What is a Chord?

Before we get started, it is important to understand what exactly a chord is. The word chord means that three notes are being played at the same time. When two notes are strummed at the same time, this is called an interval and anything with three or more different pitches is called a chord. Since a typical guitar has six strings we will be examining chords that have three to six different notes. We have a music theory blog series with a lesson dedicated to “Chords“ if you are interested in learning more about guitar chord notation, be our guest.

What about Power Chords?

So you may ask, why is a power chord called a chord and not a power interval? Power chords are typically perfect fifth intervals (for example C and G), which means that the notes are harmonious with each other, making them sound powerful so to speak.

Guitar Chord Notation Part One: The Root Note

Through extensive research on how familiar guitar chord notation symbols work, I discovered that there are many different systems. The only information that all chord symbols have in common is that they start with the root note of the chord and for that they use the name of that root note. The root note of a chord is the note on which a chord is built. For example, a three-note triad using C as a root would consist of the notes C-E-G.

Guitar Chord Notation Part Two: The Triad Type

Triads are characterized by their quality or type: major, minor, diminished, augmented, sus4 and sus2. The use of guitar chord notation symbols for triads is inconsistent: sometimes the letter of the root note is a capital letter for major and a small letter for minor. In most cases though it’s always a capital letter and no additional information is given for major, because apparently it is used more frequently than any other. Only if the chord is not major it is indicated in one of many ways:

• Minor: “min” or “m” or “-“
• Diminished: “dim” or ” ° “
• Augmented: “aug” or “+”

Many notes can be added to each of these triads, which is usually done in thirds. We call these “tensions” and they are usually written smaller than the root name and the triad type (min, dim, aug, sus4, sus2). In most cases they are listed on the right side, so generally chord symbols are read from left to right like a text (unless it’s hebrew or arabic).

Guitar Chord Notation Part Three: Seventh Chords

Seventh chords have 4 notes, the triad plus a seventh above the root.

As explained above: since the major triad is the most used one it became a habit to not give any information except for the root note. If there is nothing else but the root name that means: major triad. Whenever we read “maj” somewhere, that means that a major seventh is added to the major triad and we have a major seventh chord. This is also written in one of these ways: maj, maj7, ma7, M7 or ^Δ.

Suspended Chord Symbols

These are triads as well, but the third is replaced with the second (Csus2: C, D, G) or suspended to the fourth (e.g. Csus4: C, F, G). Their origin always resolves into a very consonant triad (C, E, G), although in pop and jazz they are also used outside that context.

Guitar Chord Notation Expert Tip:

A unique scenario arises when a chord has two characteristics with equal importance. An example for

this is “sus4” and “7”. “sus4” is the triad type and “7” is a main characteristic for a dominant chord. Normally, this would result in a symbol where the “7” would be on the right side of the “sus4”, which would make it difficult to recognize that this chord is dominant. So in this particular case we decided for our app to show the “7” above the “sus4”.

Guitar Chord Notation Chart & Symbol Cheat Sheet

Chord Symbols for chords with more than 4 notes

Whenever a chord has more than 4 different notes its symbol of course gets “longer”, more information has to be given. Most of these do not sound as frightening as they read. In addition to a seventh chord the symbol has to tell which other notes shall be part of the chord. This happens just like before by listing all the notes as numbers, for example: D min7 9 11

The numbers tell their interval from the root. We already dealt with the sevenths. Then next we have b9, 9, #9, 11, #11, b13, 13. Since chord are built from scales and most scales have 7 notes, four of which are already occupied by the seventh chord, there usually will be a maximum of three more possible notes.

Altered Chords

We call any chord that uses altered intervals altered chord. If it has a #5 or b5 instead of a 5 or a b9 or #9 instead of a 9 and so on. There exists a symbol just saying “7 alt”. It means you can use any tensions from the altered scale for the chord. We don’t use it, as it is not specific enough.

Chord Symbol “Shortcuts”

There are many common guitar chord notation symbol shortcuts that musicians use. In Uberchord’s use of chord symbols we decided to avoid these shortcuts, and name every single tension of a chord so that our symbols will hopefully not be misunderstood. The result is not always the best readable, some symbols get very long. But establishing a system that is very clear seems much more important.

For example using a “9” or “13” as the only additional information to the root note means that it is a dominant chord (major triad with minor 7), even though “7”  isn’t included in the chord symbol. A dominant chord is with a major third and a minor seventh. C7: C, E, G, Bb – it is called dominant chord because of its function within chord progressions.

The importance of consistency with Chord Symbols

Chord symbols can be very confusing. For our app, we had to find a way to use chord symbols that was consistent and easy to interpret by all guitarists. With 500 guitar chord notation symbols and counting, we needed to find a consistent method to display chord symbols within our app. What makes this process the most challenging?

Uberchord includes this absolutely amazing list of ALL possible combinations of three to six pitches that can exist within one octave with a given mutual lowest note C. This list serves as a reference for the chord recognition technology, chord labeling and the graphic display of that symbol. I love this list! We made sure that it contains every single piece of information for literally every chord that can exist within the context of functional harmony.

The Uberchord app also features chord symbols beyond functional harmony to some extent. The only chords excluded were those that have three or more pitches with only half steps apart from each other. Let’s call them chromatic clusters. No one would bother finding chord symbols for most of these.

All of this info will be a great help when you’re trying to find 12 bar blues chord guitar, can’t help falling in love guitar chords, or the thunder imagine dragons chords. The best way to practice guitar and understand guitar chord notation is to take the time to learn new songs and new chords. The links we just provided will do just that, as well as help to make this all second-hand knowledge.

The post Most Important Music Theory About Guitar Chord Notation For Guitar Beginners appeared first on Uberchord App.

Welcome back! If this is your first visit and you’ve missed our previous lessons, we recommend getting familiar with the material before jumping into chord progressions:

1. The Major Scale
2. Intervals
3. Chords
4. The Circle of Fifths (A Guide to Learning Accidentals & Key Signatures)
5. Music Modes
6. Chord Inversions
7. Chord Progressions #1
8. Chord Progressions #2

All examples in the previous issue have concerned major keys. In this article we examine minor keys and take a step forward in creating interesting progressions.

We will begin as we always do: collecting the notes of different important chords and seeing how their voices move when changing from one chord to another. As the parallel chord to C major, E minor provides a fantastic starting place as it contains no accidentals.

