Lesson 8

More Open-String Chords

Completing the set of commonly used open-string chords.

Terminology

Major chords are generally referred to by their key name — the name of the root note. When someone asks you to play an “A chord,” play an A major chord. Minor chords are referred to with their unequivocal suffixes. If someone wants an A minor then they will specify A minor. When written, minor chords are sometimes abbreviated, with A minor shown as “A min.”

A Bit of Theory

So far you’ve learned three simple chords: E major, A major, and D major. In this chapter, you’ll see the other major open-string chords — C, G, and F. You’ll also make your first acquaintance with minor chords. Perhaps now is a good time to take a brief look at what these terms mean.

A chord is made up of at least three differently pitched notes played at the same time. The most basic chord types are called triads because they have exactly three notes. When used to describe a chord, the terms major and minor tell you the relationship or intervals between those notes. Although we can describe these intervals in technical terms, for now we’ll keep it simple.

The lowest pitched note of the triad is called the root note. This is the note that prefixes the chord type — in E major, the root note is “E.” The highest pitched note in either a major or a minor triad is always seven frets above the root note. It is the middle note that makes all the difference between the two chords. In a major triad, the middle note is always four frets above the root; in the minor triad it is always three frets.

Let’s look at this in terms of a piano keyboard, where the distance between any adjacent notes is the equivalent of one fret on the guitar fingerboard. Count the intervals between the notes to see how it works.

The E major scale on the piano. The highlighted notes form the triad of E, G#, and B.

The E minor scale on the piano. The highlighted notes form the triad of E, G, and B.

The same is true for keys other than E. Take a look at A major: if you count the distance between notes, you’ll see that they are the same increments as an E major chord. A major is made from the notes “A,” “C sharp,” and “E,” and A minor consists of “A,” “C,” and “E.” Bear in mind that there are many types of chords other than these simple major and minor triads.

Spot the Difference

To hear the effect of the two different chord types in action, try out this little exercise. Playing over six bars, follow each major chord with its minor equivalent. Changing between major and minor chords in this way is a good way to get your fingers to work automatically.

Playing Minor Chords

OK, enough talk already — here are the minor equivalents of the three major chords that you’ve already played. So listen to the differences for yourself. Let’s start with . . .

E Minor

1. Place the second finger of your fretting hand on the second fret of the fifth string
2. Put the third finger on the second fret of the fourth string
3. Strum across all six strings

Forming the E minor chord only takes two fingers (illustrations courtesy of Dorling Kindersley Picture Library).

A Minor

1. Place your first finger on the first fret of the second string
2. Position the second finger on the second fret of the fourth string
3. Put the third finger on the second fret of the third string
4. Strum across the top five strings

The A minor is the second minor chord you’ll learn (illustrations courtesy of Dorling Kindersley Picture Library).

D Minor

1. Place your first finger on the first fret of the first string
2. Position the second finger on the second fret of the third string
3. Put the third finger on the second fret of the second string
4. Strum across the top four strings

Unlike E minor and A minor, the D minor chord is not played on all six strings; leave out the bottom (sixth) string (illustrations courtesy of Dorling Kindersley Picture Library).

Neat Alternatives

With G major, you can get a fuller sound than the traditional fingering by using four fingers of the left hand. Fret the fifth and sixth strings as you did earlier for G, but this time place the third finger on the third fret of the second string, and the fourth finger on the third fret of the first string. This permutation delivers fuller sound by reducing the interval between the highest pitched notes.

More Majors

Here are three more major chords to add to your rapidly expanding repertoire. That makes a total of nine open-string chords. Wow!

G Major

1. Place your first finger on the second fret of the fifth string
2. Position your second finger on the third fret of the sixth string
3. Put your third finger on the third fret of the first string
4. Strum across all six strings

The G major chord uses all six strings (illustrations courtesy of Dorling Kindersley Picture Library).

C Major

1. Place your first finger on the first fret of the second string
2. Position the second finger on the second fret of the fourth string
3. Put your third finger on the third fret of the fifth string
4. Strum across the top five strings

Strum the C chord on the top five strings (illustrations courtesy of Dorling Kindersley Picture Library).

F Major

This chord is a little unusual in that you need to make your first finger hold two strings at the same time. To do this, you need to position the top part of the finger so that it lies horizontally across the first two strings. Look at the photograph below if you have any doubts. This is called a bar — you’ll find out more about those in Lesson 10.

1. Place your first finger on the first fret of the first and second strings
2. Position your second finger on the second fret of the third string
3. Put your third finger on the third fret of the fourth string
4. Strum across the top four strings

With the F chord, you’ll practice holding down two strings with one finger (illustrations courtesy of Dorling Kindersley Picture Library).

One Chord to Another

I can’t stress enough how important it is to become fluent in moving smoothly from one chord to another. The eight chord sequences on this page provide you with infinite scope for creating your own rhythms, so spend some time experimenting with these. If you get bored, try coming up with some sequences of your own.

Bringing It All Together

On pages 160-161 of the text book you’ll find eight chord exercises drawn from the chords you already know. These sequences can help accustom you to changing chords as fluently as possible. Each block of four chords is a turnaround — that means that when you get to the end, you just start all over again.

Although they are written down so that each chord is played on the first beat of the bar and sustains for the length of that bar, try out some of the rhythmic ideas you played with in Lesson 7.

By now, you should be getting used to the idea of keeping time, so it’s a good idea to practice along with a metronome or drum machine. And remember, you can listen to the eight chord exercises below on track 21 of the CD included with your book.

Practicing the eight chord exercises above will help you develop fluency with the chords you’ve learned so far.

Moving Forward

The next lesson will find us getting rather fancy. We’ll learn all about picking single notes and how we use these notes to build melody. We’ll also look at scales (and how important it is to learn them).

Assignment : More Chords

• Go over Chapter 10 in your textbook, “More Chords, More Tunes.”
• Repeat the exercises on pages 160-161. Repeat them until your arms are sore. It will get easier and easier, but it takes some time.