Changes

The G is a perfect fifth interval above C. In the key of C Major, the G Major chord is thus called the ''V chord '' (that's the roman numeral five, not 'Vee'). It's notes are the perfect 5th, major 7th, and major 9th (2nd) above the tonic note of the key.

The 7th note of the major seventh scale is called the leading tone because it naturally "wants" to resolve up a half step to the tonic note. The B note in the G Major chord can move up wants to resolve a half-step up to C.

The root note of the V chord is also the fifth of the I chord, making its transition from the V chord to the I chord seamless. The G in the G chord becomes the fifth 5th of the C chord (C E G).

The fifth 5th of the V chord is the 9th or 2nd of the scale, which isn't in the I chord. For a Gchord, this is the D note. It can descend one whole-step to the root note of the I chord (C) for a very peaceful resolution or ascend one whole-step to the major 3rd of the I chord (E) for a richer harmony.

The V chord is also called the '''''Dominant chord'''''.

The third measure has a note duration we haven't talked about yet. This is a ''dotted half note''. '''Any note that has a dot behind it gets 1.5x its normal lengh. ''' So a dotted half note lasts as long as one half note + one quarter note. A dotted quarter note lasts one quarter note + one eighth note. In this case, the dotted half note takes up the first 3 beats of the measure. The final measure is just a whole note on the C Major chord.

''NOTE: I'm saying quarter ''note'' and half ''note'', but really you are strumming multiple notes that make up the chord. Saying "quarter note" is really just short-hand for saying "each note of the chord is a quarter note in length".''

Sometimes to make simple rhythms a little more interesting, musicians employ a ''swing feel''. Basically, it takes two notes of equal duration and makes the first one a little longer and the second one shorter. So two quarter notes sound more like a dotted quarter note and an eighth note. This creates an accented downbeat with a leading upbeat rhythm. There are no strict rules to a swing feel. You may choose places where you abandon the feel and play strict time. You may overemphasize or underemphasize the swing feel by making the first note far longer than written or just a touch longer.  Fig. 4 1 2 3 4 Strict Time -x-----x-----x-----x-----| Swing Feel 1 -x------x----x------x----| Swing Feel 2 -x-------x---x-------x---| Swing Feel 3 -x--------x--x--------x--| 1 2 3 4

There are no strict rules to Figure 4 demonstrates visually how a swing feelimpacts timing. You may choose places where you abandon Strict time plays directly on the feel and play strict beat, while swing timedelays every other note a bit. You may overemphasize or underemphasize Swing feel 3 is the dotted quarter/eighth note feel, while swing feel1 and 2 fall somewhere in between this and strict time.

Another way to make simple chord progressions more interesting is to play a ''bass/strum pattern''. This is where you play the bass note on one beat, then strum the rest of (or whole) chord on the next.

fig 45

''Notice that the bass notes are carried over to the next beat. '' They can even be strummed again if desired. Even though I explicitly marked the notes to carry over, it is implied in a bass/strum pattern. But that doesn't mean you have to. It's a pretty subtle thing - try it all three ways: carry the bass note to the next beat but don't strum, strum the bass note in addition to the other notes, and mute the bass note when strumming the other notes.