Tonic, Subdominant and Dominant functions in Minor

Our tonic is A minor with the notes A, C and E.
The subdominant is again the 4th degree chord. If only using the notes of A minor this will be D minor containing D, F and A. Let us analyze how the voices move from A minor to D minor:

A stays
E moves up a half tone to F
C moves up a whole tone to D

The Dominant chord in Minor keys

We have discussed how the dominant function is the 5th degree of the scale. In A minor for example, this would be E minor.

However, we NEVER use E minor but E major or E7 instead. Why? Because the E major third is G# (instead of the note G in E minor) which beautifully leads up chromatically to the tonic root of A (minor). Sometimes this chord is referred to as the 5th degree of the A harmonic minor scale (A B C D E F G#).

Listen to the progression A minor – E7 – A minor and it is immediately clear why we use E7 instead of E minor. Please keep in mind though: using A minor with E minor can sound very nice too! E minor just does not comply with all aspects of the dominant function – one of them being the leading tone moving into the tonic root.

So the voices in A minor – E7 move like this:

So the voices in A minor – E7 – Aminor move like this:

E stays
C moves down a half tone to B
A moves down a half tone to G#

Now we make the E a 7th chord (E7). On top of the triad (E, G# and B) we add another note; a D – the third of B.

E stays
C splits: it moves up a whole tone to D and down a half tone to B
A moves down a half tone to G#

The parallel chord to the minor Subdominant

This chord deserves some extra attention. The Subdominant in A minor is D minor. The (lower) parallel of D minor is B diminished. By adding a third on top to create a 7th chord, we get what we call ‘half diminished’.

Its notes are: B, D, F and A, with a minor third between B and D and another minor third between D and F – which is what defines it as ‘diminished’. A major third between F and A would make it ‘half diminished’. It often replaces D minor and thus occupies the subdominant function. This is especially common in jazzy progressions and leads to the famous II-V-I formula, the 2nd degree replacing the 5th degree.

Have a quick look at the main functions in minor (A minor in this example):

Here is an example in TAB notation; Tonic – Subdominant – Tonic in the key of E minor:

Another one: Tonic – Dominant – Tonic in A minor (in treble clef notation)

Combining formulas

In this series we have come across common ‘formulas’; progressions of two to four chords that have grown ubiquitous in western music. Since they are so familiar, they can be combined in many ways. You can combine all chords from A minor with those of C major. You can also change between major and minor of the same tonic. For instance – use chords from C minor in a C major environment, or the other way around. A few examples:

C – Bmin7(b5) – E7 – Amin – F – G7 – C

This progression integrates a complete II-V-I in A minor into a C major key
C – G7 – Ab – Bb – C

Ab and Bb form the 6th and 7th degree of C minor respectively, but are used here in a C major key
Amin – E7 – Dmin – G7 – C – E7 – Amin

Within A minor, we have the II – V – I formula in C major

Here is another famous example straight from our UBERCHORD app. It is in A minor (again!) and moves through G, D and C major as well:

We hope we have given you a brief glimpse into the functionality and application of minor chords. In the upcoming issue we will be dealing with more possible variations within chord progressions. In the meantime, check out Easy Ear Training, they have a great collection of lessons on music theory and guitar. Also be sure to check out the free articles here on our blog which include topics like flanger chords rnb, guitar c major chord notes, and best budget guitar for beginners. 

The post Beginner’s Guide To Music Theory Part 9: Chord Progressions in Minor Keys appeared first on Uberchord App.

1. Music Theory #1: he Major Scale
2. Music Theory #2: Intervals
3. Music Theory #3: Chords
4. Music Theory #4: The Circle of Fifths
5. Music Theory #5: Music Modes
6. Music Theory #6: Chord Inversions
7. Music Theory #7: Chord progressions Vol. 1

Having learnt about the degrees, parallel chords and main harmonic functions in major and minor, we will now move another step forward. In this post we will be exploring more chords which can add colour to a chord progression.

Secondary Dominant Chords

One of the most important movements in a chord progression is the dominant to tonic. We have already covered this in a previous post as well as voice leading; the way each note moves from one chord to another. So far we have only applied this in situations where the dominant is the 5th degree and the tonic is the 1st degree, such as in C where we go from G7 to C or C min.

You can also incorporate the dominant chord to any of the diatonic chords of a key. Simply pick any chord built on the 2nd to 5th degree and move up a perfect 5th, which then will be the root of the dominant chord. This may sound confusing, so take a look at this list of diatonic chords in C and the dominant chord to each of them:

If you look at the secondary dominants you will find that most of them have the same root notes as the diatonic degrees. The only exception is F#7, the secondary dominant to B dim. Comparing the diatonic degree chords to the the secondary dominants with the same root looks like this:

• 1st degree C -> C7 (dominant to F)
• 2nd degree Dmin -> D7 (dominant to G)
• 3rd degree Emin -> E7 (dominant to A min)
• 4th degree Amin -> A7 (dominant to Dmin)
• 5th degree Bdim -> B7 (dominant to Emin)

But what is the point of all of this?

The secondary dominants occupy diatonic root notes (except one – the dominant to 7th degree; F#7 in our example). The secondary dominant chords also share the Perfect 5th with the diatonic degree chords. This means that they are still quite close to their harmonic environment, but there exists one note which gives ‘spice’ to a chord progression whenever you use a secondary dominant.

How Do We Use Secondary Dominants?

Due to the common root note in many cases you can replace the diatonic chord with a secondary dominant. Easiest example:

C – Amin – Dmin – G7 (all diatonic chords) can turn into:

C – A7 – D7 – G7 (replacing Amin and Dmin with A7 and D7)
C – A7 – Dmin – G7 (replacing only Amin with A7)
C – Amin – D7 – G7 (replacing only Dmin with D7)

This works best if the roots move in 4ths up or 5ths down, which leads to a chain of dominant chords. The longest chain that can be created with just diatonic root notes is:

C – B7 – E7 – A7 – D7 – G7 – C

The chain resolves back to the tonic C. You could even replace the C with C7 going to F. If you try this you will find that from F, the chord progression seems to ‘beg’ to be resolved by a final C chord, as this chain of dominants creates a lot of tension.

In minor keys this doesn’t work all that easily because of the third degree. In major keys this is almost at the beginning of the dominant chain but in minor it is a half note lower, so that jumping in 4ths up / 5ths down will not lead into the tonic.

Moving in dominant chains in minor is nevertheless common and may look like this:

Amin – A7 – D7 – G7 – C7 – F7 – B7 – E7 – Amin

Tritone Substitutes

This deserves its own separate article but I’d like to briefly mention them here: tritone substitutes. Put quite simply, you can replace the bass note of any (yes, any!) dominant chord with a tritone (up or down makes no difference, since the tritone splits the octave in the exact middle).

