Beginner Acoustic Guitar Lessons

Beginner Guitar Sitemap
beginner guitar lesson guitar parts how to string a guitar how to hold a pick how to tune a guitar open chords barred chords
Beginner Acoustic Guitar Lessons
"A man ceases to be a beginner in any given science and becomes a master when he has learned that he is going to be a beginner all his life." ~Robin G. Collingwood If you are beginning acoustic guitar lessons, The Guitar Suite is a great place to come learn to play guitar. Because there are so many things for the beginner guitarist to learn, The Guitar Suite has organized the topics so that it becomes easy to learn acoustic guitar. In the beginner acoustic guitar lessons section, you will learn the very basics of guitar.
Basic acoustic guitar

parts of an acoustic guitar What acoustic guitar strings and electric guitar strings are good to use How to put strings on a guitar How to hold a pick How to play basic open chords How to play basic barred chords How to tune a guitar
Beginner Guitar Video Lessons

Once you go through each beginner acoustic guitar lesson, check out the other sections on guitar. The Guitar Suite offers free guitar lessons in music theory so you can understand from a beginner to advanced level what you are playing. You will also learn more intermediate and advanced guitar techniques. If you are more interested in the songwriting process, I have lessons for that too. Finally, The Guitar Suite shows you actually how to get the most out of your guitar practice sessions. All the acoustic guitar lessons here are self-paced and designed for you to learn on your own. All the lessons here are FREE. When you finish TheGuitarSuite lessons, move on to the Jamplay lessons.
Parts of the guitar
Guitar headstock
Tuning Machines Tuning machines are the knobs that wind the strings. When you are looking for a guitar, make sure that these turn smoothly and evenly. If they don't, they probably are not of very good quality. Grover tuners are a respected brand you can't go wrong with, but a bit pricey. All in all, if you buy a decent guitar, the tuners that come with it will be good. Tuning Pegs: Guitar strings wrap around these. Truss rod access: Unless you know a bit about adjusting the neck of your guitar, it's best to let a professional do the adjusting. This can be tricky. Nut: this is the piece on which the string pass over to attach to the tuning pegs.
The neck of the guitar
The neck is usually made of a hardwood. It can be glued or bolted into the body. Or it can extend from the body as one piece.It also contains a "truss-rod" which can be accessed through the sound hole and adjusted if you find it's out of line. Fretboard or Fingerboard: Consists of usually from 20 to 24 frets. The fretboard is made of hardwood usually and it is a separate piece laid on the neck. It also usually contains pearl "inlays" that reference the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 17th, etc. frets. We'll get into "why" later. Frets: The metal strips that lay across the fingerboard are your frets. These are what determine your tones. When you press the string to the fingerboard down between these frets and pluck or strum it, you get a tone. Where you press on the fingerboard determines your note. Inlays: These are usually made of mother of pearl and mark (normally) the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th frets.
The body of the acoustic guitar

Upper Bout:
The upper bout is the area above and including the sound hole. Your neck connects to the body of the guitar here. Generally, the upper bout has little effect on the tone or sound of the guitar. This guitar has a cutaway for easier access to upper frets. Also, sometimes the upper bout on the top holds electronics if you have a pickup or transducer installed on your acoustic.It's primary purpose is for resting the guitar on your leg. Sound Hole: All of your sound comes out here. On acoustic / electric guitars, pickups may be placed inside here to pick up the vibrations of the strings and electrify the guitar.
The Lower Bout The lower bout is the area of the guitar that generates the sound and the depth of sound of your guitar. They come in differernt sizes, from smaller classical or performance styles to larger, boomier, jumbo sizes. This particular guitar is made of koa. The type of wood your guitar is made of is a determining factor of the tone that it has. I will teach you more about that later . But for now remember that smaller is punchier, larger is boomier.
Bridge: This is where the pins hold the strings in place on the body of the guitar. Bridge Pins: These pin the strings into bridge to keep tension on them. The electric bridge and nut On some electric guitars are "locking." This means you can use a whammy bar or your fingers to bend and pull the strings without it going out of tune because there are bolts at the nut that lock the strings in place. Strap pegs Are common on both guitars so you can stand and play. It's a good idea to get locks so.
Guitar Strings
There are many different types of strings out there. But you have to buy electric guitar string for electric guitars and acoustic guitar strings for acoustic guitars. If you have a classical, or nylon string guitar, you have to buy nylon strings, otherwise go with steel strings or nickel wound strings. A good way to extend the life of your strings is to wipe them down with a clean rag after each use.
Elixir: probably the longest lasting strings, they have a coating that extends the life. o Kenny Loggins
Erik Mongrain Dan Tyminski Lucas Reynolds Keller Williams Keith Moseley Nickel Creek D'Addario o Andy Timmons o Joe Satriano o Larry Carlton o Pete Yorn o John Frusciante o Earl Klugh o Alex Skolnick GHS Boomers o Carlos Santana o Dave Mustaine o FLEA (Red Hot Chillpeppers) o Eric Johnson o Foo Fighters o Neal Schon (Journey) o David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) Martin Dean Markley o Chris Daughtry o Dwight Yoakam o Al Petteway o Bruce Springsteen o Russ Freeman o Sugarland o Vince Gill Ernie Ball o Slash o Eric Clapton o Jimmy Page o Angus Young o John Mayer o Steve Morse o lots of other fantastic guitarists! Everly DR
o o o o o o
Check out how to string a guitar or hold a pick.
How to put strings on a guitar
The Order of the Strings:
The thinnest string, high E, goes on the bottom of the fretboard. then... from bottom to top of the fretboard

B G D A Remove the bridge pin and insert the ball of the string into the bridge hole. On the left is an electric guitar bridge hole. You string from the back of the guitar, there are no bridge pins in an electric. On the right is a steel string acoustic. Remove the bridge pin from the top, or soundboard of the guitar.
Step 1:
Step 2: Replace the bridge pin ( it will still be a little loose, don't worry) Step 3: Extend the string up and place it in the groove on the nut. Run the string to the inside of the tuning peg. Step 4:
Wrap the string around the tuning peg about 3 times to the outside of the head of the guitar, wrapping it UNDER the itself . Then run the end of the string through the hole in the tuning peg. Step 5: As the string exits the hole, weave the string back to the inside of the head of the guitar. Weave it UNDER the string and pull it UP. (When you start turning the tuning machine, the string will lock itself into place) Step 6: Wind the tuning machine until the string is in tune. Step 7: Cut off any excess string
Stringing a classical or nylon string:

The bridge: 1. Slip string through the hole towards the back of the guitar. 2. Once through, loop it back towards the neck of the guitar and loop it under itself where you slipped it in the bridge hole (loop it from underneath the bottom towards the top) 3. Again loop it back towards the back of the guitar, this time feeding the string under itself. 4. Coil the string around itself 2x for bass (top 3) strings and 3x for the bottom 3 strings. 5. Make sure that the last coilpoints toward the bottom of the guitar and IS BEHIND the edge of the bridge. This locks the string in place. Look at the photo below to see an illustration.
A. Insert string here.
B. Comes out here and feeds back down towards C, or neck of guitar. C. Loops under itself here and heads back towards the back of the guitar. D. Wraps around itself 2x for bass strings and 3x for 3 high strings. E. Slides under itself behind the bridge to lock itself in. (Pull tight) Go to how to tune a guitar.
How to hold a pick
Relaxed hand Index finger across the back of pick Pad of thumb holding front of pick Wrist relaxed and not arched back The pick should be held at a slight angle downward ... this helps it slide across the strings more easily.
Picking Techniques
String Muting
String muting is a common practice in heavy metal music. All you do is place the palm of your hand lightly on the string near the bridge of the guitar and strike the string. Oila, you have performed a palm mute.
Alternate Picking
Alternate picking is a technique that allows you to pick faster. You should use an UP and DOWN motion when you pick. All of the movement should come from your wrist, not your elbow.
Rest Stroke
A rest stroke is when you strike DOWN on the string and the pick comes to rest on the next string below it. This gives you a more powerful sound when you pick.
Fingerpicks ... or not?

Some people use fingerpicks when they play fingerstyle. These are good if you have a hard time growing your fingernails or don't want to use fake nails. Classical guitarist don't use them. They take very much care of their fingernails. Many "chickin' pickers" use fingerpicks and thumbpicks. A good brand of fingerpick is Alaskapik fingerpicks.
How to tune a guitar

There are three main ways to tune your guitar 1. An electronic tuner 2. Using harmonics to tune 3. Using open strings to tune
The electronic tuner

The most accurate way to tune your guitar. If on eisn't available, you need to be able to tune your guitar yourself. As far as electronic tuners go, there are 2 basic kinds: electronic tuners for electric guitars and tuners for acoustic guitars. The tuners for electric guitars have an input jack that you simply plug your guitar into, strike a string and you read the display that tells you how close to being in tune your string is. If you want a tuner for an acoustic guitar, you should look for one that has an internal microphone in it. This can sometimes be troublesome because the microphones are very sensitive and they can pick up other noises. But nonetheless, buying an electronic tuner is well worth the investment. Nothing can turn an audience off or kill the mood of your masterpiece than a flat or sharp note. Some tuners are small enough to keep in your gig bag or case. These are called onboard tuners and they just clamp right on to your guitar's headstock.
The Harmonics Tuning Method
This is the second most accurate method of tuning your guitar because you can actually hear the difference in sound waves. Check out the samples below and then look to see how you can learn this way of tuning. Tuning a guitar with harmonics: 1. Place your index finger lightly above the metal just behind the 5th fret and pick it. 2. Now place your ring finger above the metal just behind the 7th fret on the next string down and pick it. 3. If you hear what sound like sound waves, the string are out of tune. If you don't and they sound like the same wave, the strings are in tune. Listen below.
The Open String Tuning Method

