Lesson #2-

Basic Chord Theory-


        now last time (and if my memory serves 
correctly because the 1st lesson was deleted off 
my HD), i was talking about the chords in 
general... like where to put the fingers on each 
string and on which fret... and i got into the 
tablature a little (that should help some of you 
'net guitarists with the OLGA files), but now i 
wanna get a little deeper into the chord theory...

        the G chord is basically what i will be 
working with because it is so nice... it is 
probably the perfect example for chord theory 
too... 

        now,what do i mean by "theory"? By "theory",
i mean what it takes to "build" a chord... you know 
when you play the G chord, it sounds nice and 
wholesome (at least it should sound that way  ;)   )
all the chords i gave you you last time all sound 
differently, but have something in common... they
all have what is called the root, third, and fifth 
notes of a scale in them... now those of you that 
play piano, you probably what i'm talking about... 
those of you who don't, i'll explain 

let's look at the G:

G       
3       <----- G (root)
0       <----- B (third)
0       <----- G (root)
0       <----- D (fifth)
2       <----- B (third)
3       <----- G (root)


the letters written are the actual notes, while 
the words in parenthesis' indicate what note that 
is in the G scale (just for reference right now, 
the major G scale is G,A,B,C,D,E,F#)...notice that 
the root note in a G chord is a G!...if it were 
a D chord, the root note would be a ... D!... 
C chord, C!... the root note of a chord is what 
names the chord.. (remember that... it will come 
in handy in the next lesson)... 

the B, or third, is the 3rd note in the G major 
scale... and the D is the 5th... look below... 
the notes in the G chord are underlined.. see 
how nicely it works out?

G(Root,1),A(2),B(3),C(4),D(5),E(6),F#(7)
---------      ----      ----

(side note: books abbreviate "R" for the root 
note... if you see R on a tab in a book, then 
that note on that string is the root note... 
REMEMBER THAT IT NAMES THE CHORD!!)

now i shouldn't be getting into scales and such 
yet, but since i'll be using the G a lot, i 
thought i might just introduce the G scale in
this lesson...

ok... this G chord i showed you and have been 
working with is actually called a "G major"... 
because it has the Root, 3rd,and 5th... there 
are also minor chords, but those are 2 lessons
away... 

ok.. here are all the chords i gave you, but 
now i included the notes of each and said 
whether it is the root, 3rd, or 5th..

please play around with these and become 
familiar with them...

ALL THESE CHORDS ARE MAJOR.... BECAUSE THEY SOUND 
HAPPY!... hehe..actually because they all have 
the R,3rd,5th in them... and they sound happy...

A               E               C
0 <--E  (5th)   0 <--E  (R)     0 <--E (3rd)
2 <--C# (3rd)   0 <--B  (5th)   1 <--C (R)
2 <--A  (R)     1 <--G# (3rd)   0 <--G (5th)
2 <--E  (5th)   2 <--E  (R)     2 <--E (3rd)
0 <--A  (R)     2 <--B  (5th)   3 <--C (R)
0 <--E  (5th)   0 <--E  (R)     0 <--E (3rd)

D                        
2 <--F# (3rd)   (The reason i am not including the scales
3 <--D  (R)     of each root note of the chord is because
2 <--A  (5th)   i want everyone to be familiar with 
0 <--D  (R)     the structure of major chords (R,3rd,5th)..
0 <--A  (5th)   when i get into scales and modes and so on,
x               then you will be able to figure out the scales
                on your own...  :) ... but i'll still write             
                them out.. )


NeXT TiMe...  BaRRe CHoRDs.. (you'll love 'em!! 
easy easy easy..)


'til then...