Let us introduce a habit that makes dealing with dominant chords much easier: let us play them with the root, the 3rd and the 7th, OMITTING the 5th. Here we have a progression with D7, G7 and C7. Let’s assume C is the tonic, making D7 the double dominant (dominant to the dominant), G7 the dominant and C7 the tonic. Or in degrees: II7 – V7 – I7 (2nd, 5th and 1st degrees).

The upper voices move down chromatically as they always do in dominant chains. The 3rd of one dominant chord moves down a half note to the 7th of the next dominant chord and so on. Likewise, the 7th of a dominant moves down chromatically into the third of the next dominant chord. If you replace the root note of a dominant chord by its tritone, the main and most important notes (the 3rd and 7th) stay the same except that the 7th will be the 3rd and the 3rd will be the 7th. You can easily see that, if you compare the G7 chord with the Db7 chord in the example above.
If we apply this to the long chain of dominant chords (see above) we get a complete chromatic movement:

C – B7 – E7 – A7 – D7 – G7 – C

C – F7 – E7 – Eb7 – D7 – Db7 – C or

C – B7 – Bb7 – A7 – Ab7 – G7 – C

Modal Interchange

There are a few very beautiful progressions that can easily be understood by using something we call Modal Interchange. In this, diatonic chords are ‘borrowed’ from a different mode of the same tonic. Although this sounds sophisticated, it really isn’t. Using an F minor chord sounds great in C major, and we consider it the 4th degree of C minor. We’re then borrowing from the minor scale, even though our key is in fact C major. There is a few very common chord progression that might be explained with modal interchange. Fmin in C is one, Fmin – Bb7 – C is a variation of it. Ab – Bb – C is one more that is used very often, Ab and Bb both “borrowed” from a virtual Cmin tonic:

If we assemble everything we have learned about chord progressions so far, we have become familiar with:

• Diatonic chords (the degrees)
• Secondary dominants
• Tritone substitutes to all dominants (also the secondary ones)

There’s plenty more to learn with all the links in this article. However if you’re in the mood for something other than theory, then our blog can help you with gear, beginner/intermediate guitar technique, as well as songwriting and making chord progressions. Some of our most recent articles include our guitar chord finder app, eb guitar chords, and chords and lyrics to house of the rising sun. 

Happy practicing!

Here’s some other Music Theory Lessons you might enjoy:

The post Beginner’s Guide To Music Theory Part 8: Chord Progressions Vol. 2 appeared first on Uberchord App.

Welcome back! If this is your first visit and you’ve missed our previous lessons, we recommend getting familiar with the material before jumping into chord progressions:

1. The Major Scale
2. Intervals
3. Chords
4. The Circle of Fifths (A Guide to Learning Accidentals & Key Signatures)
5. Music Modes
6. Chord Inversions

And we’re finally here: Chord Progressions. Some of the issues we want to address in this post are the following:

• What is a chord progression?
• Why are some chords more closely related to one another than others?
• What do tonic, subdominant and dominant mean?
• What is a parallel chord?
• How does all this relate to degrees?

A chord progression is a set of chords following each other in a specific order. There are certain patterns as well as certain pairs of chords that do not sound especially good together. Regardless, there exist thousands of ways to combine a limited number of chords.

Parallel Chords

First, we will look at parallel chords. Their roots are always a third apart and they have two chord components in common.

For example, C and Amin:

The chord of C contains the notes C, E and G.

The chord of Amin contains A, C, and E, so C and E are the common, ‘shared’ notes.

To create or find parallel chords you move the chord structure up or down a third only using the notes of the key you are in. You will find that:

• The two parallels of a major chord are both minor chords. One of them is a major 3rd up, the other a minor 3rd down.

• Any minor chords parallels will be major chords. One a minor 3rd up, the other a major 3rd down.

The point of this is rather simple. As parallel chords have so much harmonically in common, they will sound well together, and as a result are used frequently in chord progressions.

Tonic, Dominant and Subdominant

A different approach; to think of chords of a progression in terms of their specific functions. The main functions are called Tonic, Dominant and Subdominant.

Important tip: always find the shortest way for each voice to move from one chord to another!

To better explain, it is best to look at the voices of chord progressions and examine how they move when a chord changes.

As always, it is not so easy to display this on guitar due to the tuning of the open strings. We will first show this in treble clef notation and later on give a few examples on the guitar.

In the key of C, the note C is the Tonic. The Subdominant is always the 4th degree, so in the key of C it is F. Let us have a closer look at the progression C – F – C:

First let’s assess the notes of both chords:

• C: C, E and G
• F: F, A and C

Both chords have one note in common, the C. If we move from the C triad to F triad, the C note remains constant. If we were then to pick the next note of the C chord, which is E, we must look for a way to move to the F chord in the ‘closest’ way. The note E will move up a half tone to the F. The remaining note of C is G. When moving to F, the G will go up a whole tone to A. This is the most economic way for the voices to move from one chord to another.

Looking at the voice leading of any chord progression will explain why they either work or do not work well. In this specific example it is important to see that the common note is actually the tonic root, which is why the change to F sounds stable. Harmonically then, two things happen:

• The change to F creates tension through two notes moving up; E to F and G to A
• The underlying common note of C makes the change stable

We can do the same thing on guitar in E, going E – A – E.

To see how the voices move:

The top E stays, the B moves up from the open string to the 2nd fret, the G# moves up one fret on the G string. For the bass notes we can use the open E and A string. We recommend using picking here.

Now we look at the progression C, G, C.

G is the Dominant, or 5th degree.

• Notes of C: C, E and G
• Notes of G: G, B and D

The voices move like this:

• The C moves down a half tone to B
• The E moves down a whole tone to D
• The G stays where it is

This chord change creates even more tension, because the tonic root C disappears in G. Still there is a common note (G) which makes the change stable.

To show this on guitar we use the same chords and fingerings as before. We now consider A as our key.

You can combine the Tonic, Subdominant and Dominant chords (degrees I, IV and V; 1st, 4th and 5th degree) in any order you like. They will always make harmonic sense and have been staples of western musical vocabulary for many centuries.

