We'll follow up the last lesson on fretboard knowledge with a little more of the same, only this time we're going to be looking at chord construction. When I started writing this article, I realized that I needed to write an entire article on the prerequisite knowledge required for chord construction in composition before I could continue on with my methodical chaos protocol for chord construction. I warn you in advance that this article is a lengthy read and contains a lot of music theory, but the subjects covered here are some of the first pieces of music theory you should learn as a guitar player. We'll begin with the building blocks of music itself; the musical alphabet.
The musical alphabet consists of the letters "A" through "G". Once you reach the end of the alphabet, it repeats. That gives us this to start with...
A - B - C - D - E - F - G
What you see above are the seven natural notes. By natural, I mean the note is not accompanied by a sharp (#) or a flat (b) i.e. A is a natural whereas A# is not. These sharps and flats are known as accidentals. A sharp means that you are one semi-tone (fret) higher than the note depicted whereas a flat means that you are one semi-tone lower than the note depicted. For example, you can find the note "A" on the fifth fret of the low E string and you can find the note "A#" on the sixth fret of the same string. You can also find the note "Ab" on the fourth fret of the same string as well.
There is one accidental note between every natural note with two exceptions; there is no accidental between "B" and "C" and there is no accidental between "E" and "F". That gives us the complete musical alphabet.
A - A#/Bb - B - C - C#/Db - D - D#/Eb - E - F - F#/Gb - G - G#/Ab
The term enharmonic equivalent is used to describe the relationship between the equivalent notes listed, for example "A#" and "Bb". The same note can be described with two terms, but in the end you are still talking about the same note, thus you could name each accidental two ways.
Did you know you could also name multiple notes at once? Let's take the note, "A". As stated before, the musical alphabet will repeat indefinitely. Each repetition of the sequence is known as an octave. So, if you were to play an A, and then move through the other eleven letters of the musical alphabet to reach the next A, you are doing what most guitarists would refer to as, "playing the octave." This brings us to an important distinction; a note refers to a tone in a specific octave, whereas a tone refers to every instance of a single note and does not make reference to a specific octave. An octave is an excellent example of an interval and perhaps one of the most important intervals we will encounter.
Intervals are a way of measuring the distance between two notes in terms of their respective pitch. You should be able to hear a consistent flavor within each interval no matter what two notes you end up picking; as long as the distance between those two notes is the same, it will sound like that interval. You could also look at intervals as the building blocks of scales, chords, and arpeggios. Observe the following diagram.
A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A
|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___|____|____|____|
x 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 = frets
x refers to the root note, which could be thought of as the starting point of the interval. In the above example, the root note is "A".
1 = Semi-tone (also flat second)
2 = Perfect Second
3 = Minor Third (also flat third)
4 = Major Third
5 = Perfect Fourth
6 = Flat Fifth
7 = Perfect Fifth
8 = Minor Sixth (also flat sixth)
9 = Major Sixth
10 = Minor Seventh (also flat seventh)
11 = Major Seventh
12 = Octave
I've labelled and grouped the first twelve intervals above. These are known as the simple intervals. If you were to continue past the octave, it would look like this.
13 = Flat Ninth
14 = Perfect Ninth
15 = Minor Tenth (also flat tenth)
16 = Major Tenth
17 = Perfect Eleventh
18 = Flat Twelfth
19 = Perfect Twelfth
20 = Minor Thirteenth (also flat thirteenth)
21 = Major Thirteenth
22 = Minor Fourteenth (also flat fourteenth)
23 = Major Fourteenth
24 = Double Octave
These intervals, which are really just their simple interval counterpart an octave higher, are known as compound intervals. When constructing chords, it is OK to use a tenth in place of a third or a twelfth in place of a fifth because the tenth and the twelfth are the same tone as the third and the fifth, it's jut that the tenth and the twelfth are an octave higher. For instance, the minor third of "A" is "C" and the minor tenth of the same "A" note is also "C," therefore it is okay to use either the minor third or the minor tenth to construct the same chord.
As for chord construction itself - we use formulas to derive the tones contained within the chord. These formulas are denoted by intervals. We'll start with three tone chords, called triads.