This is the third most effective way to tune your guitar. It's probably the easiest to do but not as accurate as the other 2 ways. Here's how you do it: 1. Press the fifth fret of the 6th string (low E) and pick it. 2. Now pick the open A string. If they sound exactly the same they are in tune. If you hear a difference, they are out of tune. 3. Repeat with the other strings except the B to E. On the B string press the 4th fret.
Click which string you want to see and hear and then roll over the notes with your mouse to hear the note.
Open Chords
What is an open chord?
An open chord is the typical old "cowboy chord." These are the chords that people learn first because they are the easiest guitar chords to form. The reason the open chord is easy is because you only have to press down on a few strings to form the chord, leaving the rest of the strings open to ring out.
Learning to play open chords

As a beginner guitarist, you should learn the essential 5 open chords that make up the open chord family. They are the... 1. 2. 3. 4. open A chord open C chord open D chord open E chord
5. open G chord These are the first chords to learn because they are possibly the easiest to learn and they can be used as a base for forming many other chords in different positions on the neck, as you'll see in the Music Theory section. Let's take a look at how to form these chords.
How to form open chords

Click the arrow below to hear the open chords in action. Then scroll over the chord names to switch between open chords. For some reason, Internet Explorer doesn't like Flash Files in many instances. If it's not working for you, try using Firefox or Google Chrome. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Moving beyond open chords

Once you become good at playing these chords, move on to the barred chords. After that go on to the music theory section to learn what's going on behind the scenes and to learn a lot more chords, open chords and otherwise. If you want a series of lessons that really will show you the ins and outs of playing chords, the theory behind chords, using chords in songs and rhythms, then Learn and Master Guitar is by far the best available Home Study Guitar Course for you. It's very high quality and lots of guitarists have learned to play using it.
Barred Chords
What is a barred chord?
A barred chord is one of the first types of guitar chords you will learn. Because this is the beginner guitar lesson section, we will look at just major barred chords and minor barred chords. Basically, a barred chord is a chord that requires you to put one or more of your fingers flat across more than one string (usually 4-6 strings) to form the chord.
Challenges of playing a barred chord

A lot of times it's a little hard to play a barred chord if you are a beginner guitarist. It takes some time to work up the strength to play them correctly without any buzz for the strings. But if you go to the acoustic guitar techique section, you can find some good tips under the relaxing page to help you get better at playing barred chords.
Usefulness of barred chords
Barred chords are great to know for mobility on the fretboard. Although there are many moveable shapes for chords, barred chords are the first step in learning them. Below you can see the five major barred chords shapes that are moveable. Incidently if you go back to open chords you'll see that they are the same as these barred chords. But here we'll go into moving on beyond major chords into major barred chords and minor barred chords. Also we'll show you how these barred chords can move up and down the fretboard. These are the open chord shapes but they also work up and down the fretboard. You can memorize these by the anacronym CAGED, which can learn more about in the music theory section. For some reason, Internet Explorer doesn't like Flash Files in many instances. If it's not working for you, try using Firefox or Google Chrome. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Seeing barred chords in action
Music Thoery Sitemap Music Theory

music theory guitar chords major chords minor chords moveable chords caged theory diminished chords augmented chords 6th chords 7th chords 9th chords music intervals music intervals TAB interval worksheet (PDF) guitar scales pentatonic scales major scale major scale exercises minor scales minor scale exercises guitar mode positions guitar modes charts Reverence: a study
mode chart worksheet (PDF) minor mode chart worksheet (PDF) Blank Tab (PDF) chord progressions cadences chord journal (PDF) chord leading-resolving circle of 5ths chord substitution
Music Theory
"He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may cast." ~Leonardo da Vinci
How music theory can help you

Many people play guitar and take guitar lessons without ever really studying the music theory behind what they're playing. That's okay. But if you really want to get the most out of your guitar playing and songwriting, knowing some music theory can give you a lot of musical insight and ideas.
Music theory topics

Guitar Chords To understand music theory it's important to be able to form chords on your guitar. In this section you'll learn guitar chords: major chords, minor chords, augmented chords, moveable chords, and diminished chords. Of course, with Learn and Master Guitar, you will learn all of this and more in a proven and effective lesson format. Guitar Solo
Music theory doesn't stop at chord formation. Understanding the theory of music behind the guitar scales is important if you want to be able to solo really well. I'll show you a lot of scale formations here. You'll also learn about intervals. But if you want a more structured and helpful way to learn to solo, Learn and Master Guitar is the best resource I have found to teach you how to apply music theory to your guitar playing. Advanced Chord Theory After you have gone through all of the other music theory lessons, check out the lessons on advanced chord theory. Here you'll learn the circle of 5ths, chord leading, and chord substitution. Beginner Guitar | Guitar Practice | Guitar Technique | Music Theory | So
Caged Guitar Theory

Remembering Chords based on CAGED and modal positions
If we look at the modal positions we can see that we can figure out different chord positions as well. Basically this process is based on what is called the CAGED system. All it is really is a different way of looking at what you've already learned in guitar chords. Basically with CAGED we can create chord forms up and down the fretboard from the formation of the chords C, A, G, E and D in that order. First let's look at the chord formations for each of these chords.
CAGED guitar theory in action

For some reason, Internet Explorer doesn't like Flash Files in many instances. If it's not working for you, try using Firefox or Google Chrome. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Below click any of the RED TEXT to interact with the CAGED guitar lesson.
CAGED chord charts
A chords
B CHORDS
C CHORDS
D CHORDS
E CHORDS
F CHORDS
G CHORDS
Go on to Chord Leading
Major Chord
How to play and use the major chord
By far, the major chord is the most used type of chords in popular music. They carry an upbeat, hopeful, full sound. They lack any hint of mystery, sadness, fear, funkiness or anything of the like. If you haven't already, go to the Beginner Section and look at the open chord page there. It shows you some great pictures and audio on how to play major chords. We are able to figure out the position of every major chord based on our intervals and our root note. The root note is what defines the chord. So, a C chord will have C as the root, B chord has B and so on. Very simple.
The major chord family

The major chord family can consist of many chords. The main thing is that the chord has a major 3rd in it. This is what makes it a major chord. But as you will see below, there can be many, many chords that belong in the major category. What these charts do is take the basic 5 positions for each of the chords and gives you one way of playing them in order to cover the entire fretboard. If you simply learn these you'll have an incredible array of chords and a very strong foundation to be able to nail any chord at any pace up the neck For some reason, Internet Explorer doesn't like Flash Files in many instances. If it's not working for you, try using Firefox or Google Chrome. Sorry for the inconvenience. The structure of the chord is also simple.
The major chord formula is:

1-3-5 So the root is 1, it tells you what chord letter to assign like A, B, C, D , E, F or G. The 3 is a major third above that: A = C# B = D# C=E D = F# E = G# F=A G=B And the 5 is a perfect fifth above 1: A=E B = F# C=G D=A E=B F=C G=D So together the Major Chords are as follows: Major Chord Tonic 3rd 5th A A C# E B B D# F# C C E G D D F# A
E F G
E G# B F A C G B D A Major Chords
B Major Chords
C Major Chords
D Major Chords
E Major Chords
F Major Chords
G Major Chords
So there you go, there are many positions for each of the major chords. Next we'll look at the minor chords and their, structure, feel and positions. The chart below shows the pattern for all of the tonics (1) - the 3rds and the 5ths on the fretboard. TAN= the tonic or 1 BLUE= the 3rd RED= the fifth If you can find the tonic you can find the distance from the 3rd and 5th. So any combination of these 3 notes on the fretboard creates a major chord for that tonic. Look at the chart and try to figure out as many possible fingerings for a major chord as you can. If you look at the chord charts above, you see them in the chart below.
Check out minor chords or 7 chords. Learn and Master Guitar is an excellent guitar instrucational DVD series that can teach you how to use chords in a comprehensive home study course. Check it out.
Minor Chords
Playing and using minor chords
Minor chords can be used for a variety of reasons. But for the most part, they express a feeling more intimate sounding than the major chords. I tend to gravitate towards the use
of minor chords. Some of the feelings I try to get across though this type of chord are sadness, reflectiveness, mystery, longing, desire, and others. The structure of the chord is also simple. If you haven't already, go to the Beginner Section and look at the open chord page there. It shows you some great pictures and audio on how to play minor chords.
The minor chord formula:

1 - b3 - 5 So the root is 1, it tells you what chord letter to assign like A, B, C, D , E, F or G. The 3 is a minor third above that: A=C B=D C = Eb D=F E=G F = Ab G = Bb And the 5 is a perfect fifth above 1: A=E B = F# C=G D=A E=B F=C G=D So together the minor Chords are as follows: A=A-C-E B = B - D - F# C = C - Eb - G D=D-F-A E=E-G-B F = F - Ab - C G = G - Bb - D
Minor chord guitar charts
The chart below shows the pattern for all of the tonics (1) - the minor 3rds and the 5ths on the fretboard.
If you can find the tonic you can find the distance from the minor 3rd and 5th. So any combination of these 3 notes on the fretboard creates a minor chord for that tonic. Look at the chart and try to figure out as many possible fingerings for a minor chord as you can. If you look at the chord charts above, you see them in the chart below.
Check out major chords or 7 chords. Learn and Master Guitar is an excellent guitar instrucational DVD series that can teach you how to use chords in a comprehensive home study course. Check it out.
Moveable Chords
THERE ARE MANY FLASH FILES ON THIS PAGE. For some reason, Internet Explorer doesn't like Flash Files in many instances. If it's not working for you, try using Firefox or Google Chrome. Sorry for the inconvenience. Go to CAGED for more explanation (may load slow lots of pix)
Types of moveable chords

