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<div class="item-wrap"> <div class="trail {{crumbs|red"> |12 <span class="text">[[|Guitar Parts and Functions|Parts]]</span> <span class="text">[[|Holding the Guitar and Pick|Playing]]</span> <span class="text">[[|Basic Technique|Technique]]</span> <span class="text">[[|Tuning and Harmonics|Tuning]]</span> <span class="text">[[|Music Theory Basics|Theory]]</span> <span class="text">[[|Position|Position]]</span> <span class="text">[[|1st String|1st String]]</span> <span class="text">[[|1st and 2nd Strings - Intervals|Intervals]]</span> <span class="text">[[|2nd and 3rd Strings|2nd/3rd Strings]]</span> <span class="text">[[|4th, 5th, and 6th Strings|Other Strings]]</span> <span class="text">[[|C Major in Open Position and Alternate Picking|Alt. Picking]]</span> <span class="text current">[[|C Major Chord|C Major]]</span> <span class="text">[[|G Major Chord|G Major]]</span> <span class="text">[[|F Major Chord|F Major]]</span> <span class="text">[[|E Minor, D Minor, and A Minor Chords|Minor Chords]]</span> <span class="text">[[|Music Theory - Diatonic Chord Progressions|Progressions]]</span> </div> </div>}}
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== PreReqs ==
== Intro to Chords ==
Let's talk about chords. '''A <u>chord</u> 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.
''Notice a triad is basically every other note from the root.'' 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.
== Writing Conventions ==
Usually the short name in the 2nd rightmost 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
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.
== 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.
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? ===
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.
=== Writing Inversions ===
Note: when we cover chords with 4 or more notes, the number of numbers here will expand for those additional intervals.
== Open Position C Major Chord ==
{|
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 [[Basic_Technique#Left-Hand_Grip|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 "eye"). This chord grounds the tonality of the piece, and often occurs as the first and/or last chord in the song and/or smaller passages.
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 ==
* [[Other Open String Chords]]
[[Category:Guitar]]
[[Category:Notation]]