Primary Guitar Chords
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Learning guitar chords may seem a bit overwhelming at first, especially if you don't use a systematic approach! There are so many shapes and positions available that it could literally take years to try and memorize them all!
It will be much easier if you gain an understanding of how chords are made.
Focus first on learning the chords you need to start playing right away.
PRIMARY CHORD TYPES:
MAJOR
MINOR
DOMINANT 7TH
All other guitar chords are a modification of one of these 3 basic types! You should begin by learning these three primary types because they are used in hundreds of popular songs!
When you are first starting out it helps to understand how guitar chords are used in a song or chord progression.
Minor chords sound sad or dramatic
Major chords sound positive or happy
Songs are written in KEYS, of which there are only twelve.
The KEY is determined by the scale that is used to write the melody of a song.
The MELODY of a song is the tune which is sung or played instrumentally.
So, if "Mary Had A Little Lamb" was written in the Key of C, the notes used to sing or play the song would come from the C Major Scale. The chords used to strum the rhythm and accompany the melody would also be related to the C Major Scale.
Learning all the Major, Minor and Dominant 7th primary guitar chords in relationship to each Key provides a good solid foundation from which you can continue building your chord vocabulary. This is the approach I use with all my students.
If you've been following ABC Free Beginner Guitar Lessons, you should already be familiar with:
two MINOR chords - Am and Em
and one Major chord - C
I introduced these guitar chords first because they are fairly easy to play and you can move from one to the next without lifting your second finger. This gives you an "anchor" which helps you remember them.
If you've been LISTENING AS YOU PLAY, you have probably noticed that...
This is an important point to recognize if you wish to develop your ear. You want to be able to distinguish the sound of one type of chord from another.
A DOMINANT 7TH CHORD has a distinct sound also. It seems to be asking a question: "Are we there yet?" or "When is this song going to end?"
This is an important question and it is the reason why you often see dominant 7th chords near the end of a song. They tend to draw the ear back to the Tonic or keynote chord (usually the first chord of a song) for resolution, bringing the song to an end. Dominant 7th chords are always written using a letter from the Musical Alphabet along with the number 7.
So, to sum up, there are three basic types of primary guitar chords: Major, Minor & Dominant 7th. Each letter of the Musical Alphabet can be made into one of these three types. For example, we could have an A major, an A minor or an A dominant 7th chord, etc.
MAJOR
MINOR
DOMINANT 7th
Notice how the second finger is on the same string in each of the primary chords above.
LESSON OBJECTIVE:
1. To become familiar with the different types of primary guitar chords introduced in this lesson.
2. Your on-going goal is to learn to distinguish the sound of a Major, Minor & Dominant 7th chord.
PRACTICE:
1. Strum the primary guitar chord types and listen to the difference in sound between them.
2. Continue to review previous lessons as long as necessary to gain proficient technique and a better understanding of the fretboard.
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