C Major Chord
This lesson introduces us to chords and harmonic function in tonal and diatonic context. We specifically focus on the C major chord in open position.
Contents
PreReqs
Intro to Chords
Let's talk about chords. A chord is three or more notes simultaneously. One of the notes is called the root note. Other notes are classified in terms of the intervals they create with the root note (ie their distance from the root note).
Triads are chords composed of a root note and its third and fifth - these are the most common type of chords. There are 4 main types of triads, depending on the which third and fifth intervals are used:
| Chord Type | 1st Interval | 2nd Interval | Short name w/ root of C |
Notes w/ root of C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major | Major 3rd | Perfect 5th | C | (C E G) |
| Minor | Minor 3rd | Perfect 5th | Cm | (C E♭ G) |
| Diminished | Minor 3rd | Diminished 5th | C° or Cdim | (C E♭ G♭) |
| Augmented | Major 3rd | Augmented 5th | C+ | (C E G♯) |
A basic major chord is root, major third, and perfect fifth. For a C major chord, that's C as the root, E as the M3 and G as the P5. The C major chord is spelled CEG or (C E G) or C-E-G.
Often, a chord spans more than one octave, reusing the same set of notes in a higher octave. For example, C2 E2 G2 C3 E3 is 5 notes, but all 5 notes are found in the C major triad. This is still a C major chord.
Notice a triad is basically every other note from the root in the common 7-note scales. A C major triad is (C E G). We skip the D and F:
- C D E F G
This is helpful to quickly get the notes for a particular chord in the key of C Major. As we learn more about other keys and get more accustomed to the intervalic relationship between each pair of notes in the chromatic scale, we will be able to derive the member notes for any particular chord quickly.
Building chords by stacking third intervals as described above is called tertian harmony - alternate harmonic structures exist and are covered later in advanced lessons.
Writing Conventions
Note: the example tab and chord shapes below are presented here simply for understanding notation. Feel free to play them if you want, but they will be covered in later lessons.
Usually the short name in the 2nd-to-last column in the table above is used to denote a chord. This includes the root and an optional quality. When only the root is present, this indicates a major chord. Chord symbols typically appear above sheet music or tab as follows:
C Am F C E-0----|0----|1----|0----| B-1----|1----|1----|1----| G-0----|2----|2----|0----| D-2----|2----|3----|2----| A-3----|0----|-----|3----| E------|-----|-----|-----|
Sometimes, minor chords are written as lowercase letters, but I avoid this; as this would make B♭ minor appear like b♭, which in a monospace font (often used for tab) is bb, which is confusing.
Notice tab shows the frets to hold to play each chord. Since chords are often played repetitively, tabbing out chords can be unnecessary and distracting. Also, tab doesn't indicate the preferred fingering to use. Instead, tab or sheet music will usually give chord charts for all of the chord shapes used in the song before the song starts. Chord shapes indicate not simply the notes or fingers used, but the pattern of notes across all the strings for a particular voicing, given a certain tuning. Eventually, we will see that chord shapes can be moved all over the fretboard. For the above example, you'd see:
| C | Am | F |
|---|---|---|
E o|-|-|-| C ||i|-|-| G o|-|-|-| E ||-|m|-| C ||-|-|r| ||-|-|-| |
E o|-|-|-| C ||i|-|-| A ||-|r|-| E ||-|m|-| A o|-|-|-| ||-|-|-| |
F ||i|-|-| C ||i|-|-| A ||-|m|-| F ||-|-|r| ||-|-|-| ||-|-|-| |
This tells us the position of the chords, and the fingering to use. These are often very helpful, as every chord has a large variety of voicings on guitar.
Sometimes, the tab/sheet music will not have numbers or notes as we typically see but a strumming pattern. This may be above the tab/sheet music, with the actual tab being reserved for a melody line. It contains markings that look similar to notes, indicating the duration of each strum (quarter note, eighth note, etc.).
For example, the tab above can be represented as:
C Am F C / / / /
Or even more concisely with additional strums on the initial C and the F chord during those measures:
C / Am F / C
The names/slashes here indicate to strum the chord, with the spacing used to roughly indicate timing. Conventionally, chords get played for a whole or half measure, so there is no need to provide any more info here. If the strumming pattern were more complex, or there were chords that only lasted a quarter note, etc., then we would additionally need the note durations or numbers to indicate where each strum falls in relation to the beat.
Further notation explanations can be found in the Introduction, Ref: Chords Charts/Strumming, and Ref: Reading Tab.
