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the simple music theory
you need to write your own
progressions, learn songs
by ear and even solo with confidence.
So let's learn exactly what chords are
and why they work together.
At its core,
a chord is just a combination of three
or more notes played together.
The most common type
a triad tri- for three
chord tones
derived from the first,
third, and fifth notes
of the major scale,
giving you a major triad.
Each chord tone has a role.
The root gives you the chord its name.
The third decides
if the chord is major or minor,
and the fifth adds stability.
Mapping those chord tones
on the fretboard gives
you many different ways
to play the C major chord.
Common open and bar
code shapes will contain
more than three strings,
but notice how there's still only
the three chord tones within them.
One of the most important
intervals in music is
the third as chords
are built from stacking
thirds on top of one another,
simply leapfrogging
over notes in the scale.
A major third
is what we just saw.
The first to the third
note in the major scale,
two whole steps apart C to E
is a major third,
giving the C major chord
its bright, happy sound.
However, if you flatten the major third,
lowering the E note one
fret towards the headstock,
you get a minor third
C, E-flat, G
gives you a C minor chord.
Simply by lowering the third,
you can completely change
the emotional feel of a chord.
The important thing to remember here
is that the third is being flattened,
but not necessarily
becoming a flat note.
If the three is a sharp note,
the flat three will become natural.
If the three is a natural note,
the flat three will become a flat note.
What unlocked things for me was learning
the different combinations of thirds
for different chord types.
Also known as the chord
quality major third
plus minor third creates
a major chord.
The opposite
minor third plus
major third creates
a minor chord.
Two stacked minor thirds
creates the diminished chord,
which sounds tense and unresolved.
Root flat three flat five.
Two stacked major thirds
creates the augmented chord.
Root three.
Sharp five.
This concept of stacked
thirds is important when it comes
to understanding the chords in a key.
Coming up just after this.
The Chord Book
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I'll teach you how to learn triads
faster with the help of the CAGED system,
as I take you on a journey
from triad shapes to demystifying
the diminished seventh chord.
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So why do certain chords
just go together?
That's because of the major scale.
If you harmonize the scale
stacking two thirds from each note,
you get a set of seven chords
that naturally work together.
These are called diatonic chords,
referring to the fact
that they are created
from staying strictly
within the notes of the scale.
Why this sequence of chords
occurs is perhaps easier to understand
if we arrange the notes of the scale
in a closed loop of
diatonic thirds.
Green arrows are major
thirds, orange arrows
are minor thirds.
Going through the scale in order,
we can see that we get C
major, D minor,
E minor,
F major,
G major,
A minor,
and B diminished
the only chord in which we find
two stacked minor thirds.
We assign Roman
numerals to each chord
to define their position in the key,
and to show
that we are referring to chords
and not notes,
for which we use numbers.
The scale degrees.
There are different approaches for this,
but I recommend using
lowercase numerals
to show minor chords
and the superscript circle
to show the diminished chord
Why number the chords?
Doing so allows you
to move progressions to different
keys, a process
known as transposition.
For example, a 1
5 6 4 progression in the key of C
could be played like this.
But if I needed to transpose
that to the key of G,
I apply the same chord qualities
to the notes of the G major scale
and then play the
corresponding chord sequence.
And moving that to the
key of D major.
Same rules apply.
All diatonic
chords will be the same,
because all major scales are created
from the same major scale formula.
The same distance
between each note.
That's why each
transposed progression
essentially sounds the same.
So how do you start applying these ideas?
The easiest way is to begin recognizing
chord relationships
in the songs you play.
Try writing out the chord progressions
and see if you can work out the key.
Tip here.
Progressions often, but not always, begin
on the one chord.
Once you can analyze a progression
by number, that gives you a template
that you can transpose to
any other key of your choosing.
Identifying the key
from which progression is derived
allows you to know
which scale is available
to you when improvising
or writing a solo.
But remember,
not all the notes
will necessarily sound
good over each of the chords.
That's a big topic for another day.
To write a progression from scratch
you can use the major key
as a guide and explore
different sequences of the chords
to create your own loops
and backing tracks.
And don't be discouraged
if you write something
that sounds familiar.
Songwriters have been using
these concepts for decades,
and as you'll soon realize,
many of the most popular songs
share the same progressions.
For some ideas on common
major key progressions you need to know
watch this lesson.
And if you found this helpful,
don't forget to like, subscribe
and drop a comment below
with your biggest guitar
theory question.
I might cover it in the next video.
Practice well and I'll see you next week.
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