Theory

Chord Construction

A little about constructing a chord.....

As previously touched upon in the scales, section we now know how to construct a scale. For example to construct the G major scale, we will follow the simple rule of TTSTTTST, and we should end up with the following notes: -

G A B C D E F# G

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8/1

from hear we will be able to construct many chords, and hears how.

Major chords

Major = R - 3 -5 (Example shown below)

Major 7th = R - 3 - 5 - 7

Dominant 7th = R - 3 - 5 - b7

Diminished = R - b3 - b5

Minor chords

Minor = R - b3 - 5

Minor 7th = R - b3 - 5 - 7

Augmented = R - 3 - #5

Example

In order to create a major chord we take the 1st 3rd and 5th of the scale. From the scale above this will give us the notes G B D, we can now construct a G Major chord. From hear we can find any 3 strings, (|EG: A D G), and apply the these notes to the the strings, starting on the note G followed by B and then D.

TIP!
You will ALWAYS have to start on the root note, in this case the note is G.

From the picture below I had applied the notes G B D, to the strings A D G. I now have the chord G Major.

TIP!

From the shape shown in the picture above, you will be able to move that shape up and down the fretboard, providing you keep the root note on the A string, as a result this will create a new chord on every fret you move the shape to so basically, if I move the G Major shape up by 2 frets this will now become an A major chord, another fret after the shape will now become A# Major. This rule will apply on most chords. Another point to take in to account is that chord shapes will change depending on which strings you are using.

Home

___________________________________________________________________________