A chord is just three or more notes played together. The most common chords are made of three notes and are called triads. Chords are the backbone of songs, setting the mood and giving support to melodies.

This chapter will only focus on Major chords. Major chords have a happy sound and Minor Chords sound sadder. Major Chords are built from three notes, the root (main note or home tone), the 3rd (which gives it the happy sound), and the 5th.

The C Major chord is made up of the notes C E and G. The C Major scale is made up of the notes C D E F G A and B. So, C would be the 1st note in the C Major scale. E would be the 3rd note (or degree) in the C Major scale and G would be the 5th note of the C Major scale.

Minor chords are also built from three notes. But the 3rd is lowered by a half step, which creates that sad feeling. A half step on the guitar is one fret down. A full step would be two frets down. Don’t be confused, third note doesn’t mean third note in the chord, it means third degree of the scale.

Chord Construction

The following table shows how chords are constructed. This is information you most likely won’t need at this point, but it’s some music theory that’s good to have for reference later on.

1Root
2Major Second
b3Minor Third
3Major Third
4Perfect Fourth
b5Diminished Fifth
5Perfect Fifth
#5Augmented Fifth
6Major Sixth
bb7Diminished Seventh
b7Minor Seventh
7Major Seventh
b9Minor Ninth
9Major Ninth
#9Augmented Ninth
11Perfect Eleventh
b13Minor Thirteenth
13Major Thirteenth
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G Major Modes

Modes on All 6 StringsAeolianE--------------------------------2-3-5--B--------------------------1-3-5--------G--------------------0-2-4--------------D--------------0-2-4--------------------A--------0-2-3--------------------------E--0-2-3--------------------------------LocrianE--------------------------------3-5-7--B--------------------------3-5-7--------G--------------------2-4-5--------------D--------------2-4-5--------------------A--------2-3-5--------------------------E--2-3-5--------------------------------IonianE--------------------------------5-7-8--B--------------------------5-7-8--------G--------------------4-5-7--------------D--------------4-5-7--------------------A--------3-5-7--------------------------E--3-5-7--------------------------------DorianE---------------------------------7-8-10--B--------------------------7-8-10---------G--------------------5-7-9----------------D--------------5-7-9----------------------A--------5-7-9----------------------------E--5-7-8----------------------------------Phrygian E--------------------------------------8-10-12--B------------------------------8-10-12----------G-----------------------7-9-11------------------D----------------7-9-10-------------------------A---------7-9-10--------------------------------E--7-8-10---------------------------------------LydianE-------------------------------------------10-12-14--B----------------------------------10-12-13-----------G--------------------------9-11-12--------------------D------------------9-10-12----------------------------A----------9-10-12------------------------------------E--8-10-12--------------------------------------------MixolydianE-----------------------------------------------12-14-15--B--------------------------------------12-13-15-----------G-----------------------------11-13-14--------------------D--------------------10-12-14-----------------------------A-----------10-12-14--------------------------------------E--10-12-14-----------------------------------------------Modes on Bottom 3 StringsAeolianE--------------2-3-5--B--------1-3-5--------G--0-2-4--------------D---------------------A---------------------E---------------------LocrianE--------------3-5-7--B--------3-5-7--------G--2-4-5--------------D---------------------A---------------------E---------------------IonianE--------------5-7-8--B--------5-7-8--------G--4-5-7--------------D---------------------A---------------------E---------------------DorianE---------------7-8-10--B--------7-8-10---------G--5-7-9----------------D-----------------------A-----------------------E-----------------------Phrygian E-----------------8-10-12--B---------8-10-12----------G--7-9-11------------------D--------------------------A--------------------------E--------------------------LydianE-------------------10-12-14--B----------10-12-13-----------G--9-11-12--------------------D-----------------------------A-----------------------------E-----------------------------MixolydianE--------------------12-14-15--B-----------12-13-15-----------G--11-13-14--------------------D------------------------------A------------------------------E------------------------------Modes on Top 3 StringsAeolianE-------------------B-------------------G-------------------D--------------0----A--------0-2-3------E--0-2-3------------ w h w w h wLocrianE-----------------B-----------------G-----------------D--------------2--A--------2-3-5----E--2-3-5---------- h w w h w wIonianE-------------------B-------------------G-------------------D--------------4----A--------3-5-7------E--3-5-7------------ w w h

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