If you want to expand your chord vocabulary, this lesson is for you! You will discover some incredible chords which will allow you to play even more of your favorite songs!
Note that all chords mentioned here are major chords, so their names begin with uppercase letters; however, that doesn’t imply they all sound the same.
1. C Major
C Major, often known as the “natural” key, is one of the easiest keys for beginners learning music. With no sharps or flats and all notes comprising the chromatic scale within its scale encompassing it all. C Major has an upbeat sound which can leave audiences feeling open and optimistic – no wonder it is often chosen for nursery rhymes as well as religious music intended to bring joyous feelings.
C Major is known for its purity. This key can be heard in such classic songs as John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” both which express this idea through their lyrics. C Major can also be found in many folk songs that conjure images of nature or springtime.
C Major is a frequent choice in classical music. It serves as the key of symphonies, chamber music and string quartets and sounds particularly radiant when played on strings – you can hear this quality in pieces like Dvorak’s String Sextet and Schubert’s Trout Quintet by Dvorak and Schubert respectively, or in Mahler’s Eighth Symphony Part Two’s opening bars which sound like shafts of sunlight flooding in.
C Major is also widely utilized in pop music, providing upbeat, catchy tunes with catchy choruses and melodies that make it easy to sing along to. Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” and Zedd and Maren Morris’s “The Middle” all fall under this genre; similarly, more serious yet positive songs such as Coldplay’s Acoustic Version Of “The Scientist” Or an epic soundtrack can also use C Major effectively.
The open position is the foundational form of C Major scale music. When performing it, your fingers should remain on only three frets of your guitar: index finger for notes at first fret; middle finger at second fret; and ring finger at third fret – hence its other name, “C major barre chord.”
2. D Major
The D major scale includes the notes D, E, F#, G, A, B and C# with two sharps as its key signature.
D is an unsettling key, noted for its deep depression and dismal outlook. This key has become popular as the choice for funeral pieces, folk songs, and operas alike.
D minor is known for being associated with sadness; yet rock bands rarely use this key. Nirvana’s album In Rainbows and Radiohead’s Nevermind each only feature one D minor song each. Perhaps due to chord progressions lacking suspense-building ability; 1-4-5 progressions used frequently in pop songs have more forward momentum with a concluding major chord at their conclusion, making this option preferable in this respect.
If a band wants to convey melancholic or menacing emotions, they might opt for other chords than D minor, such as C minor or A minor which share similar tonal characteristics but offer more positive and upbeat sounds than D minor.
To play D minor chords, either start from the root note of D or add thirds and fifths until a major triad (C, E, and G) forms. Other secondary dominant chords you could try would include F major (F, A, and D) and C major chords (C, E, and G).
A common chord progression in D minor is ii-iv-v, as chord ii contains D minor, G minor and A minor notes. Additionally, it’s possible to incorporate chords from outside D minor keys, such as E diminished chord (iio).
D Major scale degrees consist of tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant leading tone / tone and octave; similar to any major and minor key except with D as tonic instead of A as the tonic note. Modal degrees differ slightly; specifically they change from F# to F natural for D minor which fits with general musical theory theory in which tonal degrees stay the same but modal degrees change frequently.
3. E Major
E Major is one of the most frequently used chords in guitar music, as its stability allows it to create a variety of melodies and progressions. Furthermore, practicing E Major will also help develop your improvisation skills by increasing melodic approach while improving rhythmic accuracy.
E Major chords consist of three notes, or chord tones: its root note (E), major third (G#), and perfect fifth (B). E Major’s root note is E while its major third is G#; its perfect fifth is B, which can be played using various techniques and voicings; for beginners starting out, one way would be using an open voicing based on D Major open chord shapes that involves using your index finger, middle finger, ring finger (or all three at once), fourth and fifth fingers if flexible enough.
This chord can also be played using various other voicings, including triad and four note extended chord. Experimentation with these various forms is key to finding out which you prefer most; then practice slowly and accurately until each note can be played without muteding other strings – you can do this using drones in E Major that are available online music sites as a practice aid.
Another useful way of practicing E major chords is to play them alongside a melody in E major. This will give you an idea of how they will sound together with the notes in the melody and also help develop fretboard memory – so that when playing chords anywhere on the fretboard they come naturally.
4. G Major
G major is a popular key in many songs and works of music. It serves as the official key of “God Save The Queen” (UK), New Zealand national anthem and is commonly found across a range of rock, country, metal and classical genres – often guitarist-friendly thanks to only having one sharp (F) and standard fret placement on frets; notable songs featuring G major include Sweet Home Alabama, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik as examples of popular examples.
G Major differs from C Major in that it contains multiple flats; instead, G major features both sharps and flats which require you to alter your chord sounds when playing it, meaning you must keep this in mind when writing or transposing songs to this key.
As an example, when switching from C to G for a chord progression using root and seventh chords, additional sixth and ninth chords should also be added in addition to fifth and third. Although it will create a different sound from playing it originally in C, most guitarists find it easy enough to switch.
Keep in mind that G major scale contains one sharp (F#), while F major has only one flat note (B). This can cause some confusion when reading sheet music as composers often refer to their scales using both sharp and flat versions of each note in their names.
As you’re learning the guitar, understanding its fundamentals of music theory are integral in mastering this art form. This includes understanding chords, scales and key signatures commonly employed across different genres of music.
Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, it’s time to put them into practice! Try learning a song in G key and witness how well your understanding of musical elements applies in real-life context. Skoove provides an extensive library of songs where you can practice G major chords and their inversions – give it a try today and you could soon be playing your favorite songs!
