Let’s explore some beginner chords and get familiar with how we can use them to help give the music movement.
What are Chords?
Chords are just a group of notes played together at the same time. SIMPLE!
Chords add harmony to our music that helps move the melody along.
Reading Chord Charts
Match your finger to the number on the fret-board. Play all strings except those with an X over the top
TRY IT!
Chord Quality Symbols
Musicians still haven’t agreed on what symbols to use for the different chord qualities…
here’s a list of abbreviations and symbols you may see in written music.
Quality / What we use / other options:
Major – C, C(Triangle), CM, Cmaj
Minor – C- Cmin Cm
Dominant – C7, Cdom
Strumming Exercises
Strumming means to swiftly stroke the pick across the strings so they sound together.
While strumming, our elbow is loose, our wrist is relaxed and our pick hand moves in downstrokes (M) and upstrokes (V),
A Slash Symbol ( / ) is another way to say “play this chord for one beat”.
Try playing along to the below music to practice fretting chords:
Great Job today! For now, keep the focus on connecting your fingers and brain to “feel” the chords. All new chords feel hard at first! With a little practice, even the trickiest change can come naturally.
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