If you now consider the functions (Tonic, Subdominant, Dominant) as well as the parallel chords to each of the functions, you will end up with seven different chords:

• C (tonic); 1st degree (I)
• Am (parallel to tonic and subdominant); 6th degree (VI)
• Em (parallel to tonic and dominant); 3rd degree (III)
• F (subdominant); 4th degree (IV)
• Dm (parallel to subdominant); 2nd degree (II)
• G (dominant); 5th degree (V)
• B (parallel to dominant); 7th degree (VII)

These chords represent exactly the degrees of C major. But instead of just listing them going up or down the scale, we now can see how they refer to each other in terms of parallel and harmonic functions. When creating chord progression, the tonic and subdominant functions can very well be represented by their parallel chords. Two examples:

• Instead of F – G7 – C try Dmin – G7 – C
• Instead of C – F – G7 – C, try C – F – G7 – Amin

With the dominant chord G7, things work a little differently. It isn’t as easily replaced by its parallel chords.

The Dominant function as 7th chord

Let us have another look at the G chord, the 5th degree in the key of C. We can make it a 7th chord by adding another chord tone to the G triad (G, B and D). We have to use the next third up from D in the key of C major, which is F. The resulting chord symbol is G7.

When moving from C to G7 and back we have a little problem with voice leading. This is because G7 has four different notes whereas the C triad has only three. To make this as fluid as possible, let us cheat and omit the D in G7, using only the G, B and F:

• Notes of C: C, E and G
• Notes of G7: G, B and F

The voices move as follows:

• The C moves down a half tone (chromatically) to B
• The E moves up a half tone (chromatically) to F
• The G remains where it is

The dominant chord creates even more tension and goes back to C in a very pleasant way with two voices moving chromatically in countermovement. This resolves into the two most important notes of C major, which are the C itself and the major third – E.

Another advantage of this 7th chord is that we now have a common note with the subdominant chord F; the note F itself. So shifting from F to G7 is not simply moving up with all voices, and is given a little more stability by this common tone. Also, the G7 carries strong tension in itself because the interval between B and F is a tritone. Tritones are some of the hardest sounding intervals (not familiar with this? Then check our post on Intervals).

This progression is one of the few well depicted on guitar, using A and E7.

Again the top E stays, the C# moves up to D (one fret) on the B string while the A moves down one fret to G# on the G string. This works just as well in C.

Here you find a few exercises from the UBERCHORD app that use the chords we have discussed. Note that not all of them are in the key of C.

We will look at the main functions in minor keys for our upcoming posts. Please stay tuned to find out about some other very interesting ways of creating beautiful chord progressions by expanding your harmonic vocabulary and replacing certain chords! Our blog can help you out in the meantime as we’ve just covered topics like first guitar for kids, the cure lovecats guitar tab, and the cure lullaby guitar tab. 

The post Beginner’s Guide to Music Theory #7: Chord Progressions vol. 1 appeared first on Uberchord App.

Part 6: Chord Inversions

Welcome back! If this is your first visit and you’ve missed our previous lessons, we recommend getting familiar with the material before jumping into modes:

1. The Major Scale
2. Intervals
3. Chords
4. The Circle of Fifths (A Guide to Learning Accidentals & Key Signatures)
5. Music Modes

Inversions

The component notes of a chord can be reshuffled in any order. It will still remain the same chord but no longer be in ‘root position’ (the root being determined by the lowest note). It instead becomes what is known as an ‘inversion’.

This generally applies to any chord or triad containing just three notes but also works with seventh chords or indeed any chord with four or more notes. To illustrate this, we have our trusty piano keyboard to hand.

Our chord here is a C triad consisting of C (the root), E (the 3rd) and G (the 5th).

Mathematically then, all possible inversions of this constellation can be (from low to high):

• E / G / C
• G / C / E

However, both of these ‘new’ chords are still called C major triad!

E / G / C we call 1st inversion of a C major triad

G / C / E we call 2nd inversion.

These are denoted by slightly different chord symbols. We call the 1st inversion C/E, which is read as “C over E”. Similarly, the chord symbol for the 2nd inversion is C/G, or “C over G”.

These are two examples of “close voicings”. This means that all notes are placed within a one octave spectrum.

There are also “spread voicings”, which as the name would suggest, are spread across more than one octave. This is usually done by skipping the middle note and replacing it with the same note an octave higher. The same principle can be applied to inversions:

Using spread voicings does not alter the chord symbols (C/E or C/G). The symbols are determined by the root note (which remains C), and the lowest note, which are E and G respectively. Don’t get confused by the changing intervals within the inversions.

In the 1st inversion we have a minor third between E and G and a perfect fourth between G and C. Between the lowest note E and the highest one C we have a minor sixth. Hopefully you’ll have learned about intervals and their inversions in our previous post dedicated to the topic. An interval always sounds close to its inversion, so instead of a major third between C and E in the root position we now have a very similar sounding minor sixth between E and C in the 1st inversion.

Instead of the perfect fifth between C and G in the root position, we get a similar sounding perfect fourth between G and C in the 1st inversion, and so on. This is why any inversion of a chord still sounds relatable to its parent root chord.

This is important to realize as the “regular” close root position voicing of any triad is often difficult or indeed impossible to play on the guitar. Why? Because the intervals between chord tones are thirds, whereas the interval between guitar strings is a perfect fourth, with the sole exception of between the G and B strings.

So let’s move on to a few examples how we can actually play inversions on the guitar:

Staying with the C major triad, we usually play it like this:

X 3 2 0 1 0 which gives us the notes C E G C E.

To add an inversion, we can simply play the same chord and add the open low E string to get C/E – the 1st inversion.

0 3 2 0 1 0

In other chords sometimes the difference is much bigger:

D major triad: X X 0 2 3 2 (D, A, D, F#)

D/F# (1st inversion): 2 0 0 2 3 X (F#, A, D, A, D)

The bold notes are the ones, that both voicings have in common.

Chord inversions are a difficult subject but if you got this far then you’re on your way. Other topics like sweet home alabama lynrd skynyrd guitar chords, fender jaguar scale length, and chords let it be will be a nice break away from tough theory topics like this one. We hope these articles help out, but if not then there’s a lot more you can browse! 

The post Beginner’s Guide to Music Theory #6: Chord Inversions appeared first on Uberchord App.

Part 5: Music Modes

Welcome back! If this is your first visit and you’ve missed our previous lessons, we recommend getting familiar with the material before jumping into modes:

1. The Major Scale
2. Intervals
3. Chords
4. The Circle of Fifths (A Guide to Learning Accidentals & Key Signatures)

The Music Modes

Let’s resume from #1 (the Major Scale). We know that the scale pattern here is WT WT HT WT WT WT HT, also called “Ionian”.