Inversions
Usually, the root note of the chord is also the lowest-pitched note, or bass note. This gives a strong harmonic foundation where the intervals created by the other notes can be clearly heard and felt. However, the third or fifth can also be the bass note. This is called an inversion. Inversions are numbered by the bass note's relation to the root note in the chord.
| Inversion | Bass Note |
|---|---|
| Root Position | Root |
| 1st Inversion | Third |
| 2nd Inversion | Fifth |
2nd inversion doesn't sound/feel terribly different from root position, while 1st inversion is clearly different but still retains much of the feel of root position. Really, we classify them as the same chord - whether its (C E G), (E G C), or (G C E), it's a C Major chord.
Why Invert?
So what's the point of using an inverted chord vs. root position? This mainly deals with voice leading, which can get a little advanced. Basically, even if an instrument is used in a strictly harmonic function, each note of a chord being played should be treated as an individual voice, as though it were one person in a chorus. When changing chords, each voice can keep the same pitch, move higher, or move lower. Classical voice leading has a number of guidelines to make transitions smooth, natural, and pleasant. They highlight the harmonic content of the change moreso than the pitch changes. Let's look at some chord changes, trying to use as little movement as possible for each voice.
| Root Position Chord 1 |
Chord 1 Member Notes |
Chord 2 | Chord 2 Member Notes |
Notes Movement |
Inversion of Chord 2 |
Total movement in semitones |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | CEG | Em | BEG | C moves 1 half step to B | 2nd Inversion | 1 |
| C | CEG | Am | CEA | G moves 1 whole step to A | 1st Inversion | 2 |
| C | CEG | F | CFA | E moves 1 half step to F, G moves 1 whole step to A | 2nd Inversion | 3 |
| C | CEG | G | BDG | C moves 1 half step to B, E moves 1 whole step to D | 1st Inversion | 3 |
So we've got only 1 or 2 voices of the chord changing pitch at all, and they are only moving 1 or 2 semitones. Compare this to using root position:
| Root Position Chord 1 |
Chord 1 Member Notes |
Chord 2 | Chord 2 Member Notes |
Notes Movement |
Total movement in semitones |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | CEG | Em | EGB | C and G move up 4 semitones, E moves up 3 | 11 |
| C | CEG | Am | ACE | C and G move down 3 semitones, E moves down 4 semitones | 10 |
| C | CEG | F | FAC | All notes move up 5 semitones | 15 |
| C | CEG | G | GBD | All notes move down 5 semitones | 15 |
Whoa! That's a huge difference in the total amount of pitch movement, and all that movement is a distraction to the harmonic change. Voice leading has many more rules, which we will cover later on.
Another reason to use inversions is if you want your bass line to consistently ascend or descend or have a melody you want it to follow. If you stick to making the bass note the root note of the chord, many chord progressions will not allow the bass line to do so. Or you may be trying to play a melody as well as accompanying chords, placing the melody line as the highest voice. This limits your chord shape choices; and in some cases, one of the notes would have to be omitted unless using an inversion and placing it lower than the root note.
Writing Inversions
The most common way to see inversions written for guitar is the name of the chord, then "/bass note". So for example, C Major 1st Inversion is written C/E. A Minor 2nd Inversion is written Am/E.
In more traditional sheet music, you often see a pair of numbers with one on top of the other indicating the intervals of the notes above the bass note.
| Root Position (C E G) |
1st Inversion (E G C) |
2nd Inversion (G C E) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd Note | G | C | E |
| 2nd Note | E | G | C |
| Bass Note | C | E | G |
| Interval from bass to 3rd note | 5th | 6th | 6th |
| Interval from bass to 2nd Note | 3th | 3th | 4th |
| High Interval/Small Interval | 5/3 | 6/3 | 6/4 |
So first inversion is written 6/3 and 2nd inversion 6/4.
Note: when using chords with 4 or more notes, the total number of intervals in the chord will expand for those additional intervals. I find that more confusing than the more common "/bass note" notation.
Open Position C Major Chord
Here are the most common chord shapes for C major in open position.
| Root Pos. | 1st Inv. | 2nd Inv. |
|---|---|---|
E o|-|-|-|-| C ||i|-|-|-| G o|-|-|-|-| E ||-|m|-|-| C ||-|-|r|-| ||-|-|-|-| |
E o|-|-|-|-| C ||i|-|-|-| G o|-|-|-|-| E ||-|m|-|-| C ||-|-|r|-| E o|-|-|-|-| |
E o|-|-|-|-| C ||i|-|-|-| G o|-|-|-|-| E ||-|m|-|-| C ||-|-|p|-| G ||-|-|r|-| |
The first chord chart is the most common voicing, in root position with a triad and and additional root and third above. The other charts show inversions, using the E and G on the 6th string.
