by a semitone. A flat lowers
the pitch by a semitone. Clearly F sharp for
example, is the same note as G flat. When a note
has two names like this the notes are said to be
enharmonic.
If you play
your open E string 1 then play the note half way
along the string (at fret 12) the note at fret
12 is another E. Halving the length of the
string doubles the frequency.
Because the
guitar has six strings, it is possible to play
up to six notes at a time rather than just the
three notes (triads). When you play major and
minor chords on the guitar some of the notes of
the chord can be doubled up and though the root
(the note that gives the chord its name) is the
lowest sounding note, the 3rds and 5ths can be
played in any order. The order of the notes is
often called the voicing.
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Basic Guitar Chord
Structure
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Basic Guitar Chord
Structure |
Guitar Major
Scale
Bass Guitar Chords
Learning
Easy Guitar Chords |
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Guitar Major Scale
The most familiar sounding scale in western music is the major
scale. Here's how to build a major scale on your guitar.
Starting with open E string 1, play this series of tones and
semitones:
Tone(1) Tone(1) Semitone(½) Tone(1) Tone(1) Tone(1) Semitone(½)
Whatever note you start on, playing this pattern of tones and semitones
will produce a major scale. Notice how when we start on C there
are no sharps or flats. The notes of the scale are often
referred to as root (or tonic) 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. This is very
important for when you start figuring out chords.
C – D – E – F – G – A – B
– C
Lets
Take A Look
Following is a list of the
major chords in the area of the 1st and 4th
frets, how they’re structured and view of the fingering required
for each. There are many more ways to play these same chords as
you move up the neck but for now, we’ll keep it simple:
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A Major - A, C#, E
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E Major – E, G#, B
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D Major - D, F#, A
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G Major - G, B, D
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C Major - C, E, G
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F Major – F, A, C# |
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B Major – B,F#,D#
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These
are ‘open chords’ played on the first 4 frets with the exception
of F which is in the bar chord style.
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