If we create a scale starting on the second note D, but keep using the C major notes, we get D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D. Of course the scale pattern also changes because everything moves one step to the right. The resulting pattern is: WT HT WT WT WT HT WT. Thus we now have a new mode – “Dorian”.
Let’s continue going up the scale, creating new sequences by starting on different notes of the C major scale. Each of the resulting scales has its music mode (also called church modes) and specific scale pattern. Here is a list of all of them. In this example, all the listed modes share the same ‘parent scale’ – C major.
Some music modes are more commonly used than others, and each has its distinct sound. Let’s have a look at them. Click on the title to hear what each mode sounds like.

Some modes are more commonly used than others, and each has its distinct sound.

• Ionian: probably the most common mode. Any Song in any major key is in Ionian mode.
• Dorian: is a minor mode (minor third between first and third degree). Sounds faintly jazzy. A couple of famous songs from the golden Jazz era featured the dorian mode quite prominently. This was when so-called “modal” approach became popular with Miles Davis’s “So What”. It is the parallel mode to Lydian.
• Phrygian: also a minor mode. It is one of two modes with a minor 2nd step and has a somewhat latin sound.
• Lydian: like Ionian but with a sharp 4th step. Parallel to Dorian.
• Mixolydian: a major mode with a flat 7th step. The Blues mode!
• Aeolian: the “standard” minor mode. Considered parallel to the Ionian mode.
• Locrian: the only mode with no perfect fifth in it. It also contains a minor 2nd step.

Let’s take a risk here and say the most common of these are: Ionian, Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian and Aeolian.

As a reference have a look at this list:

Now let’s do an exercise

Use all the music modes in the order above, starting with the note C. This means: our ‘parent scale root’ shifts across the chromatic scale and we end up using a different key for each mode.

• C Ionian will be the C major scale. No accidentals.
• C Dorian refers to the Bb major scale of which C is the 2nd degree. Bb major has two flats; Bb and Eb. So we end up with this: C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb.
• For C Phrygian we have to make the starting note C the 3rd degree, so the parent major key moves to Ab with 4 flats: Ab, Bb, Db, Eb. So C Phrygian goes: C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb.
• C Lydian is almost the same as Ionian, with the exception that the fourth moves up a half tone to F#. The corresponding parent major scale is G, of which C is the 4th degree.
• C Mixolydian is also close to Ionian. The only difference is the seventh, which moves down a halftone from B to Bb. This comes from the parent major scale F, C being the 5th degree.
• C Aeolian makes C the 6th degree of its parent scale. That brings us to parent scale Eb major, with Eb, Ab and Bb.C Locrian is perhaps the weirdest one. The parent major scale is Db of which C is the 7th degree. Loads of flats here: C, Db, Eb, F Gb, Ab, Bb.

Here is another list of these in treble clef notation:

Want to become a keys-and-modes expert? Repeat this practice exercise starting on any note!

One last very important piece of information. Suppose we have a Blues in C – a C Mixolydian mode featuring one accidental Bb, we would still use the key signature of C major. Why? Because key signatures only refer to major (Ionian) or minor (Aeolian)! We have to admit that this sometimes may not make so much sense, but it has become so common that there’s absolutely no point in questioning it.

Worst case scenario for experts

You write down a Blues in Db. Db has 5 flats (check circle of fifths). Let’s say that the melody uses the notes of the Blues Scale:

1, b3, 4, b5 (blue note).

As notes, this would then be:

Db, Fb (E), Gb and Abb (an A with two flats, or G).

Terrible to read, but those are the rules. A better notation for the melody would be C# minor:

C#, E, F#, G.

C#minor however, has no major third F which is essential for the Mixolydian mode. This is a very special case due to Blues melodicism, which will be covered in a later issue.

Modes can be pretty tricky to learn. Thankfully there’s lots of free articles here at Uberchord that can help you sort a lot of this out, and get you using modes on the fretboard. Our articles on the guitar solo chart, happy songs with dark melodies, and “when do i use 7 9 and 11 chords?” for example, will help out tremendously!

The post Beginner’s Guide to Music Theory #5: Music Modes appeared first on Uberchord App.

Part 4: A Guide to the Circle of Fifths – Understanding Accidentals & Key Signatures

If you’ve missed our first three posts on “The Major Scale“, “Intervals“ and “Chords“ you will need that acquired knowledge to understand the material in this next lesson. It won’t take you long to get caught up.

In this post you will learn everything you need to know about accidentals; these are sharps (#’s) and flats (b’s).

We’ll cover topics like:

• What is the circle of fifths?
• As a guitarist, why should I learn the circle of fifths? We’ll offer up 4 reasons!
• Why do we use accidentals?
• Which accidentals are associated with each key signature?
• Why do certain chords “belong together” and why do others not?
• What are Accidentals?

You’ve seen them all over the place. An ‘Accidental’ is the official musical term for either a “sharp” (#) or a “flat” (bs). When placed in front of a note on a chord sheet, it either raises or lowers the pitch by a semi-tone. On guitar, this means moving up a fret for a # or down a fret for a b.

What are key signatures?

A ‘key signature’ of a song is depicted by the number of accidentals in front of the staff. An accidental placed at the beginning of the score will affect all following notes on the same line. For example, a # on the F line will correspondingly turn all following Fs into F#s, pronounced “F sharps”. If we then need to play a normal F we have to mark it with a “natural” sign:

Although this may seem trivial, the reason for using key signatures is a good one. If we have a song with C#’s (C sharps) and F#’s (F sharps) all the time and no natural C’s and F’s throughout it is easier to write and easier to read with a key signature rather than using the #’s every single time they appear. This is case in most pop and classical music.

To really understand why we need accidentals in many situations we will use the piano keyboard a lot in this chapter.

As you can see, the black keys of the keyboard represent accidentals. You may also notice that each accidental can go by either of two names:

• the name of the note below with a ‘#’ or sharp
• the name of the note above with a ‘b’ or flat

This is how it looks in Treble Clef:

How Do I Know When to Use Sharps or Flats?

To understand why we sometimes use ‘#’s and other times ‘b’s let’s take a look at treble clef notation.

One simple principle we follow when writing scales:

The notes must alternate between on-the-line and between-the-line, so that any scale is notated as follows:

If we start a major scale on any other note than C and follow the major (Ionian) scale pattern (WT/WT/HT/WT/WT/WT/HT) we have to raise or lower some of the notes to fit this rule.