Below are alternates to these shapes that spring up from time to time. They use a high G on the E string instead of the open E. The high G on the 1st string can be used to give the chord a less tense feel, since a fifth is more consonant than a major third.
| Root Pos. | 1st Inv. | 2nd Inv. |
|---|---|---|
G ||-|-|p|-| C ||i|-|-|-| G o|-|-|-|-| E ||-|m|-|-| C ||-|-|r|-| ||-|-|-|-| |
G ||-|-|p|-| C ||i|-|-|-| G o|-|-|-|-| E ||-|m|-|-| C ||-|-|r|-| E o|-|-|-|-| |
G ||-|-|p|-| C ||i|-|-|-| G o|-|-|-|-| E ||-|m|-|-| ||-|-|-|-| G ||-|-|r|-| |
Take a look at 2nd inversion above. We are using the pinky for the high G, so we can't play the low C on the 5th string anymore. How do we avoid sounding the string? We allow part of the ring finger and possibly part of the middle finger to rest against the string without fretting it. That will mute the string, so that when we strum that string, it does not resonate an open A.
Fingering
Fingering a chord at first is a bit difficult. Your fingers will not cooperate like they should. I found the easiest way to go about it is to get one finger in place at a time. Make sure you've got each one in place with a good fret job before moving on to the next. It helps to play each individual note, so you can hear if one of the notes is fretted badly or is being muted or is actually an incorrect note.
You'll notice that you have to curl your fingers pretty well to accurately fret a chord. For the basic root position C Major chord above, every finger can potentially run into this issue. The ring finger must fret the 5th string but cannot touch the 4th string. The middle finger frets the 4th, but cannot touch the 3rd. The index finger must fret the 2nd string, but cannot touch the 3rd or 1st strings. This adds to the difficulty on top of stretching your fingers to fret the correct strings and frets.
One thing that may help is moving your left-hand thumb away from the side of the neck and towards the middle of the back of the neck, as described here. This makes curling your fingers to use your finger tips a bit easier. Also, try rotating your arm/wrist so that your elbow is closer to your body.
Harmonic Theory: Tonality and the I Chord
In any given key, the chord with the same root note as the first note in the scale is the I chord (that's Roman numeral 1, not the letter "i"). Roman numerals are typically used in analysis or composition to indicate a diatonic chord for a common 7-note scale, with the number matching the scale degree (the number at which the note appears in the scale). Their usage translates to any key - C major is the I chord in the key of C Major, while A major is the I chord of A Major.
The I chord grounds the tonality of the piece, and often occurs as the first and/or last chord in the song and/or smaller passages.
Tonality
Earlier we began to talk about tonality, calling it the musical equivalent of gravity. We saw that certain melodies felt unresolved and that a few notes within the major scale relieved tension, with the root note providing the fullest resolution. Tonality describes music that is centered around one particular note, called the tonic note. This cannot exist in a vacuum - it requires a melody or harmonic progression to establish the tonic note. Some scales or keys are better suited to doing so than others, while some do not establish a tonic note at all.
In the Major scale, the presence of the perfect 4th and 5th in combination with the leading tone (7th note a half step below the tonic) strongly establishes the tonality of the scale. Melodies that are derived from this scale find the strongest resolution and finality by moving from the leading tone to the tonic note. Scales that do not have a leading tone can still find resolution to the tonic in other ways; however, it is simply not as strong as the major scale's resolution.
Harmony can also establish tonality through chord progressions. In this context, chords tend to have a harmonic function. They can reinforce or represent the tonic note (called tonic function), strongly seek resolution to a tonic (dominant function), or can transition from tonic to dominant (pre-dominant function). These will be covered a few lessons down the road; however, they are mentioned now to more fully understand tonality.
True Analysis
A song isn't necessarily composed of clearly discernible tonality, where everything neatly fits into equal segments of unambiguous chords, harmonic functions, and even scales or keys. There can be lots of moving parts, and songs can shift from key to key, or temporarily borrow from other keys. The goal of analysis is to try to find the underlying tonality for each moment in time and relate that to why certain compositions have certain effects on us. It's important to remember that tonality is only one aspect of this, but a very useful one in learning how to be a musician.
Homework
- Learn about chords above. Make sure you know the major triad consists of root, major third, and perfect fifth.
- Know that the C major chord consists of (C E G).
- Know that the C major chord is the I chord of the C Major key, called the tonic chord.
- Know what tonality is.
- Know what inversions are.
- Finger and play the C Major chord. Get more and more comfortable with it, so you can finger it more quickly each day.
- Focus on your strumming technique - make sure you can strum through all the strings easily without getting caught on any strings or having to push really hard to get through each string.
- Play through each note in the chord slowly, using one continuous slow motion to strum. Do not individually pick each string.
- Play through all 5 or 6 strings quickly as a single motion, trying to sound the entire chord all at once.
- Practice strumming the chord to the beat of a metronome over and over. Make sure your right hand aligns to the beat and doesn't fatigue easily.