Root 6 Moveable chords Root 6 chords have their root or tonic, you guessed it, on the 6th string. Below are the forms for the major, minor and the dominant root 6 chords. Keep in mind that these are all moveable up and down the fretboard. Just click on the type of chord you want to see below and the fretboard will show up and show you the Root 6 Moveable chords. Root 5 Moveable chords Root 5 chords have their root or tonic, you guessed it, on the 5th string. Below are the forms for the major, minor and the dominant root 5 chords. Keep in mind that these are all moveable up and down the fretboard. Just like the Root 6 chords. Just click below to view the fretboard and the Root 6 moveable chords. Root 4 Moveable chords Root 4 chords have their root or tonic, you guessed it, on the 5th string. Below are the forms for the major, minor and the dominant root 4 chords. Keep in mind that these are all moveable up and down the fretboard. Just like the Root 6 and Root 5 chords. Some of these you can see come from the Root 6 chords. Click on the name belowe of the type of chord you want to see and the fretboard will appear.
Moveable chord charts

Moveable MAJOR CHORDS 6th string
5th string
4th string minor CHORDS 6th string
5th string
4th string MAJOR 7 CHORDS 6th string
5th string
4th string minor 7 CHORDS 6th string
5th string
4th string DOMINANT 7 CHORDS 6th string
5th string
4th string DIMINISHED CHORDS 6th string
5th string
4th string AUGMENTED CHORDS 6th string
5th string
4th string
Learning MOVEABLE CHORDS

1. Learn every note on the first 2 strings. 2. Then I memorize one form for the 6th string Major chords. Play it up the string naming each chord as you go along. 3. Then I do it over again with the 2nd chord formation if there is one. 4. Finish the 6th string then move on to the 5th string and do the same thing. Then the fourth. 5. After the major chord forms are pretty well memorized go on to the minor chord forms: 6th string 1st, 5th string then 4th string. 6. Then move to the 7 chords. All the while note the difference in their sounds and characteristics. After the 7 chords try the diminished then the augmented. Once you get all of these chord forms try to play around and figure out more difficult or complicated chords.
Diminished Chords
What is a diminished chord
Diminished chords are unstable chords, they are very dissonant. They seem like they lack something, they need something. And usually that something ends up being the major chord a half step up from that diminished chord. Diminished chords are usually written like "o" or "-" or "dim". And they are usually used as passing chords. You don't stay on them too long. They lead to other chords One reason for this is that the diminished tends to be a 7 chord, and we'll get into the theory of chord progressions later. But for now just know that, for example, a c# diminished chord would naturally want to lead into a D major chord. Or an Edim would want to go into an F major chord Now there are really three different kinds of diminished chords that are commonly heard.

diminished triad diminished 7th (fully) half diminished 7th
Diminished chord formulas:

diminished triad 1 - b3 (m3) - b or O5 (basically this is playing 3 minor 3rds in a row) half diminished 7th 1 - b3 (m3) - b or O5 - b7 (also called min7b5) diminished 7th 1 - b3 (m3) - b or O5 - bb7 (actually a M6 interval) Diminished Triads The min7b5 chords (half diminished) fully diminished 7th chords A = A - C - Eb B=B-D-F C = C - Eb - Gb D = D - F - Ab E = E - G - Bb F = F - Ab - B G = G - Bb - Db A = A - C - Eb - G B=B-D-F-A C = C - Eb - Gb - Bb D = D - F - Ab - C E = E - G - Bb - D F = F - Ab - B - Eb G = G - Bb - Db - F A = A - C - Eb - F# B = B - D - F - G# C = C - Eb - Gb - A D = D - F - Ab - B E = E - G - Bb - C# F = F - Ab - B - D G = G - Bb - Db - E
Diminished Chord Charts
Diminished chords on teh fretboard (key of A)
Check out augmented chords or 7 chords. Or if you really want to understand how you can use all this information, check out Learn and Master Guitar.
Augmented chords
What is an augmented chord?
Augmented chords are unstable, or tense sounding chords. They are typically written as "+" or "aug". They are usually used as a passing chord between to other chords because
of the tension in their sound. They also tend to be lead by that sharp 5th to the next half step up.
The augmented chord formula is: 1 - 3 - #5 (or +5)

(basically this is playing 3 Major 3rds in a row) So augmented triads are as follows: (thanks for the tips Jim in Michigan) A = A - C# - E# B = B - D# - F## C = C - E - G# D = D - F# - A# E = E - G# - B# F = F - A - C# G = G - B - D#
Check how to play diminished chords or 7 chords. If you want more complete lessons on how to play guitar chords, we recommend tyring Learn and Master Guitar. By far the best guitar instructioanl program out there.
6 chords
What is a 6 chord?
Sixth chords are peculiar sounding chords. It can be major or minor, augmented or diminished. The 6th chord (major) can probably be best described as whimsical. It's the kind of chord you'd think a harp would play. Try out some of the chord formations and see if they can fit into your repertoire.
The structure of the chord is the same as the major or minor plus an added 6th note. The 6th is not flatted, this would make the chord a C 6 flat or C minor 6 flat.
The 6 chord formula is: 1 - 3 (b3) - 5 - 6

So the root is 1, it tells you what chord letter to assign like A, B, C, D , E, F or G. the 5 is a perfect fifth above the 6 is a major 6th above 1: 1: A = C# (C) A=E A = F# B = D# (D) B = F# B = G# C = E (Eb) C=G C=A D = F# (F) D=A D=B E = G# (G) E=B E = C# F = A (Ab) F=C F=D G = B (Bb) G=D G=E So together the Major 6th Chords are as So together the minor 6th Chords are as follows: follows: A = A - C# - E - F# A = A - C - E - F# B = B - D# - F# - G# B = B - D - F# - G# C=C-E-G-A C = C - Eb - G - A D = D - F# - A - B D=D-F-A-B E = E - G # - B - C# E = E - G - B - C# F=F-A-C-D F = F - Ab - C - D G=G-B-D-E G = G - Bb - D - E The 3 is a third above that:
Major 6 Chords
The chart below shows the pattern for all of the tonics (1) - the major 3rds, 5ths and 6ths on the fretboard.
If you can find the tonic you can find the distance from the 3rd, 5th and 6th. So any combination of these 4 notes on the fretboard creates a 6th chord for that tonic. Look at the chart and try to figure out as many possible fingerings for a 6th chord as you can. If you look at the chord charts above, you see them in the chart below.
If you are looking for a guitar system to help you truly understand how to use chords in your style of playing, check out Learn and Master Guitar. It is the best and most comprehensive guitar instructional available.
7 chords
What is a 7 chord?
Seventh chords are very common chords. Much of jazz is based upon 7th progressions. The seventh note is one of the notes that really defines the sound of the chord. It's one of the strongest notes. A seventh chord can be major, minor, augmented or diminished. Remember that the 3rd is the note that determines whether it is major or minor.
7 chord formation
The seventh automatically assumes the seventh note is a flatted seventh, or the note a whole step (2 frets) above the octave of your tonic. If it is not, if it's only one fret above your tonic it's called a major 7th chord. A minor 7th chord is your flatted third plus the flatted 7th. It sound a bit confusing but we'll look at the charts.
Using the 7 chord

As far as use of 7th chords, the 7th is used a lot in jazz and in country music. It naturally sounds twangy, not as uplifting as the major chord (not the major 7th.) It's a fun loving chord. And it's better for comping or rhythm than melodic use. Now the major 7th is decidedly jazzy. It has a very soft, soft jazz feel. And it's pretty. It tends to work better melodically than the 7th. The minor 7th also is very jazzy sounding, but it's more complex sounding than the major 7th. As with all minors, it doesn't lend itself to uplifting melodies. It is contemplative but can also be used to get your groove on. The 7th chord formula is: 1 - 3 - 5 - b7 The major 7th chord formula is: 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 The minor 7th chord formula is: 1 - b3 - 5 - b7 So the root is 1, it tells you what chord letter to assign like A, B, C, D , E, F or G. The 3 is a third above that the 5 is a perfect fifth above 1 the 7 is a flatted 7th above 1 A = C# A=E B = D# B = F# A=G C=E C=G B=A D = F# D=A C = Bb E = G# E=B D=C
F=A G=B
F=C G=D
E=D F = Eb G=F The minor 7th Chords are as follows: A=A-C-E-G B = B - D - F# - A C = C - Eb - G - Bb D=D-F-A-C E=E-G-B-D F = F - Ab - C - Eb G = G - Bb - D - F
So together the 7th Chords are as follows: A = A - C# - E - G B = B - D# - F# - A C = C - E - G - Bb D = D - F# - A - C E=E-G#-B-D F = F - A - C - Eb G=G-B-D-F The Major 7th Chords are as follows: A = A - C# - E - G# B = B - D# - F# - A# C=C-E-G-B D = D - F# - A - C# E = E - G # - B - D# F=F-A-C-E G = G - B - D - F#
7th Chords (for minor 7th just flatten the 3rd ...move it down 1 fret)
The charts above are a good quick reference. But if you really want to know the fretboard and, the charts below are a much better way to learn them.
Guitar Theory: 7 Chord Charts
Check out 6 chords or 9 chords. Or if you want to really learn how to play guitar, check out Learn and Master Guitar.
9 chord
What is a 9 chord?
9 chords are exactly like the 7 chords but we add a 9th to it. A 9th is an octave higher than the tonic and then add a second (2 frets up) The 9th chord formula is: 1 - 3 - 5 - b7 - 9 The major 7th minor 9th chord formula is: 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 9 The minor 7th minor 9th chord formula is: 1 - b3 - 5 - b7 - 9 So together the 9 Chords are as follows: The minor 9 Chords are as follows:
A = A - C# - E - G - B A=A-C-E-G-B B = B - D# - F# - A - C# B = B - D - F# - A - C# C = C - E - G - Bb - D C = C - Eb - G - Bb - D D = D - F# - A - C - E D=D-F-A-C-E E = E - G # - B - D - F# E = E - G - B - D - F# F = F - A - C - Eb - G F = F - Ab - C - Eb - G G=G-B-D-F-A G = G - Bb - D - F - A The Major 9th Chords are as follows: A = A - C# - E - G# - B B = B - D# - F# - A# - C# C=C-E-G-B-D D = D - F# - A - C# - E E = E - G # - B - D# - F# F=F-A-C-E-G G = G - B - D - F# - A
Guitar Chords: 9 Chords
Learn how to play augmented chords or diminished chords. If you want to learn how to apply chords to your guitar playing style, check out Learn and Master Guitar.
Music Intervals
What is an interval?
An interval is simply the distance between 2 notes.