Example 1: A Major

• A scale starting with A will have the natural notes A, B, C, D, E, F, G. However, the half steps are in the wrong places for an Ionian scale [see image below: between notes 2 and 3 and betweens notes 5 and 6].
• The natural notes have to stay where they are, but if we raise the C up to C# we get the half step where we need it, between notes 3 and 4. To make the other half step a whole step we raise the F to F#. After the F# we need another whole step so we also raise the G to G#, which then also gives us the required half step between notes 7 and 8.
• The resulting formula is: the key of A major has three #’s (sharps)! The notes C#, F# and G# are the black keys that we need for A major on a piano keyboard.

Exercise 1: How to create an A Major Scale using notation for piano

Now here’s what A Major looks like if we write the scale using the key signature in Treble Clef.

Example 2: F Major

• Starting the scale on F.
• Natural notes: F, G, A, B, C, D, E.
• There is one half step between notes 4 and 5 (which is wrong for Ionian) and one between notes 7 and 8 (which is right for Ionian).
• If we lower the B to Bb we have the half step where we need it, between notes 3 and 4. The key of F major has one b (flat).

Exercise 2: How to create an F Major Scale using notation for piano

*Important Rule*

Never mix sharps and flats in the same key signature. It’s either one or the other.

Introducing “The Circle of Fifths”

How do we know which Accidentals are in a Scale if it starts on a Black Key?!

A valid question! The whole system of accidentals is organized around a wonderfully logical “Circle of Fifths” concept. In the circle of fifths, the notes of the chromatic scale are laid out economically, delineating vital information on the relationship between key signatures and their corresponding accidentals.

The Circle of Fifths delineates vital information on the relationship between key signatures and their corresponding accidentals.

7 Facts About The Circle of Fifths:

1. The chart starts at ’12 o’clock’ at C, the only key signature to feature no accidentals.
2. Moving clockwise around the circle of fifths means going up in fifths (hence the name), moving counter-clockwise means going down in fifths.
3. Both directions meet at the very bottom at the most “opposite” key to C: Gb/F#, with a tritone distance to C. It has the most accidentals (6 b’s or 6 #’s) of any key which makes it somewhat unpopular to use. This is also the only key where you can choose between bs or #s.
4. With each fifth going down one flat (b) is added. Whenever a flat appears, it stays part of all the following keys. Think of it like collecting flats along the way. A new flat is always the fourth note of the corresponding major scale.
5. With each fifth going up one sharp (#) is added. Whenever a sharp appears, it stays part of all the following keys. It is like collecting sharps along the way. A new sharp is always the seventh note of the corresponding major scale.
6. Along with each key, its parallel minor key is shown. That means: if you have a sheet with two flats, the key is Bb major or G minor, three sharps is A major or F# minor and so on…
7. All major keys that start with a black key (not a natural note) are keys using flats. The only exception to this is Gb, which can also be written as F#.

Circle of Fifths Chart

Take your time studying the circle of fifths

If you have a keyboard lying around, try practicing these. It may take 20 minutes, but can save years of confusion in the end. There’s an important point when transferring this all to guitar. Having no ‘black keys’, the relationship of accidentals to key signatures becomes somewhat negligible. Another way to consolidate your understanding would be to try and write out all major scales in treble clef.

4 Reasons Why Guitarists Should Know the Circle of Fifths:

Here are practical situations where knowing the circle of fifths is helpful for guitarists.

1. Want to Find the Key to a Song?

If there are any “black key” notes you can immediately eliminate certain key signatures in your head. For example, a G# or Ab: it can only be part of Eb, Ab, Db, Gb or A, E, B, F#. Incidentally, F# is the only key signature which can go by two names, depending on your purpose.

2. Want to Join a Band or Jam with Friends?

Guitarists have the benefit of moving keys up and down on their fretboard. Piano and horn players have completely different shapes and patterns in each key. If you ever want to communicate with them efficiently you will need to know the keys, its accidentals and relative chords.

3. Want to be an advanced guitar player?

Although on guitar you can move up and down the fretboard of course the key you are in makes a big difference when it comes to the use of open strings (which open strings are part of this chord?). Also where the bass note is located (E, A or D string? And which fret?) will immediately be clear for you and be related to the environment of a certain key. You will develop a coordination memory that works different for each key. Once you know them all, nothing can ever harm you anymore!

4. Want to Write Songs?

Do you ever make up your own songs, melodies, lyrics? Knowing the Circle of Fifths and all the information that comes with it will be a great help to come up with chords or make something more interesting. If you cut slices of three neighboring chords with their parallel minor chords, you get “chord families” of six chords, that are close relatives and sound harmonious together.

The Awkward Key Signatures

Gb and F# are objectively difficult to use, and almost always avoided in music. It is however, occasionally necessary to use them. To accommodate for the range of a singer for example, or if we move everything up a half step for a final ‘epic’ key-change. There is just one important thing to mention here. Regardless whether we choose Gb or F#, both contain a single accidental which lowers or raises a note to another “white key”.

Brief rules of treble clef notation for scales is that we have to alternate between on the line and between the line notes, so we end up using a Cb (which is the white key B on the piano keyboard) in the Gb major scale or an E# (which is the white key F on the piano keyboard) in the F# major scale. To make this easier to understand we give you a look at the piano keyboard with the right keys highlighted and the two options for notating them in treble clef:

Written with key signatures, the Gb and F# major scale look like this:

We hope this was somewhat revealing. Use this blog as a reference. Since this is about the universal system of all western music you can’t immediately keep all of  it in mind. You will get used to it and find confirmation in all that you learned by playing.

You’re still around? Maybe you want to learn even more about using the chords and scales arranged in the circle of fifths? We have tons of free articles on our blog that can help you process and internalize all of this info like dancing in the moonlight chords no capo, jimmy page effects, and how to find the pentatonic scale in any key. 

The post Beginner’s Guide to Music Theory #4: The Circle of Fifths appeared first on Uberchord App.

Part 3: Chords

If you missed our first two posts on “The Major Scale” and “Intervals“, it might be a good idea to catch up before we get started on chords.

What is a Chord?

Generally speaking, a chord is when three or more different pitches sound at the same time. The chords we commonly use are based on scales, which brings us back to our first post in the series.

Major and Minor Triads

If we look at the C major scale and play simultaneously the first, the third and the fifth note of the scale, what we get is a C major chord. More precisely, we would call it a “C major triad” because it consists of three notes.

Let us do the same thing, now starting on the second note of the C major scale – D. Going up the scale once again from D (which we now consider the first note), we add the third note F and the fifth note A. This gives us a “D minor” chord, or D minor triad.  It’s “D” because that’s our first or ‘root’ note, but why is it minor this time?

