Which chords to use? Part One

At the end of the day, music is a matter of taste. If you like the sound of a particular chord progression then go with it.

​What I show you in this tutorial is not a rule that must be followed and there are uncountable songs that don't follow this system and are great songs.

In fact, many songs stand out precisely because they don't follow this system!

What I am giving you here is a simple way to work out a set of chords that particularly compliment each other - Easy to understand music theory for guitarists ~ so grab your guitar and select play on this video:




It's a simple, two stage process:
  1. Identify the major scale for the key you want. For example C = C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
  2. Convert each note into a chord using the pattern Major, minor, minor, Major, Major, minor, diminished. Therefore in our example of the key of C our chords are C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim

Now play the chords in any order whatsoever ~ simply swap and change between them and notice that they always sound good together, regardless of the order.

Some folks find it a bit tricky to relate to diminished chords. Try a minor or a dominant seventh chord instead of the diminished.
 
NOTE: This post contains excerpts from my 'Understanding Music for Guitarists' eBook.

NEXT--- Which chords to use? Part Two
 
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