The six chord diagrams below are the open major chords that are played on the first three frets of the guitar. Open means there are open notes (not fretted) in the chord. The major chord is made from three note from the major scale called a triad. The notes are the first, third and fifth notes (1, 3, 5) of the major scale.
Each major scale has a key signature that has specific notes that are either raised (#) or lowered (b) called accidentals. They are shown in the key signature to the left of the chord diagram. If one of these changed notes in the scale are the same as the chord note then they are also changed Notice the A-C#-E notes in the A major chord.in the first diagram below.
The numbers in the in the chord diagram are which finger to use and the 0 at the top are the open notes of the chord, X are muted or not played. The numbers on the left are the fret numbers 1 – 3 omitting 4 with an X. The letters on the bottom are the notes of the chord. The letters on the top in the rectangle box are the open tuning note of the guitar.
If you are a beginner carefully place your fingers vertical as possible without bending the strings or touching another string. Make sure each note that is suppose to be played when strummed is clean without a muted sound. Each time you practice your finger dexterity and strength will get better and your muscle memory where to place your fingers will become automatic.
Practice changing the fingerings from one chord to the next. Try strumming four strums down -up-down-up while changing the between A, D & E chords. Next try strumming three strums down-up-down then try changing between the G, C & F chords. You now have a good start to work from, good job.
Chord Diagrams by Guitar Theorist 2.0
Ex.1)
The interval ruler that makes up all Music Scale Formulas. We measure the distance between notes in half steps instead of inches like a ruler (Ex.1).
Ex.2)
In a 12 note chromatic scale the 1-12 is intsead 1-7 and we have 5 between accidental numbers b2, b3, b5, b6, b7 none between 3&4, 7&1(Ex.2).
In music scale theory we use numbers for intervals as an easier way to measure the distance or steps between notes in a music scale and also notes in a music chord. If we count higher than 7 we go into the next octave and 1 starts over again as the 1 in the square of this chromatic scale (Ex.2a). This applies to music scale theory (In harmony chord theory we use numbers higher than 7 called compound intervals this will be explained in future lesson. Every music scale has a music scale formula (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 is the Major Scale Ex.4), (1, b3, 4, 5, b7 is the minor Pentatonic Scale Ex. 5) the bordered numbers. The notes in music are taken from the first 7 letters of the alphabet A-G with 5 accidentals that each have with 2 names (incrementing A to A# sharps & decrementing B to Bb flats A# and Bb are the same) C#-Db, D#-Eb, F#-Gb, G#-Ab. There is no accidental notes between B-C, and E-F (Ex.3). This can be a challenge to learn because we have to break away from our old mind associations of how we uses letters in the alphabet as well as number in counting. The diagrams below can give a better perspective to understand the interval ruler. You see dynamically how the bordered numbered notes below overlay the static letter notes to measure the distance between the notes. This creates easy to recognize scale shapes and is an aid for guitar players who play by ear.
Ex.2a) Ex.3) Ex.4) Ex.5)
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