To explain, we will compare the C major triad with the D minor triad. The interval between the notes of C major are:

• a major third (4 half tones / 4 frets) between C and E
• a minor third (3 half tones / 3 frets) between E and G

In the D minor chord the intervals between the notes are:

• a minor third between D and F
• a major third between F and A

This makes an enormous difference. If the lower interval is a major third, it produces a major chord. If it is a minor third, we get a minor chord.

Notice that the distance between the lowest and highest notes remains the same: C to G is a perfect fifth (7 half tones / 7 frets), as is D to A. It is the middle note that gives the essential information which distinguishes a major from a minor triad.

If we apply this pattern along the C major scale, what we get are chords which are close ‘family members’ within C major. Starting at E, skip a note to add a G, and skip a note again to get a B.

E, G and B form the E minor triad. Here is a list of all triads across the C Major scale:

• C (D) E (F) G = C + E + G = C major triad
• D (E) F (G) A = D + F + A = D minor triad
• E (F) G (A) B = E + G + B = E minor triad
• F (G) A (B) C = F + A + C = F major triad
• G (A) B (C) D = G + B + D = G major triad
• A (B) C (D) E = A + C + E = A minor triad
• B (C) D (E) F = B + D + E = B diminished triad

Note that the last triad is neither major or minor, but diminished. Diminished means that we have a minor third between the low and the middle note (in this case, B and D) and another minor third between the middle and high note (D and F).

Fun fact; you can switch the order of the notes of a chord from low to high to high to low. For example in C major you can put the C on top so that E becomes the lowest note and the G is in the middle. This is called “inversion”, in which we’ll go into greater depth later.

Also, in addition to notes 1, 3 and 5 you can create much “bigger” sounding chords by continuing with notes 7, 9, 11 and 13 until all notes of the scale are used. This will also take subject of one of our lectures to come, but for now..

How to play Chords on the Guitar

If you haven’t read our blog #2 on intervals you may wish to be reminded of how a guitar is tuned: it is strung in perfect fourths except for between G and B. Let us play a few common chords on the guitar and have a look at how the notes of that chord are arranged on the guitar strings, starting with C major:

We need the notes C, E and G. The C should be the lowest. Playing it on the low E string would bring us to the eighth fret, so let’s place it on the A string, third fret. We get an E from the second fret on the D string. The next string is G, which we can handily play using the open G string. The B string can be raised a half tone to C on the first fret. Finally, we add the open E string. So from low to high:

C, E, G, C, E

If you play these notes, lowest first going up and sing along their names you will quickly get familiar with the way we play chords on guitar.

Now look at D minor for which we need the notes D, F, and A. Like in C major we have to find a good way for D to be the lowest note, so start with the open D string and omit the E and A strings entirely. From D, the next string up is G, which we raise to A on the second fret. The B string is raised to another D on the third fret and the high E string is raised to the F on the first fret. The chord we get is composed of the following:

D, A, D, F

For E minor we need E, G and B.

For this example, we can use all six strings because the lowest open string serves as our bass note E. Raise the A string to B on the second fret and the D string to E using also the second fret. The remaining open strings all belong to E minor: G, B and E.

The notes of the chord will then be: E, B, E, G, B, E.

Notice that the note E appears three times and the note B appears twice.

The next and most important part to learning chords is practicing them. For advice on where to start, we recommend reading “5 tips for learning guitar chords” and if you’re a complete beginner “Learn Guitar Chords” is a guide that shows you exactly how and what to practice first.

Practice These Exercises to Get Started 

We also put together some exercises in our app using chord progressions that will remind you of some famous songs. You can download our free guitar chord training app to practice these exercises and get closer to mastering all of these chords and more.

The post Beginner’s Guide to Music Theory #3: Chords appeared first on Uberchord App.

The Names of Music Notes

The names of music notes are based on the alphabet: A B C D E F G. These notes are the white keys on a piano keyboard and the C major scale is built on them, but for some reason that no one can remember, we start with the letter C:

The C Major Scale Consists of the notes: C D E F G A B

As you learned in our first issue on the major scale, this series of notes contains two half tone steps, between the notes E-F and also B-C. So for the gaps between all other notes, there are five notes missing, which are all the black keys on the piano keyboard:

The Black Keys on the Piano Keyboard

1. The note between C and D is called C# (C sharp) or Db (D flat)
2. The note between D and E is called D# (D sharp) or Eb (E flat)
3. The note between F and G is called F# (F sharp) or Gb (G flat)
4. The note between G and A is called G# (G sharp) or Ab (A flat)
5. The note between A and B is called A# (A sharp) or Bb (B flat)

What is an interval?

We call the distance between two notes an interval. Each interval has its own sound and name. By the end of this blog post you will know the twelve most important intervals. You can play any open string on your guitar and then slide up twelve frets to reach the same note that you started with, because we only have eleven different notes. The distance between the open string and any one of the frets (one through twelve) results in a different interval.

Here’s a Quick Reference Guide for Tone Names & Intervals

In our first music theory post about the major scale, we stayed on one string to keep everything clear and easy to understand. When playing an interval with two pitches at the same time, we will of course need two strings. We’ll give you some easy examples that show you how to place each interval on a guitar.

1. The Octave

Let’s start with the octave, or the 12th fret. The name comes from the latin “octavus”, which means “eighth”. If we play a major scale, the eighth note will be an octave away from the first note. The names of the notes in every octave will be the same because everything repeats at the octave. So the octave of the note C is C. When played at the same time, the two octave notes become indistinct and sound much like one. An easy way to play an octave on guitar is to use an open string for the lower note and finger the upper note on the string two above the lower one.

If you choose the open low E string for the low note you use the second fret on the D string for the higher E.

You can also play the higher E on the A string, using the seventh fret.

If you use the open D string for the lower note (D) everything changes a little: You will then have to use the third fret on the B string for the higher D, because the tuning of the open strings is not regular, the interval between open G and B strings is one fret (a half tone) smaller then between the other strings.

“Somewhere over the Rainbow” starts with an octave

2. The Fourth

The next most important interval, especially on guitar, is the fourth. It results in the distance of an open string and the 5th fret. The fourth is also the distance between the first and the fourth note of a major scale. Most guitar strings are tuned in fourths: E and A; A and D; D and G; B and E – each of these pairs of notes are fourths.

“Amazing Grace” starts with a fourth.

“Love me Tender” is another good example.

3. The Fifth

Next and very similar to the fourth is the fifth between open string and 7th fret. Each interval has a so called inversion. The inversion is the interval that adds up to an octave which another one. For example a fourth (5 frets) plus a fifth (7 frets) are an octave (5 + 7 = 12 frets). This is the reason for them sounding much alike. This is the case with any interval and its inversion. If you play the same notes, but the low one on top and the high one underneath, you always get the inversion.

