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Guitar Lessons that work!

Chord Board

Use the blank illustrations found here to construct your own chords. Start with triads and then work on 7 chords. A couple chords have been completed for you, just get a blank board and fill in the notes of each chord. Once you do that play them any way you like. Build them in the open position first, like the Am7 below. Then figure them using bar chords. The Am7 below shows two different ways to play this chord. If you moved the yellow box below to the 7th fret, you would have the Bm7 chord. If you moved it to the 10th fret, it would be the Dm7, 12th Em7 and so on. Notice the bar on the 5th fret, those notes are A, D, G, C, E and A, Low E string to the high E string 5th fret. The D note is not being played because of the E note at the 7th fret. Don't let that confuse you though. Remember if you have any questions, post them to the discussion forum, this will help everyone.

Let's use the illustration to the left for one of our examples. Recall the notes of the key of C major. C, D, E, F, G, A, B. Each of those notes have been filled into the proper location. Once you fill them in figure out a seventh chord. We will figure out the G7 chord. Start with G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G. 1, 3, 5, 7. These would be the notes of G7. G, B, D and F. Now we will color in those notes on the example to the left. Once we do that it will look like the illustration below.

Now the notes of the G7 have been filled in, we can play this chord. The G7 chord is the dominant chord in C major. The dominant chord wants to resolve back to the tonic. The tonic chord is the home note or C note in the key of C major. So we can strum the G, G7 and C chord and that is a nice lead into a progression. For an example: G, G7, C

Use the blank illustrations below to figure out some chords. You need to figure out all the chords in the key of C major. And while your at it, figure out all the chords in F major. There is a table of all the major keys in leading to modulation, it would be a good idea to print that out to have handy. 

Good luck,

Guitar Secrets