The root note (note 1 of a scale) is the note you start on ...for example in the key of A it would be the A note on the 6th string/5th fret. There are 7 general intervals: o 2nd o 3rd o 4th o tritone o 5th o 6th o 7th o (there are also unison and octave)
This may help understand a little better. Look at one string of the guitar, you have 12 frets, and that equals an octave between the first fret and the last fret. Distance between Notes Interval 1 fret minor 2nd 2 frets major 2nd 3 frets minor 3rd 4 frets major 3rd 5 frets perfect fourth (no minor or major of this) 6 frets tritone (tense and dissonant sounding) 7 frets perfect 5th (no minor or major of this either) 8 frets minor 6th 9 frets major 6th 10 frets minor 7th 11 frets major 7th 12 frets octave So if you look at the charts below, you'll see the root note (the note you start on) and you'll see the major, minor or perfect interval being illustrated. For example the first chart shows the 2nd interval. The root note is in tan. Count 1 fret up on the same string and you
see that the black note (the minor 2nd) is right there. Count 2 frets up and the blue note (the major 2nd) is right there. From there you can see where these same notes are on all of the other strings. Another example would be the 5th interval. This is a perfect interval because there are no minor or major notes for it, it's all by itself because it's perfect. Look at its chart. In this example the root note is an A on the 6th string, count up 7 frets and you see the perfect interval on the 12th fret. So the perfect 5th of an A is E ... A B C D E Hope this helps a bit.
Interval Charts for Guitar
Tips for learning guitar intervals:

Practice playing the notes on the fretboard and try to learn how the location of each interval relates to its root note. Some key terms and concepts: Consonance: This refers to when an interval is more harmonious. Or there doesn't seem to be much friction in their relationship aurally. They feel stable. Consonant Intervals:

Octave (perfect consonance) can only be perfect, augmented or diminished Fifth (perfect consonance) Fourth (perfect consonance) Major Third (imperfect consonance) Minor Third (imperfect consonance) Minor Sixth (imperfect consonance) Major Sixth (imperfect consonance)
Dissonance: This refers to when an interval in not very harmonious. There seems to be friction or the notes sounding together sound unstable. Dissonant intervals feel like they need to go somewhere. When they go to a major tone or chord this is called resolution.
Dissonant Intervals:the Tritone

(major, minor, augmented or diminished) Minor Second Major Second Minor Seventh major Seventh
If you look at any of the charts and study them, you'll see that the positioning of the notes on the fretboard reveal something. It reveals that certain intervals are closely related. Second intervals and seventh intervals are closely related. If you take an A note and play its major 7th interval, you end up playing a G# (2 strings down and one fret up). Now where is that note compared to the A note's octave? A half step up, so it becomes a minor 2nd. This is called interval inversion.
INVERTING INTERVALS
In general terms this is what happens when you invert intervals Starts as Perfect Major minor diminished augmented unisons 2nds 3rds 4ths 5ths 6ths 7ths octaves Becomes Perfect So, for example, a perfect fourth of an open G is C. That C an minor octave lower is going to be a fifth lower. Major augmented Take a few minutes to experiment on the fretboard and figure out diminished each interval's position and then its inverse on the fretboard. You'll octaves learn the fretboard in no time. 7ths Great, what does augmented and diminished mean? 6ths 5ths Well, when you lower and raise notes, you're changing intervals. 4ths 3rds Look at the chart below to get an idea what's going on. 2nds unisons
- 1 fret (1/2 step) Interval + one fret (1/2 step) diminished perfect augmented diminished minor Major minor Major augmented --diminished minor or perfect major or perfect augmented ---
Okay so that seems like too many notes for the fretboard. Well it is. Some tones or intervals are named with several notes. These are called enharmonic intervals or notes. Check out the exercises for playing intervals on yor guitar. Or if you want more thorough guitar lessons, The Guitar Suite endorses a fantastic guitar instructional series called Learn and Master Guitar.
Intervals Tab
Use the tabs below to help you learn how each interval feels and sounds on the guitar fretboard.
Check out our interval worksheet or go on to guitar scales. Check out Learn and Master Guitar
Guitar Scales
Just because you know umpteen billion scales, it doesn't mean you have to use them all in a solo. ~Kirk Hammett
Importance of guitar scales

The guitar scale is the basis from which all chords come. Without the scale, there is no structure to music. When you practice playing scales on the guitar, you begin to hear intervals, you begin to gain strength and dexterity in your fingers, you start to hear musical relationships, you form a basic understanding about chord formulas. The benefits of learning scales is endless. BUT, be careful that you don't simply practice going up and down the scales in your guitar lessons. You should examine and explore scales. Try to find the life in each one. And understand the theory behind each one.
Types of guitar scales

There are several guitar scales. Some may be considered modes of certain scales. But we'll go ahead and lump them all together even though technically a scale mode isn't the same thing as a scale.

major scale / aka ionian mode minor scale / aka aeolian mode major pentatonic scale minor pentatonic scale blues scale chromatic scale guitar modes o dorian mode o phrygian mode o lydian mode o mixolydian mode o locrian mode harmonic minor scale melodic minor scale whole tone scale
whole-half diminshed half-whole diminished
Beyond guitar scales

It's all well and good to practice these scales. You should. but learning how to apply them is something else. Learn and Master Guitar is a great instructional series that can truly help you become a better and more knowledgeable guitarist. Check it out.
Pentatonic
Tried and true, this is the scale we all love to use. Guitar legends have been made from this scale. The good news is that it's one of the easiest scales to remember and it fits in just about everyone's style in some way or another. It's commonly used in country, jazz, rock, metal, folk, everything.
Major Pentatonic Scale

Lets start with the Pentatonic major scale. Below is the fretboard chart (in A) for it then we'll talk about what's going on in it.
Above you can see that there seems to be fewer notes than the major and minor scales. It's true. The major pentatonic eliminates the 4th and the 6th of the major scale. This may be the reason it is easier to remember. Also by eliminating the 7th it makes the scale more universally usable. The 7th note, remember, sets the flavor of the chord. Without defining it the scale can fit over more chords. Every single major pentatonic scale for every single key signature follows the same pattern: W ... W ... W + H ... W ...W + H or Whole step - Whole step - Whole step and a half Whole step - Whole step and a half A step is the distance between 2 notes: half step = 1 fret whole step = 2 frets On the guitar you can play a whole major scale up to the 12th fret and see the pattern on one string.
A very good idea would be to try to memorize or learn the major pentatonic scale for each of the keys A through G. Below is a chart that shows every key's major pentatonic scale. Tonic (major pentatonic scale) A B C D E F G 2nd 3rd 5th 6th B C# E F# C# D# F# G# D E G A E F# A B F# G# B C# G A C D A B D E
Minor Pentatonic Scale

The minor pentatonic pretty much is the major pentatonic scale except you shift the tonic, or 1st note to 3 frets below. So the chart's notes remain the same but the root or tonic is different. Take a look.
I made a mistake on the B string... the blue fretted note on the 3rd fret should actually be on the 2nd fret. My bad yo. hehe Above you can see that there seems to be fewer notes than the major and minor scales. It's true. The major pentatonic eliminates the 4th and the 6th of the major scale. This may be the reason it is easier to remember. Also by eliminating the 7th it makes the scale more universally usable. The 7th note, remember, sets the flavor of the chord. Without defining it the scale can fit over more chords. Every single major pentatonic scale for every single key signature follows the same pattern:
W + H ... W ... W ... W + H ... W or Whole step and a half - Whole step - Whole step - Whole step and a half - Whole step
A step is the distance between 2 notes: half step = 1 fret whole step = 2 frets
So here are the notes for all of the minor pentatonic scales
Tonic (minor pentatonic scale) A B C D E F G flat 3rd 4th 5th flat 7th C D E G D E F# A Eb F G Bb F G A C G A B D Ab Bb C Eb Bb C D F
So obviously these two scales are related because each major pentatonic shares the same notes with its pentatonic minor scale. Here are the scales as they relate. Major Pentatonic Scale A B C D E F G Relative Minor Pentatonic Scale F#m G#m Am Bm C#m Dm Em
Of course all of these scales should be practiced across the fretboard. They also have modal positions just like the major and the minor scales. And the process is the same. I would practice each modal position for each scale. Use the blank tab sheet on the web site or above to TAB out your exercises if you'd like. All of this talk about chords, modes and scales begs a question. "How do we tie them all together?" Well, you can do one of two things. You can take all of this information and explore it, apply it, combine and create with it yourself, which I really hope you do. T The other pages in theis section of the site will be dedicated entirely to figuring out chordal, modal and scalar relationships and how they relate to one another. Right now let's wrap up with a little study that incorporates some of the stuff that we talked about so far in a study Hope you like it.
Major Scale
Major Scale Theory
All right let's start with a left brained approach to the major scale. We'll get the theory out of the way so we can get into some phrasing exercises and some reflections on how to use this thing we call the major scale.
Above you can see every major scale note on the fretboard. And unless you've spent a whole lot of time studying the lesson on Intervals (see the songwriting section), you probably haven't mastered every note and every phrasing on it yet. Major Scale Pattern / Formula Every single major scale for every single key follows the same pattern: W-W-H-W-W-W-H or Whole step - Whole step - Half step - Whole step - Whole step - Whole step Half step Step the distance between 2 notes: half step = 1 fret whole step = 2 frets Major scale on the guitar fretboard On the guitar you can play a whole major scale up to the 12th fret and see the pattern on one string.
A very good idea would be to try to memorize or learn the major scale for each of the keys A through G. Below is a chart that shows every key's major scale. Scale 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th A B C# D E F# G# B C# D# E F# G# A# C D E F G A B D E F# G A B C# E F# G# A B C# D# F G A Bb C D E G A B C D E F# As you notice, C is the only major scale that has no sharps or flats: C D E F G A B There are many ways to play the major scale, or many positions to play it in anyway. We'll look at a couple here:

static dynamic.
Static positions: Major Scale Boxes When we play the scale in one place at a time without running up the fretboard. Look below and you can see all of these positions for the C major scale.
Dynamic Positions: Major Scale Boxes Playing the major scale dynamically is basically just you practicing moving between nmajor scale boxes.
Okay now that you can see the charts and where the notes fall on the fretboard, lets start in on some exercises. These exercises are to help remember the structure and the placement of the notes and to practice with a metronome to build clarity and speed. They're not supposed to create interesting phrasing yet.
Major Scale Guitar

