How To Construct Basic Notes
In the present article we are going to talk about how to construct basic minor and major chords on the guitar. Before starting we must learn some rudimentary music theory, since this will lay the foundations of finding out how to build chords anywhere around the fretboard.
Every basic major or minor chord consists of 3 notes – root, third and fifth. The chord carries the its root note, nevertheless the root is not always the lowest note, because each chord has chord inversions. Since the guitar chords we’re talking about consist of only 3 notes, we have 2 chord inversions as a whole or 3 different ways to play each chord. Now, what makes the major and minor chords essentially different may be the third. You have probably heard the terms “minor third” and “major third”. Basically said a third (used for building minor chords) is definitely an interval between the root and the third that equals to three semitones (or 3 frets around the guitar), while the major third (employed for building minor chords) equals to 4 semitones (or 4 frets). The 5th is the same for both types also it equals to an interval of 7 semitones from the root.
So, if you want to build a chord, first pick which note you want take as root and where are you currently want to position it related to the other two notes. Let’s illustrate this with several examples that may hopefully help you view the music theory discussed above.
We are going to take the note A like a root, build a minor chord after which all of its inversions. First of all let’s determine which notes we want in order to build the chord. Since we will build a minor chord, we are going to need the minor third and the fifth. The minor third from your is C (the distance between A and C is 3 frets) and the fifth is E (the distance between A and E is 7 frets). Great, since we know the notes, we could build the actual chords.
Example 1 – A Chord & Inversions
A in root First Inversion Second Inversion A in root, octave up
E||————–|————–|————–|–0———||
B||————–|————–|–1———–|–1———||
G||————–|–2———–|–2———–|–2———||
D||–2———–|–2———–|–2———–|————||
A||–3———–|–3———–|————–|————||
E||–5———–|————–|————–|————||
A-C-E C-E-A E-A-C A-C-E
What if we want to build the main ones? Just use a major third – that’s C sharp (C#)
Example 2 – An important Chord & Inversions
A in root First Inversion Second Inversion A in root, octave up
E||————–|————–|————–|–0———||
B||————–|————–|–2———–|–2———||
G||————–|–2———–|–2———–|–2———||
D||–2———–|–2———–|–2———–|————||
A||–4———–|–4———–|————–|————||
E||–5———–|————–|————–|————||
A-C#-E C#-E-A E-A-C# A-C#-E
Pretty clear, isn’t it? Using this principle, you are able to build basic notes literally anywhere around the fretboard. Just remember to practice these examples changing the root note and the inversion randomly, so that you will learn them well. For example, instead of saying “I desire to play all B Minor Chords” and playing every one of the inversions one after another, say to yourself: “I want to play the second inversion of B Minor, from then on I want to play D# Minor in root position” etc. and you will see that you will quickly learn all guitar chords.
Just thought you may be interested in reading this guide: all guitar chords and learning guitar chords.