CHORDS THEORY - Lesson 2 - Basic chords and chord notations

[Andrew Milner]

So like, do we actually get to play something now or what?

1. Topics of discussion
2. Finger notation
3. Our first chords
4. Chord notations

1. Topics of discussion

In this tutorial, we will be learning our first chords and we will also learn how to notate them. So, let's have some fun.

2. Finger notation

Now that we know what notes we can play and what tabs are, it's time to take a look at our hands. I find the expression "what hand do you play guitar with" a bit confusing since you are using both hands. The idea is that one hand goes on the fretboard and the other is used to actually pick the strings.

When it comes to the fretboard hand, you will be placing the index, middle, ring and pinky fingers on frets, depending on the chord of course, and what is known as the position number in which you are playing is given by the fret number on which you have placed your index finger. So when someone says something like "I'm playing in the second position", you'll know that that's where his index finger is positioned, regardless of what the other three are doing.

Note that on chord representations, fingers are usually notated by using numbers, as follows:

• the index finger is finger number 1
• the middle finger is finger number 2
• the ring finger is finger number 3
• the pinky finger is finger number 4

Since this series is focused on how chords are built rather on how one is planning to play them, I won't focus on the playing hand fingers, since it's really up to you and the songs you're playing/composing. And in the end, this is not a guitar technique series so I don't want to fill your head with non-relevant information.

When discussing chords I will be focusing on the fretboard hand the most and regardless if you're left-handed or right-handed, the rules are the same. Also worth noting is that I will be describing where your fingers are supposed to go both by using pictures and text.

3. Our first chords

Well, I promised you some chords, now I have to deliver. We're going to play some chords from the C major scale today. I say some, not all, because the F major and B diminished chords will have their own separate tutorials.

The chords which we will be learning today are C major, D minor, E minor, G major and A minor. Let's start with C major:

And here it is played back.

The D minor chord looks like this:

And here it is played back.

Next in line is the E minor chord:

And here it is played back.

The penultimate chord for today is G major:

And here it is played back.

Finally, the A minor chord:

And here it is played back.

4. Chord notations

Chord notations are based on the chord quality. While more advanced chords will feature numbers in their name, the basic chords have the following notation rules:

• major chords are usually notated by using the root note of the chord (e.g. C, G, etc.)
• minor chords are usually notated by using the root note of the chord followed by the letter m (e.g. Dm, Em, Am, etc.)
• augmented chords are usually notated by using the root note of the chord followed by the word aug (e.g. Caug, Gaug, etc.)
• diminished chords are usually notated by using the root note of the chord followed by the word dim (e.g. Cdim, Gdim, etc.)

Throughout these tutorials, these are the notations that we are going to use. There are other notations for these chords, such as using the min word for minor chords, the + sign for augmented chords (e.g. C+) or the degree (°) symbol for diminished chords (e.g. C°).

That about covers it for this tutorial. Next time we will be talking about bar chords. See you then.