Major Scale Exercises
Major Scale Exercise 1
|---------------------------4-54--------------------------------------------| |-----------------------5-7-------75----------------------------------------| |-----------------4-6-7---------------7-64----------------------------------| |-----------4-6-7---------------------------7-64-----------------------6-7-9| |-----4-5-7---------------------------------------7-5-4---------4-57S9------| |-5-7---------------------------------------------------7-5-57--------------| |---------------------------------------------------------------------------| |----------9-109------------------------------------------------------------| |-6-7-9S11--------11-9S7-6-------------------------------1-21---------------| |--------------------------9-7-8---------------------2-4-------42-----------| |-------------------------------9-7S5-4-------2-4-5----------------5-42-----| |----------------------------------------7-55---------------------------5---|

|-----------------------------5--------------------------------| |-------------------------7-9---9-7----------------------------| |-------------------6-7-9-----------9-7-6----------------------| |-------------6-7-9-----------------------9-7-6----------------| |-------5-7-9-----------------------------------9-7-5----------| |-5-7-9-----------------------------------------------9-7-5----|

|---------------------------------------------------------------------| |-----------------------------------------------------------5---5-7-5-| |-----------------------------------------4---4-6-4-6-7-6-7---7-------|
|-----------------------4---4-6-4-6-7-6-7---7-------------------------| |-----4---4-5-4-5-7-5-7---7-------------------------------------------| |-5-7---7-------------------------------------------------------------| |---4---4-5-4-5-7-5----| |-7---7----------------| |----------------------| |----------------------| |----------------------| |----------------------|

|--------------------------------------------------------------| |--------------------------------------------------------------| |-----------------------------------------------4-----4-6------| |-----------------------4-----4-6---4-6-7-4-6-7---6-7-----7----| |-----4-5---4-5-7-4-5-7---5-7-----7----------------------------| |-5-7-----7----------------------------------------------------|

|---------------------------------------------------------------------| |---------------------------------------------------------------------| |-------------------------------------------------4-------4-6-----4-6-| |-------------------4-------4-6-----4-6-7---4-6-7---4-6-7-----6-7-----| |-----4-5-7---4-5-7---4-5-7-----5-7-------7---------------------------| |-5-7-------7---------------------------------------------------------|

|-----------------------------------------------4---5-4-7-5----| |---------------------------------------5---7-5---7------------| |---------------------------4---6-4-7-6---7--------------------| |---------------4---6-4-7-6---7--------------------------------| |---4---5-4-7-5---7--------------------------------------------| |-5---7--------------------------------------------------------| |-5-7-4-5---4--------------------------------------------------| |---------7---5-7---5------------------------------------------| |-----------------7---6-7-4-6---4------------------------------| |-----------------------------7---6-7-4-6---4------------------| |-----------------------------------------7---5-7-4-5---4------| |-----------------------------------------------------7---5----|

|---------------------------------------------------------4-7-5----| |-----------------------------------------------5-6---7-5-----5----| |-----------------------------4-----6---4-7---6-----7---------6----| |-----------4-----6---4-7---6---4-7---6-----7-----------------7----| |---4-7---5---4-7---5-----7----------------------------------------| |-5-----7----------------------------------------------------------| |-7-4---5-----4-------------------------------------------------------| |-----5---7-----5---7-----5-------------------------------------------| |-----------7-----6---7-4---6---7-4---6-----4-------------------------| |-----------------------------7-----6---7-----6---7-4---6-----4-------| |-----------------------------------------9-----7-----5---7-----5-----| |-----------------------------------------------------------9-----7---| |----------------| |----------------| |----------------| |----------------| |-7-4---5--------| |-----5---7-4----|

|--------------------------------------------------------------| |--------------------------------------------------------------| |---------------------------------------------------4----------| |---------------------------4-------6-4---4-7-6-4-6---7-6-7----| |---4-------5-4---4-7-5-4-5---7-5-7-----7----------------------| |-5---7-5-7-----7----------------------------------------------| |--------------------------------------------------------------| |--------------------------------------------------------------| |--------------------------------------------------------------| |-7-4-6-7-6---4-6-4-----4--------------------------------------| |-----------7-------5-7---7-4-5-7-5---4-5-4-----4---------4----| |-----------------------------------7-------5-7---7-4-5-7-5----|

|-------------------------------------------------------------------| |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |---------------------------------------------------------4---------| |---------------------4---------4-6-------4-6-7-----4-6-7-----4-6---| |-----4-5-7-----4-5-7-----4-5-7-----4-5-7-------5-7---------7-------| |-5-7-------5-7---------7-------------------------------------------| |----------------------------------------------------------------------| |----------------------------------------------------------------------| |---4-6----------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7-----6-7-7-6-4-----7-6-4-------4---------------------------------7--| |---------7-------7-5-------7-5-4---7-5-4-----7-5-4-------5-4-------7--| |---------5-------------------------------7-5-------7-5-4-----7-5-4-5--|
Major Scale Technical Exercises and Tips

Create your own major scale exercises using the blank tab When you create them, use a note in particular as a reference point and always go back to it, play different patterns or riffs then come back so that your notes have a home, so to speak Use these patterns to figure out where different chords lie in them, if you look hard enough you can create any chord from the major scale. There may be some deviations but every chord can stem from the patterns you just learned. You just need to learn them inside and out. Creative Exercises and Tips for playing the major scale When you play your major scale patterns, sing along with them. If you're using the major scale to solo, think of a melody and try to work it into the solo to keep it interesting. Don't simply play a bunch of phrases (see the songwriting section) thrown together. Think of movement when you solo, remember the intervals and their feel. Try to throw some of them purposefully and strategically into the solos. Some comments on the major scale and soloing The major scale and its theory can get very complex. At this point they are simply to learn the positioning and practice the positioning of the major scale. We'll discuss them with guitar chords later on an intermediate and then on an advanced level. You can know the major scale and create really nice licks and solos. You don't need to shred. Look at Zack Wylde, guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, or Eric Clapton. They use the pentatonic scale just about exclusively in their solos and they're awesome. They know what feel they want in the playing and they know that scale well enough to express that feeling. The major scale and every other scale is the same way. Learn it well and you'll be able to do wonders with it. You don't need to know every mode to every scale. First of all, it would take a heck of a long time to do that. Secondly, being an accomplished guitarist
has more to do with musicianship than technicality. Say something with your music and people will love it, regardless of how complex or simple it is. The major scale is a great tool to have and use in your playing. Take a look at the next modal positioning charts and learn them. You'll be able to play the major scale at will, anywhere you want. Keep the major scale intervals in mind W-W-H-W-W-W-H Check out the minor scale or take a look at Learn and Master Guitar, a phenomenal guitar instructioanl series that will have you soloing with the major scale in no time.
Minor Scale
3 types of minor scales :

the natural or relative minor the harmonic minor the melodic minor.
Natural Minor / Relative Minor Scale

the Natural minor scale The aeolian mode, the 6th position of the major scale is the natural minor. So basically you'd play the aeolian mode pattern to play the natural minor scale And basically what the relative minor scale does to the major scale is flatten the 3rd, the 6th and the 7th. Or you just move them up a fret towards the headstock. Relative Minor Scale Chart: Tonic (rel. minor scale) 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th A B C D E F G B C# D E F# G A C D Eb F G Ab Bb D E F G A Bb C E F# G A B C D F G Ab Bb C Db Eb G A Bb C D E F Let's look at the A relative minor scale on the fret board to get a visual of the pattern.
Natural/Relative Minor Formula: W-H-W-W-H-W-W or Whole step - Half step - Whole step - Whole step - Half step - Whole step - Whole step Step The distance between 2 notes: half step = 1 fret whole step = 2 frets On the guitar you can play a whole major scale up to the 12th fret and see the pattern on one string. As you notice, A is the only relative minor scale that has no sharps or flats: ABCDEFG That's because it shares the same notes as the C major chord/scale.
Harmonic minor scale

Harmonic minor scale This scale is exactly like the previous one except we leave the 7th alone. It shouldn't be flatted from the major scale. So play the relative, natural minor first then play it again but this time sharpen the 7th. This is the harmonic minor scale. That leaves a step and a half between the 6th and the 7th notes of the scale. This scale has a bit of a classical feel to it. Depending on how you use it, it may sound middle eastern as well.
Harmonic minor scale charts: Tonic (harm. minor scale) 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th A B C D E F G# B C# D E F# G A# C D Eb F G Ab B D E F G A Bb C# E F# G A B C D# F G Ab Bb C Db E G A Bb C D E F#
Harmonic minor scale pattern: W - H - W - W - H - W1/2 (3 frets) - H or Whole step - Half step - Whole step - Whole step - Half step - Whole step and a half Half step
The Melodic Minor Scale