Play your low E and A strings to get a fourth:

Now play the A string and the D string on second fret which gives you a fifth:

Now combine the low E string with the second fret on the D string to hear an octave just like you did before!

The fifth is the distance between the first and the fifth note of a major scale. The “Star Wars” Theme by John Williams starts with a fifth.

4 & 5: Major & Minor Third

We move on to the third. As you can imagine, it is the distance of the first and third note of a scale. We have two kinds of thirds:

• A major third is from the major scale; between the open string and 4th fret
• A minor third is from the minor scale; between the open string and 3rd fret

We also have a major third on the guitar between the open G and B strings. Playing it on any other of the strings works like this: Play the higher note on an open string and use the first fret on the string below. The tuning between the open strings is a fourth, so to get a major third you have to make the interval smaller by raising the lower note. This is the case with any interval smaller than a fourth.

There is a major third in the beginning of “When the Saints go marching in” (B.B. King R.I.P.!)

The minor third is a half step smaller.  The first two notes of the most famous guitar riff are a minor third, “Smoke on the Water“. To play both notes of a minor third on the guitar you do almost the same as with the major third.

Play the high note on the open A string and use the 2nd fret of the low E string for the lower note.

6 & 7: Major & Minor Sixth

From here on, we will not disrupt you with our beautiful soundslices anymore. The principle stays the same: to play an interval on guitar, modify the interval between the open strings up or down and pay attention to the inconsistent tuning between G and B strings.

The inversions of minor and major thirds are the MAJOR and MINOR SIXTHs. The Major Sixth is the distance between an open string and its 9th fret. Its name refers to the sixth note of the major scale. Check out this funny and completely guitar-free version of “My Bonnie lies over the Ocean” of MNOZIL BRASS!

The major thirds inversion is the minor sixth, the distance between an open string and its 8th fret. The name minor sixth refers to the sixth note of the minor scale. You can hear it in the beginning of the beautiful song “Black Orpheus/Orfeo Negro“. This is the original version from the 1959 Oscar-winning brasilian movie:

8. Major Second

The two notes of any MAJOR SECOND are two frets apart each other. It is the distance between the first two notes of a major scale. We also call it whole tone. “Yesterday” starts with a major second moving down.

9. Minor Seventh

The inversion of the major second is the MINOR SEVENTH, two notes that are 10 frets apart each other. It is the distance between the first and seventh note of a minor scale and the beginning of “There’s a Place for Us” from West Side Story.

10. Minor Second

Next let’s look at the MINOR SECOND. It is the smallest interval, there is only one fret between the two notes and it sound very weird when you play them simultaneously. We also call it half tone. “White Christmas” starts with seven (!) minor seconds.

11. Major Seventh

Just two more to go! The inversion of the minor second is the MAJOR SEVENTH with two notes that are 11 frets apart each other, very close to the octave. It refers to the seventh note of the major scale. It was really hard to find an example for this. Because the major seventh is a big interval which sounds much more dissonant than the octave, it is not often used in melodies. But here it is, a major seventh down in “I Love You” by Cole Porter:

12. The Tritone

Finally we have an interval that is its own inversion because it splits the octave into two halfs. It is not in a major or minor scale but lies right between the fourth and the fifth. Therefore it has its own name, tritone. The distance between its notes is six frets or half tones and its sound is even more dissonant than the minor second/major seventh. A great example of the tritone is in the song “Black Sabbath“.

We have two blog posts dedicated to this interval with 25 song examples.

Link to chart of Intervals with Song Examples

Are you ready for the Part 3: Guide to Music Theory for Chords? We just posted the next lesson where you will Learn Guitar Chords!

Look at this as just the beginning of your exploration of music theory and music intervals. This knowledge can be applied to soloing, songwriting, and ear training too! Many articles on our site are free and can help you apply this stuff like izzy stradlin compositions, spanish guitar chord progressions, and db scale chords. 

The post Beginner’s Guide to Music Theory – Part 2: Music Intervals appeared first on Uberchord App.

Part 1: The Major Scale

Welcome to our brand new Guide to Music Theory! Each week, we’ll supply you with essential information on music theory and delivery it in a way that is easily comprehensible. Whatever your level and whatever questions you may have, we can help.

What is a chord? What are the most important scales? What is a major scale Guitar? How do they work, what are their names and what do we need them for? Why can’t Eb major be called D# major? Why is there an F minor chord in a song that is in the key of C? What is a degree, what do these roman numbers like I IV V mean? What is a tonic, a subdominant, a dominant chord? We will answer all of these questions and more.

First of all: what is a scale?

A scale is a number of ascending pitches. It usually ends on the same note where it started. Most scales consist of seven different pitches.

Play this Major Scale Guitar, just using the G String:

And back down:

This is the G Major scale.

You can call it Ionian too, but if you just say “Major” everyone will assume you mean G Major because it’s so common.

Why is it called G Major?

“G” because G is the note where the scale starts and ends.

If you haven’t seen sharps (#) before, please don’t worry. We’ll explain them in another blog post. We decided to display treble clef notation next to TAB so you get used to it. You don’t have to pay close attention to it, but we did this because many great guitar players complain that they can’t read treble clef well enough.

Back to the major scale: If you do the same thing on the D string it is the same scale but called “D” Major, or D Ionian:

It has seven notes that move up in whole tones (two frets) and half tones (one fret). The last note is the same as the first, so we don’t count it.

Take note that between the first and second note there is a whole tone (two frets), followed by another whole tone, then a half tone (one fret) between third and fourth note, then another 3 whole tones and finally a half tone again.

Let’s resume this using “WT” (for whole tone) and “HT” (for half tone):

WT – WT – HT – WT – WT – WT – HT

This pattern will always be the same for any Ionian major scale, no matter which note you start.

So A major would be:

This of course means that you can start any scale on any note, not only on an open string.

Now Let’s Try C major:

Finally, just keep this in mind:

The Major (or Ionian) scale is like the great grandfather to most other scales and to most chords of its key. For example, all chords closely related to G are taken from the G Ionian scale, just as all the scales that belong to these chords are. All chords closely related to C and their corresponding scales are taken from the C Ionian scale and so on. We will soon get back to this.

In the next post, we will introduce you to “The 12 Most Common Intervals“.

The post Beginner’s Guide To Music Theory – Part1: The Major Scale Guitar appeared first on Uberchord App.