Playing the guitar is tons
of fun. Most music is marked with the chords that you need. But what
can you do
when the song you want to play does NOT have the chords written in for
you? You
can figure out chords on your own, just by understanding a little bit
of music
theory. It is helpful to know that certain chords are likely to occur
in a song
– and they will appear in a grouping (or “family”) almost every time.
First,
play a few chords and
establish a key where you feel that the song is in a comfortable
singing range.
This first chord is the Tonic chord, indicated by the Roman numeral I.
Most
songs follow the I, IV, V7 chord progression. If you think
about a
piano keyboard, you can imagine the notes: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. Then
you begin
again with A. So, really, you could go on indefinitely:
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C … etc. Musicians
use this pattern to figure out chord progressions.
Let’s
say that you decided
the chord to begin your song should be G. That makes G the Roman
numeral I of
your progression. Count up four: G, A, B, C. That means C would be the
Roman
numeral IV of the progression. Count up five to get the Roman numeral
V. In
this case, it would be D. The V chord is always a seventh. Here it
would be D7. So, to play a
simple song in the
key of G, you’d need G, C, and D7. Sometimes, a minor chord is
introduced. The minor is always three half steps down from the tonic
and
is
indicated by the lower-case Roman numeral vi because it is the 6th
note from the tonic chord. In the key of G, the minor is E minor (count
up six
from G).
Below is
a chart that lists
common chord families, using the I, IV, V7 chord progression
:
C, F, G7,
A minor
D, G, A7,
B minor
E, A, B7,
D-flat
minor (also might be called C-sharp minor in your chord book)
F,
B-flat, C7, D
minor
G, C, D7,
E minor
A, D, E7,
G-flat
minor (also might be called F-sharp minor in your chord book)
Chord
progressions usually
begin and end on Tonic (Roman numeral I.) This means that if your first
chord
is G, your last chord will probably be G. In
reality, then the chord progression I, IV, V7 would
be I,
IV, V7, I.
Here are
common chord
progressions with a song example for each:
I, IV, V7, I Wabash Cannonball (G, C, D7,
G)
I, V7,
I Okie
from Muskogee ( D, A7,
D)
I, IV,
vi, V7,
I Michael,
Row the Boat Ashore (C, F, A-minor, G7, C)
I, vi, V,
I
Down by the Riverside
(G, E-minor, D, G)
For more
on learning to play
the guitar, try the following books available at Amazon. Just click on
the link
provided.