Melodic minor scale The last minor scale to learn is the melodic minor scale. It's based upon the natural minor. Except you raise sharpen the sixth and seventh on the way up (ascending) and play the regular natural minor notes on the way back down to the tonic (descending). It looks a lot like the chart above but you can see the difference between the 6th and the 7th. Take a close look and compare. So the fretboard for A melodic minor going up would look like below. On the way back to the tonic refer to the natural minor chart.
Melodic minor scale charts:
For all of these scales there are modes also, just like in the major scale. And it works just like the major scale, where the ionian starts with note 1 of the scale, dorian starts with note 2, phrygian starts with note 3 and so on. It's a lot of theory but try it and see if you can chart them out! Of course, try out the minor scale exercises too. If they aren't enough, Learn and Master Guitar will certainly be enough to help you thoroughly understand guitar scales and how to apply them.
Minor Scale Exercises

If you're not sure what the relative minor scale is... check out the relative minor scale page.
Minor Scale in the key of A

|-----------------------------5--------------------------------| |-----------------------5-6-8---8-6-5--------------------------| |-----------------4-5-7---------------7-5-4--------------------| |-------------5-7---------------------------7-5----------------| |-------5-7-8-----------------------------------8-7-5----------| |-5-7-8-----------------------------------------------8-7-5----|
Minor Scale Triplets

|---------------------------------------------------5---7-5----| |---------------------------------------5---6-5-8-6---8--------| |---------------------------4---5-4-7-5---7--------------------| |-------------------5---7-5---7--------------------------------| |-------5---7-5-8-7---8----------------------------------------| |-5-8-7---8----------------------------------------------------| |-7---5---------------------------------------------------------| |---8---6-8-5-6---5---------------------------------------------| |---------------7---5-7-4-5---4---------------------------------| |---------------------------7---5-7---5-------------------------| |-----------------------------------8---7-8-5-7---5-------------| |-----------------------------------------------8---7-8-5-7-3-5-|
If you want some tips for practicing scales, check out the major scale exercises. If you really want to learn scales inside and out and how to relate them to chords and implement them into your playing, The Guitar Suite endorses and recommends Learn and Master Guitar. It's a great instructional series.
Guitar Modes
What is a guitar mode or a scale mode?
Essentially a scale mode is a scale played with a different interval structure. With modal positions and scales, all you do is move up the fretboard. For example if you are playing in the key of A major and you are playing the A major scale, if you keep returning to the A note, you are in the Ionian mode (or A Ionian/major mode). If you're still in the key of A major but you solo over a B, you're going to use that B note as your reference point to return to. So you still play the A major scale but you start and return to the B note. So you just start the scale on the second note of it, in this case B. If you study the charts below, you'll see that all these modes put together actually are nothing but the major scale covering the span of 12 frets. You use the same pattern for any key, anywhere on the fretboard. So no matter what key you are playing in, as long as you know the key and the progression, you can figure out what note to start on or reference in your soloing based on the chord being played in the progression. It sounds complicated but once you figure out the patterns you'll find it's not that bad.
Ionian Mode: this is the first position of the major scale. The root of the key is the same as the starting position of the scale.
Dorian Mode: this is the second position of the majorscale. The root of the key becomes a minor 7th to the starting note of the scale.
Phrygian Mode: this is the third position of the major scale. The root of the key becomes a minor 6th to the starting note of the scale.
Lydian Mode: this is the fourth position of the major scale. The root of the key becomes a perfect 5th to the starting note of the scale.
Mixolydian mode: this is the fifth position of the major scale. The root of the key becomes a perfect 4th to the starting note of the scale. Aeolian mode: this is the sixth position of the major scale. The root of the key becomes a minor 3rd to the starting note of the scale. This also the relative minor scale of the key you are playing in. So if you are playing in the key of A major, this would be the A relative minor scale. Or the E aeolian mode, they're both the same thing. Locrian mode: this is the seventh position of the major scale. The root of the key becomes a minor 2nd to the starting note of the scale.
Above you can see that all the modes put together = the major scale. Remember a couple of things: a mode is not a scale, so a D major scale played in dorian position is actually E dorian the interval pattern is the same for all keys, I just showed A
the patterns I've shown you can be played in different ways. That is to say, just like the major scale (ionian) having several positions, so too do the modes. The important thing is to reference or start the scale on that particular note for the scale. Ionian - 1st, Dorian - 2nd, Phrygian - 3rd, Lydian - 4th, Mixolydian - 5th, Aeolian - 6th, Locrian - 7th
Guitar Mode Charts

C major scale
Mode Notes
Ionian mode: C D E F G A B Dorian mode: D E F G A B C Phrygian mode: E F G A B C D Lydian mode: F G A B C D E Mixolydian mode: G A B C D E F Aeolian (minor) mode: A B C D E F G Locrian mode: B C D E F G A What this means above is that if you are in the key of C and you play a chord derivative of the C major scale, then based on the feel you want, you would choose the appropriate mode for the chord being played. We'll talk about all of this and go through some examples in later lessons. For now let's chart out all of the notes in every key just to prime us for that step. We already did C, the only key with no sharps or flats. Tonic is A or A major scale Mode Notes Ionian Mode A B C# D E F# G# Dorian B C# D E F# G# A Phrygian C# D E F# G# A B Lydian D E F# G# A B C# Mixolydian E F# G# A B C# D Aeolian (minor) F# G# A B C# D E Locrian G# A B C# D E F# Tonic is B or B major scale Mode Notes Ionian Mode B C# D# E F# G# A# Dorian C# D# E F# G# A# B Phrygian D# E F# G# A# B C# Lydian E F# G# A# B C# D# Mixolydian F# G# A# B C# D# E Aeolian (minor) G# A# B C# D# E F#
Locrian A# B C# D# E F# G# Tonic is D or D major scale Mode Notes Ionian Mode D E F# G A B C# Dorian E F# G A B C# D Phrygian F# G A B C# D E Lydian G A B C# D E F# Mixolydian A B C# D E F# G Aeolian (minor) B C# D E F# G A Locrian C# D E F# G A B Tonic is E or E major scale Mode Notes Ionian Mode E F# G# A B C# D# Dorian F# G# A B C# D# E Phrygian G# A B C# D# E F# Lydian A B C# D# E F# G# Mixolydian B C# D# E F# G# A Aeolian (minor) C# D# E F# G# A B Locrian D# E F# G# A B C# Tonic is F or F major scale Mode Notes Ionian Mode F G A Bb C D E Dorian G A Bb C D E F Phrygian A Bb C D E F G Lydian Bb C D E F G A Mixolydian C D E F G A Bb Aeolian (minor) D E F G A Bb C Locrian E F G A Bb C D Tonic is G or G major scale Mode Notes Ionian Mode G A B C D E F# Dorian A B C D E F# G Phrygian B C D E F# G A Lydian C D E F# G A B Mixolydian D E F# G A B C Aeolian (minor) E F# G A B C D Locrian F# G A B C D E Now to put those on the fretboard. Once you memorize these fingerings you will ha
Reverence: Guitar Study
My apologies I don't have a MIDI or MP3 yet but I'll work to put one on soon.
the Guitar Suite.com: Reverence: A study Part 2
Chord Progressions
THE MAJOR SCALE AND PROGRESSION THEORY
GET THE GUITAR PROGRESSION CHORD CHARTS (sorry they're too big for HTML so I put them in PDF) 420k but it's worth the download!!!! There are so many chords and chord progressions, the combinations of them are virtually unending. So we'll start with the old standby, the MAJOR SCALE and how it affects chord progressions. 1. There are 7 notes in the major scale, each made up of different intervals. 2. You can build chords on each of these notes. 3. Some of them are minor chords, some of them are major chords, some of them are diminished chords. REMEMBER THAT CHORDS CAN BE SUBSTITUTED BY OTHER CHORDS IN THEIR FAMILY so the I, IV and V may be substituted for other major family chords
the Major Chord Progression Pattern:

Major I ... minor ii ... minor iii ... Major IV ... Major V ... minor vi ... diminished vii Chord / Key I ii iii IV V vi Vdim A b minor D E f# minor G# dim A B c# minor E F# A# dim B C C D D E f# minor A B c# minor D# dim E F F G G
d minor e minor F G B dim G A C# dim
g minor a minor B C E dim C D F# dim
c# minor d# minor e minor f# minor g# minor a minor b minor
g# minor a minor b minor
d minor e minor
Major chord progression charts

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Cadence
Okay, now that you know a little bit more about chords and scales and how they fit together, lets look at some progressions. Now as you can see from the major chord progressions and the minor chord progressions pages we looked at before, the possibilities are limitless essentially. We can combine any chord with any others in any order from a scale, and then we can even change keys within a song. So the combinations below can be used with any chord scale in any key. Look at the combination and try it in any of the chord scales or your own. Let's take a look. This may seem like a whole lot to do. But start with the major scale chords. Print it out. Then play the following chord combinations in one key to get the feel, keeping note of your ideas along the way.
3 CHORD PROGRESSIONS FROM THE 1

1-2: ... 1-2-1 ... 1-2-3 ... 1-3-2 ... 1-2-4 ... 1-4-2 ... 1-2-5 ... 1-5-2 ... 1-2-6 ... 1-6-2 ... 1-2-7 ... 1-7-2 1-3: ... 1-3-1 ... 1-3-4 ... 1-4-3 ... 1-3-5 ... 1-5-3 ... 1-3-6 ... 1-6-3 ... 1-3-7 ... 1-7-3 1-4: ... 1-4-1 ... 1-4-5 ... 1-5-4 ... 1-4-6 ... 1-6-4 ... 1-4-7 ... 1-7-4 1-5: ... 1-5-1 ... 1-5-6 ... 1-6-5 ... 1-5-7 ... 1-7-5 1-6: ... 1-6-1 ... 1-6-7 ... 1-7-6 1-7: ... 1-7-1

