|
"All
the chords I needed to know...
I learned at my first lesson"
By Mike Overly
Author of the Guitar and Bass EncycloMedia Books
At the Dallas Show someone asked: "How many chords are
there on the guitar?"
Good question!
Six, ten thousand, a million -
who knows - but what we do know is that there are only 5
simple shapes from which all chords are created!
Let's imagine a puzzle box. Visualize the picture on the box
and see it as a "whole" picture. Next, take a pair of scissors
and cut this "holistic" picture into 5 pieces. How hard would it
be to put together a puzzle with only 5 pieces - Playschool
right? Well, the picture on the puzzle box is your whole
"holistic" fretboard, which is the 7 letters of music: A, B, C,
D, E, F, G placed horizontally (East and West) on 6
strings and 12 frets.
And, the 5 puzzle pieces are the 5 "open"
major chords: E, D, C, A, and G. You probably know these shapes
already.
Now, to see how these 5 shapes move and "connect" on the
holistic fretboard, we need to know that a chord contains at
least 3 different letters that are played at the same time.
Okay? Let's use the F major chord as our example. An F major
chord is spelled: FAC, and these 3 letters may be in any
combination, for example: FAC, ACF, CFA, FCA or whatever. Now,
let's group vertically (North and South) these 3 letters
as we move up the fretboard, and 5 F major chords magically
appear!
Congratulations! You now "see" all the F major
chords on your holistic fretboard. No one knows any more
"vertically grouped" F major chords than you do! There's only 5.
Now, by simply shifting these 5 major chord forms (moveable
shapes) up and down the fretboard, all other major chords can
easily be seen - but that's another lesson.
So till next time,
Have some fun connecting your 5 "puzzle
pieces" and enjoy playing the beautiful "holistic" picture.
Back To Encyclomedia Lessons |
