In this online music theory tutorial you'll learn the theory behind guitar chords. Spending a little time on guitar music theory and harmony will save you a lot of time learning how to play guitar chords and will deepen your understanding of the guitar. Music theory provides you the means to communicate better with your fellow musicians. You'll learn songs faster because you actually now what you are playing. So do yourself a favor and go through this free music theory tutorial.
The topics covered:
- the difference between major, minor, dominant, diminished, ...
- how to name chords
- how to find the notes of a chord
- how to construct your own guitar chords
It's best to go through this tutorial in chronological order, but in case you're looking for something specific here's a brief description of the pages to come:
- page 1: constructing triads
- page 2: constructing seventh chords
- page 3: extensions
- page 4: guitar chord list & shortcut
- page 5: applying music theory on guitar
- page 6: solutions to the exercises
The starting point in many music theory tutorials is the C major scale:
| C Major Scale | C D E F G A B |
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 |
The C major scale (also called the Ionian scale) is the foundation on which the most of Western music is built.
The letters in the scale are the note names: C is do, D is re, E is mi, F is fa, G is sol, A is la and B is si. The numbers are what we call the function of the note in the scale or chord. The 1 is also known as the 'root'.
There are 5 more notes: the sharps and flats.
A sharp (written like #) is a note raised by a half step.
A flat (written like b) is a note lowered by a half step. So between C and D comes the C# or Db. C# and Db are the same note named differently. Between D and E lies the D# or Eb. Between E and F is nothing because E and F are only a half step apart. Between F and G comes the F# or Gb. Between G and A the G# or Ab. And between A and B comes the A# or Bb. B and C are also only one half step apart.
The first type of chord we'll have a look at is the triad. A triad is a chord that has 3 different notes. Triads are built by stacking thirds. A third (also written like 3rd) is a particular interval between two notes.
There are 2 kinds of thirds:
| minor third | interval of 3 half steps |
| major third | interval of 4 half steps |
We'll construct our first chord by stacking 2 thirds on the first note (C or 1) of the C major scale. First we count 4 half steps beginning from the first note: from C to C# to D to D# to E. Then we count 3 half steps from the E: from E to F to F# to G.
| C E G |
| 1 3 5 |
This results in a C major triad or C. C to E makes a major third and E to G a minor third : this structure is typical for every major chord and can be written in a chord formula.
Chord formula for major chords: 1 3 5
Keep in mind that the chord formulas are relative to the major scale, the major scale is always the starting point. Some might think that because there are 3 half steps (minor third) between 3 and 5, the 5 should be a b5, but this is not the case.
Let's do the same for the 2 of the C major scale :
| D F A |
| 1 b3 5 |
This results in a D minor triad or Dm. D to F makes a minor third and F to A a major third: this structure is typical for every minor chord.
chord formula for minor chords : 1 b3 5
I'm not going to repeat this for every note in the scale, I think you got the picture by now.
Let's do one more together, let's built a chord on the 7th note of the scale:
| B D F |
| 1 b3 b5 |
This results in a B diminished triad (Bdim). B to D makes a minor third and D to F also a minor third: this structure is typical for diminished triads.
Chord formula for diminished chords: 1 b3 b5
Here's a list with all triads made on the C major scale:
| Notes | Formula | Name | Symbol | |
| 1 | C E G | 1 3 5 | C major | C |
| 2 | D F A | 1 b3 5 | D minor | Dm or D- or Dmin |
| 3 | E G B | 1 b3 5 | E minor | Em or E- or Emin |
| 4 | F A C | 1 3 5 | F major | F |
| 5 | G B D | 1 3 5 | G major | G |
| 6 | A C E | 1 b3 5 | A minor | Am or A- or Amin |
| 7 | B D F | 1 b3 b5 | B diminished | Bdim or B° |
Next page: part 2 of guitar music theory ( continued to guitarchordsmagic.com )