2-1: ... 2-1-2 ... 2-1-3 ... 2-3-1 ... 2-1-4 ... 2-4-1 ... 2-1-5 ... 2-5-1 ... 2-1-6 ... 2-6-1 ... 2-1-7 ... 2-7-1 2-3: ... 2-3-2 ... 2-3-4 ... 2-4-3 ... 2-3-5 ... 2-5-3 ... 2-3-6 ... 2-6-3 ... 2-3-7 ... 2-7-3 2-4: ... 2-4-1 ... 2-4-5 ... 2-5-4 ... 2-4-6 ... 2-6-4 ... 2-4-7 ... 2-7-4 2-5: ... 2-5-1 ... 2-5-6 ... 2-6-5 ... 2-6-7 ... 2-7-6 2-6: ... 2-6-1 ... 2-6-7 ... 2-7-6 2-7: ... 2-7-1

3-1: ... 3-1-2 ... 3-2-1 ... 3-1-3 ... 3-1-4 ... 3-4-1 ... 3-1-5 ... 3-5-1 ... 3-1-6 ... 3-6-1 ... 3-1-7 ... 3-7-1 3-2: ... 3-2-3 ... 3-2-4 ... 3-4-2 ... 3-2-5 ... 3-5-2 ... 3-2-6 ... 3-6-2 ... 3-2-7 ... 3-7-2 3-4: ... 3-4-3 ... 3-4-5 ... 3-5-4 ... 3-4-6 ... 3-6-4 ... 3-4-7 ... 3-7-4 3-5: ... 3-5-3 ... 3-5-6 ... 3-6-5 ... 3-5-7 ... 3-7-5
3-6: ... 3-6-3 ... 3-6-7 ... 3-7-6 3-7: ... 3-7-3

4-1: ... 4-1-2 ... 4-2-1 ... 4-1-3 ... 4-3-1 ... 4-1-4 ... 4-1-5 ... 4-5-1 ... 4-1-6 ... 4-6-1 ... 4-1-7 ... 4-7-1 4-2: ... 4-2-3 ... 4-3-2 ... 4-2-4 ... 4-2-5 ... 4-5-2 ... 4-2-6 ... 4-6-2 ... 4-2-7 ... 4-7-2 4-3: ... 4-3-4 ... 4-3-5 ... 4-5-3 ... 4-3-6 ... 4-6-3 ... 4-3-7 ... 4-7-3 4-5: ... 4-5-4 ... 4-5-6 ... 4-6-5 ... 4-5-7 ... 4-7-5 4-6: ... 4-6-4 ... 4-6-7 ... 4-7-6 4-7: ... 4-7-4

5-1: ... 5-1-2 ... 5-2-1 ... 5-1-3 ... 5-3-1 ... 5-1-4 ... 5-4-1 ... 5-1-5 ... 5-1-6 ... 5-6-1 ... 5-1-7 ... 5-7-1 5-2: ... 5-2-3 ... 5-3-2 ... 5-2-4 ... 5-4-2 ... 5-2-5 ... 5-2-6 ... 5-6-2 ... 5-2-7 ... 5-7-2 5-3: ... 5-3-4 ... 5-4-3 ... 5-3-5 ... 5-3-6 ... 5-6-3 ... 5-3-7 ... 5-7-3 5-4: ... 5-4-5 ... 5-4-6 ... 5-6-4 ... 5-4-7 ... 5-7-4 5-6: ... 5-6-5 ... 5-6-7 ... 5-7-6 5-7: ... 5-7-5

6-1: ... 6-1-2 ... 6-2-1 ... 6-1-3 ... 6-3-1 ... 6-1-4 ... 6-4-1 ... 6-1-5 ... 6-5-1 ... 6-1-6 ... 6-1-7 ... 6-7-1 6-2: ... 6-2-3 ... 6-3-2 ... 6-2-4 ... 6-4-2 ... 6-2-5 ... 6-5-2 ... 6-2-6 ... 6-2-7 ... 6-7-2 6-3: ... 6-3-4 ... 6-4-3 ... 6-3-5 ... 6-5-3 ... 6-3-6 ... 6-3-7 ... 6-7-3 6-4: ... 6-4-5 ... 6-5-4 ... 6-4-6 ... 6-4-7 ... 6-7-4 6-5: ... 6-5-6 ... 6-5-7 ... 6-7-5 6-7: ... 6-7-6
3 CHORD PROGRESSIONS FROM THEE 7

7-1: ... 7-1-2 ... 7-2-1 ... 7-1-3 ... 7-3-1 ... 7-1-4 ... 7-4-1 ... 7-1-5 ... 7-5-1 ... 7-1-6 ... 7-6-1 ... 7-1-7 7-2: ... 7-2-3 ... 7-3-2 ... 7-2-4 ... 7-4-2 ... 7-2-5 ... 7-5-3 ... 7-2-6 ... 7-6-2 ... 7-2-7 7-3: ... 7-3-4 ... 7-4-3 ... 7-3-5 ... 7-5-3 ... 7-3-6 ... 7-6-3 ... 7-3-7 7-4: ... 7-4-5 ... 7-5-4 ... 7-4-6 ... 7-6-4 ... 7-4-7 7-5: ... 7-5-6 ... 7-6-5 ... 7-5-7 7-6: ... 7-6-7 And that's just 3 chord progressions, not even 4 chrd chord progressions. The point, here specifically, is NOT to give you prefabricated progressions to which you can write songs or even an explanation as to why they sound the way they do. The point is for you to
explore your more creative and reflective side and experiment with these combinations and recognize their relationships to one another. All you are doing with these chord progression exercises is learning chordal intervals. This is the important thing. If you recognize and learn the relationship between notes and chords, you can compose whatever you want. And you can play whatever you hear..if you have the technical ability. Now once you go through all of the chords above, feel free to add chords here and there. Then play them fingerstyle. You can add an incredible amount of texture and depth, and movement form there. This was a short lesson, but if you set yourself to play through and use these exercises, you could use this page for weeks worth of practice. Check out Learn and Master Guitar for a great instructional that teaches you all about chord progressions.
Chord Leading
What is chord leading?
It is the tendency for one chord to lead to the next chord. It is the feeling that it needs to move somewhere else.
How does chord leading?

Leading and resolution are directly tied to one another. As you know, the leading tone is the 7th tone of the scale, or the 7th chord of the progression. Well, honestly all notes have a tendency to go somewhere. Some have stronger tendencies than others. The strongest tendency to resolve is from the 7th tone. The reason this is because the 7th is one half step up from the tonic or root.
Which chords lead to which?

Well, that is the whole reason for this section. To find out what leads to what and to a lesser degree, why. It has to do with resolution, though. As we'll see.
Chord resolution
Resolution is the need to end up somewhere (on a particular note.) Chords resolve to othe chords more stable in the key. Sometimes you use a chord that isn't even in the key and they have to be resolved to a chord in key. You can have subtle and smooth resolution or strong resolution. Subtle resolution is generally done in half steps. This is why the 7th
chord is called the leading tone, because it leads or resolves so naturally to the tonic. The 5th to the 1st would be considered a strong resolution.
What do all those names mean? (TONIC, SUPERTONIC, MEDIANT, etc...)?

Each one of these terms describes a relationship between it and the tonic or root of the chord / key. In our discussion of the chord flow chart, I'll explain what each one means and does in detail. Do I need to know what they mean? No, not really. You can learn by ear what strength each of these chords does in relation to the tonic. That's the main reason I had you go through all of those chord cadences above, to gain that feel. Gaining this feel is one of the hardest things to do. But once you do doors will open for you musically.
Chord Leading Chart

The following chart DOES NOT explain what chords HAVE to do. This is simply a chart explaining how strong of a relationship the chords in a key have with regards to leading and cadences. Any of these chords CAN RESOLVE DIRECTLY TO THE TONIC. But the further away the chord lies from the tonic, the stronger it is on its own it is or less it needs to be resolved to the tonic. The chord next to it is the most natural move to get it to the tonic.
Basically this chart shows the PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE.
TONIC CATEGORY: (RESTFUL CATEGORY)
The TONIC is home base. All roads lead to here. The 3 can resolve anywhere. It is the closest related chord to the tonic so it stands alone best. That's why it's furthest away. It shares the 3-5 tones of the tonic. Very consonant. Often used to replace the tonic in a progression. The 6 most naturally moves to the 2 chord. But, sometimes it shows up in the SUBDOMINANT CATEGORY. If this happens it progresses to the 5th chord nicely. The 3 (mediant) and the 6 (submediant) are separated by a fifth. We'll talk a little more about this in the Circle of Fifths lesson. The chords in this section share 2 common tones, none of which are the 4 tone. The four tone is restless so these all have a restful feel, as if they didn't need to go anywhere. So basically you can move to any chord from these without sounding bad. SUBDOMINANT CATEGORY: (MODERATE MOVEMENT) The 2 (supertonic) is a very common chord used. And it is usually followed by 5 (dominant) it shares 2 notes with this chord. Also if you move up one 5th degree from the 5th or the root, you get to the second. So basically it's 2 5ths away from the root. This makes the ii - V - I one of the most common progressions. The 4 (subdominant) is a feel good tone. If we resolve from the 4 to the tonic directly, we get a very smooth, calming effect. Often called the "Amen" cadence. Otherwise it most naturally resolves or leads to the dominant 5th. So the ii and the IV share the 4 tone, which causes them to have a similar restless feel. DOMINANT CATEGORY: These are the chords that most WANT to go to the tonic. The dominant shares one note with the tonic and that is the 5 tone. Otherwise it contains the 7 leading tone. Both of these notes make this chord resolve very strongly to the tonic. Remember of course it can move to other chords as well but it makes a loud statement when it move to the tonic. The leading chord contains no shared notes with the tonic. But it does have two notes that resolve 1/2 step up. Remember we said that 1/2 step resolutions are very smooth and logical. This is where the 7 chord (leading chord, not a 7th chord) comes in. It feels like it needs to go "home."
Check out all the other lessons in our music theory section. Or if you are looking for an incredible guitar instructional, check The Guitar Suite endorses and recommends Learn and Master Guitar.
Circle of 5ths
If you haven't already, check out the lessons on chord leading before this lesson
Using the Circle of 5ths