MAJOR TRIAD: 1 3 5
MINOR TRIAD: 1 b3 5
DIMINISHED TRIAD: 1 b3 b5
Note: When we use flats and sharps to describe notes, we place them after the note, i.e. A#. When we use flats and sharps to describe notes of a chord in the fashion above (by degree), we put the symbol before the number.
So let's build some chords using these formulas. Let's say we want to play an A major triad, which we would normally just call A major. The root, "1," is "A". The third of "A" is four semi-tones (frets) higher than "A"; that gives us "Db". The fifth of "A" is seven semi-tones higher than "A"; that gives us "E". So, the notes of "A," "Db," and "E" are all contained within the A major chord. We could fret this in a variety of ways. If you have been following these articles and you have memorized the notes on the fretboard, you should now be able to play that A major chord in a variety of positions and voicings. Here are some examples.
E|----------------0---
B|------------5---2---
G|-------9----6---2---
D|---2---11---7-------
A|---4---12-----------
E|---5----------------
In all of these examples, the lowest tone in the chord is the root, "A". The next note on the adjacent string and second tone of the chord is the major third, "Db". The next note after the third and the last tone of the chord is the perfect fifth, "E". We don't always have to go in order, though. If we started with the major third instead of the root, we would call that the first inversion. If we started with the perfect fifth instead of the root, we would call that the second inversion. You wouldn't have to worry about the third inversion of an A major triad since there are only three tones contained within the chord. However, if we were talking about seventh chords instead of triadic chords.
MAJOR SEVENTH: 1 3 5 7
MINOR SEVENTH: 1 b3 5 b7
DOMINANT SEVENTH: 1 3 5 b7
MINOR SEVENTH FLAT FIFTH: 1 b3 b5 b7
These chords are known by some as "jazz chords" but I find you can use these harmonies in any genre of music pretty effectively by voicing them for the occasion.
At this point, you've probably realized that there are many different ways to play a chord. Now how is this article supposed to help you learn better than any other resource out there on the internet? Well, it might not help you learn better, but it can help you learn differently. I believe knowing one thing in a variety of ways can only help you master the subject.
We are going to use the Anki Flashcards again. If you guys don't know already, Anki is free software you can use to make flashcard decks for your computer. I uploaded several already made decks during the last article and I have another one for you now.
ANKI FLASHCARD DECK: INTERVALS
We will be using a similar protocol as we did with scales and arpeggios. Start by loading up a karaoke track in a key you are comfortable with. If you can get a track with just drums or a simple bass line, do so, because we want to come up with the chords for the rhythm section this time. Yes, we will be improvising again, but this time we're going to improvise the rhythm guitar instead of playing leads.
Now, go ahead and load up the flashcards. Draw an interval at random from the deck - I've included all the simple and compound intervals.
Practice with just one interval at first. I've grouped intervals like major and minor thirds together so you can practice them within the context of the seven tone (also called diatonic) major scale. Without getting into the relationship between chords and scales too deeply, we'll simply say that whether you use a major or minor interval depends on whether or not the note is contained within the scale. If you have been following these articles, you should know at least one of the diatonic scale positions to practice with, but above all else, use your ear to determine what sounds good. Don't be afraid to start mixing up your strumming patterns once you're comfortable with the interval itself.
Once you are comfortable with that interval, it's time to pick another one at random and repeat the process. Work with the new interval on its own for a bit as you did with the first and get comfortable using it within the context of a given key. Once you're comfortable with playing both intervals as shown on the flashcard, try to combine the intervals together to make a three tone chord. For instance, if I drew the flashcard for ninths and the flash cards for fifths, I combine that to get a 5add9 chord.
A5add9
E|----------------7---
B|-----------12---5---
G|-------16---9---2---
D|---9---14---7-------
A|---7---12-----------
E|---5----------------
Using this method, you will practice all of the intervals individually and learn how to use them within a key, then you will learn how to combine them. Using the flashcards at random is also a creative technique to get yourself to come up with chord voicings you wouldn't have come up with otherwise. Not only will your rhythm playing and composition improve, but more importantly than that, you will learn the sound of the intervals and develop your ear, arguably one of the most important pieces of becoming a well-rounded guitar player.
Until next time.
This article is the intellectual property of onelightminute@gmail.com, but this information may be freely shared and published so long as the source is acknowledged.
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