To use the Circle of 5ths, you have to figure out what key you are playing in. If you know the key, at the very least, you know you know what chord to go back to. Then the hard part is knowing only what chords are in that key. The circle of fifths helps us identify that key and those chords.
LESSON 1: SHARPS
C = 0 sharps CDEFGAB G = 1 sharp GABCDEF# D = 2 sharps DEF#GABC# A = 3 sharps ABC#DEF#G# E = 4 sharps EF#G#ABC#D# B = 5 sharps BC#D#EF#G#A# F# = 6 sharps F#G#A#BC#D#E#
With the Circle of 5ths, you can see how many sharps each key or major scale contains. 1. C = 0 sharps 2. Each key as you go down adds the 7th sharp: o G adds F#
D keeps F#,adds C# ... 3. Each of these new sharps just happens to be a perfect 5th from the first sharp, F# ... f# g a b c d e
o
To remember the order of these, remember this quote or make up your own, Cool Guitarists Do Absolutely Everything Better ... freak
LESSON 2: FLATS
C has no flats CDEFGAB F has 1 flat FGABbCDE Bb has 2 flats BbCDEbFGA Eb has 3 flats EbFGAbBbCD Ab has 4 flats A bBbCDEbFG Db has 5 flats DbEbFGbAbBbC Gb has 6 flats GbAbBbCbDbEbF
This is basically a continuation from the sharps side. Gb and F# are the same notes, just different names. We switch to flats to make life simpler, because we'd get into double sharps and all that nonsense. So instead of adding more sharps we take away flats. Let's look at F# and Gb F# ... F#G#A#BC#D#E# Gb ... GbAbBbCbDbEbF See, they're all the same notes. Now go up a 5th from Gb to Db. Now we take the flat 7th away, which would be Cb.
Next we move up another 5th from Db to Ab and take away the 7th flat, which is Gb Next we move up another 5th from Ab to Eb and take away the 7th flat, which is Db Next we move up another 5th from Eb to Bb and take away the 7th flat, which is Ab Next we move up another 5th from Bb to F and take away the 7th flat, which is Eb. That leaves us with Bb only. To be honest with you we could analyze the hell out of this thing for hours and hours and still be digging deeper and deeper. We'll look at this a few more times in its entirety and make a few observations. Now for another cheezy little quote to remember the order of the flats from the c counterclockwise, Cool freakin' BEAD g Yeah, I know, but it helps to remember the order of the keys. If not just make something up.
Guitar Theory: Uses of the Circle of 5ths
Find out how many sharps and flats are in each key: ALWAYS START on the F and REMEMBER THE ORDER OF THE NOTES ON THE CIRCLE Sharps: Take your key and the sharps will be each of the notes leading to that key from F. Include F EXAMPLE: Key of A (we know that A has 3 sharps) From F we have F, C and G (counting 3 from F) so the sharps = F# , C#, G# Flats: Take your key and the flats will be the notes leading to that key from F again plus the next note. Don't include F EXAMPLE: Key of Db (we know that Db has 5 flats) From F we have B, E, A, D, G so those will be the flats Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb SIMPLE RIGHT?
Find out what chords are in a key and what their flavor is. Take the G major key. In that key we know that there is one sharps and that is F#. We know that F# is the 7th of the G because it's the letter that precedes the G alphabetically. So it is diminished.
Finding major and minor keys in the Circle of 5ths

Looking at the Circle of Fifths: the left and right hand man of the key you want are major. After that, the next 3 chords are minor.Then you arrive at the 7th, which we know is diminished. There you go. So for G = (G C D) (A E B) (F#) are what we get ... G C D are Major, A E B are minor, and F# is diminished. Put them in order = G a b C D e F# G a b C D e F# Major minor minor Major Major minor diminished I ii iii IV V vi VIIo
remember that the outer circle is major
Guitar Theory: Summary of Circle of Fifths

So now we know that the circle of fifths shows us: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. the notes in every major scale and minor scale how many flats and sharps are in each key signature what keys share key signatures how to quickly see what relative minor belongs to what key what the dominant and subdominant of every chord / key and consequently where each dominant resolves 6. the more we study it, the more we will understand the movement and relationship between chords and notes So where do we start?!! That's a ton of info! 1. Let's start with memorizing the notes and where they are on the Circle of Fifths: MAJOR KEYS: STARTING WITH C KEYS WITH SHARPS: down the right side CGDAEBF KEYS WITH FLATS: down the left CFBbEbAbDbGb 2. Memorize how many sharps and flats each gets: 0123456 (respectively) 3. Memorize how to remember what's flat and sharp: START WITH F ...
Sharps = count the number of sharps your note has clockwise and those are your sharps. Include F as a sharp. Flats = count the number of flats your note has counterclockwise from F and those are your flats. Don't count F as a flat. 4. Where the relative minor is in relation to the MAJOR keys and consequently what Keys share Key Signatures. C G D A E B F MAJOR KEYS and KEY SIGNATURE a e b f# c# g# d# minor keys that share key sig. above 5. Where the minor keys lie in the Circle of Fifths: MINOR KEYS: STARTING WITH Am KEYS WITH SHARPS: down the right side: Am ... Em ... Bm ... F#m ... C#m ... G#m ... D#m KEYS WITH FLATS: down the left side: Am ... Dm ... Gm ... Cm ... Fm ... Bbm ... Cbm 6. Memorize how many sharps and flats each gets: 0 ... 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ... 6 (respectively) 7. Where the tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant and leading tones occur on the circle and what their flavor is for Minor keys and Major keys. (major / minor / diminished) 8. Realize where tonic category chords are, subdominant chords are and dominant chords are on the circle.
CLOCKWISE: every degree separated by 5ths COUNTERCLOCKWISE: every degree separated by 4ths OUTSIDE: major scale, major chords forms, major keys, key signatures INSIDE: minor scale, minor chord forms, relative minor to key chords OUTSIDE 1 LEFT 1 RIGHT 2 RIGHT 3 RIGHT 4 RIGHT 5 RIGHT across 4th sbdominant Major chord 5th dominant Major chord 2nd supertonic minor chord 6th submediant relative minor chord 3rd mediant minor chord 7th leading tone diminished chord b5th tritone
INSIDE 1 LEFT 4th sbdominant minor chord 1 RIGHT 5th dominant minor chord 2 RIGHT 2nd supertonic diminished chord
3 RIGHT 4 RIGHT 5 RIGHT across
6th submediant Major chord 3rd mediant minor chord 7th leading tone Major chord b5th tritone
This stuff cna be very confusing. Take a look at it. Study the charts. Then walk away and come back to it. It'll take some time to really understand the theory and then be able to apply it. But it is well worth it to have done this. If you want a short cut, I'd suggest going to the chord progressions page and learning the patterns on that page. Of course don't forget to check out Learn and Master Guitar.
Chord Substitution
ii ... IV III, vi ... I VIIo ... V ii ... IV III, vi ... I VIIo ... V GENERAL COMMENTS Chord substitution overview:

Any chord in the dominant family can substitute for another dominant family chord Any chord in the major family can substitute for another major family chord Any minor can substitute for another minor family chord
Okay now the complicated explanation Chord substitution can be a complex and wonderful thing. For the sake of simplicity, we'm not going to cover extended chords here like 9ths, 6ths, add whatever and all of those. We're going to stick to our basic chords from the Circle of Fifths and the chord scale tones. This will provide us with a good idea of how most substitutions in progressions work and give us some ideas to try to incorporate into our writing. The idea that chords can substitute other chords depends and the fact that chords have feelings, tensions and directions. A chord with a different feeling, tension or direction than the one you want to change or substitute simply won't work. It will end up sounding out of place or awkward. So what we need to do is find out what the chord is that shares the same tension, feeling or direction.
Now obviously, based on all the stuff we just went over in the chord leading, chord scale tones, and circle of fifths section, figuring our why is probably going to be an in-depth endeavor. But let's give it a shot to see if we can't figure it out. Actually, we may even already know the answer. We'll see. First let's look at all the notes that chords share in a Key: grey are shared notes 1234567 C dm em F G am Bdim yeah...and? 1. Every note is shared between 3 chords. So what happens is that every chord shares 2 notes with at least 2 other chords. 2. So why can't we substitute any of these for any of the others? Because it has to do with what tones these chords share. As we stated already in the chord leading section, there are notes that are restful, moderately restless and restless. The chords that share restless tones Tonic Category I iii VI The chords that share moderately restless tones Subdominant Category ii IV The chords that share restless tones Dominant Category V VIIo Chord Substitution Summary: any chord from the tonic category can probably substitute for any other tonic chord. any chord from the subdominant category can substitute for any other subdominant chord. any dominant chord can substitute for any other dominant chord.

Beginner Acoustic Guitar Lessons

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Beginner Acoustic Guitar Lessons

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Beginner Acoustic Guitar Lessons

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4th string minor CHORDS 6th string

4th string MAJOR 7 CHORDS 6th string

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diminished triad diminished 7th (fully) half diminished 7th

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