guitar tune diagram

How To Construct Basic Notes

In the present article we are going to talk about how to construct basic major and minor chords on the guitar. Before starting we must learn some fundamental music theory, as this will lay the foundations of finding out how to build chords anywhere about the fretboard.

Every basic major or minor chord consists of 3 notes - root, third and fifth. The chord carries the name of its root note, but the root is not always the lowest note, because each chord has chord inversions. Since the guitar chords we're talking about consist of only 3 notes, we have 2 chord inversions in total or 3 other ways to play each chord. Now, the thing that makes the major and minor chords essentially different will be the third. You have probably heard the terms "minor third" and "major third". Basically said a third (used for building minor chords) is surely an interval between the root and also the third that equals to three semitones (or 3 frets about the guitar), while the major third (used for building minor chords) equals to 4 semitones (or 4 frets). Your fifth is the same for both types and it equals to an interval of seven semitones from the root.

So, if you want to build a chord, first select which note you want take as root and where are you currently want to position it linked to the other two notes. Let's illustrate this with several examples that will hopefully help you view the music theory discussed above.

We'll take the note A as a root, build a minor chord after which all of its inversions. To begin with let's determine which notes we want in order to build the chord. Since we're going to build a minor chord, we are going to need the minor third and also the fifth. The minor third from the is C (the space between A and C is 3 frets) and also the fifth is E (the space between A and E is 7 frets). Great, now that we know the notes, we are able to build the actual chords.

Example 1 - A small Chord & Inversions

A in root First Inversion Second Inversion A in root, octave up
E||--------------|--------------|--------------|--0---------||
B||--------------|--------------|--1-----------|--1---------||
G||--------------|--2-----------|--2-----------|--2---------||
D||--2-----------|--2-----------|--2-----------|------------||
A||--3-----------|--3-----------|--------------|------------||
E||--5-----------|--------------|--------------|------------||

A-C-E C-E-A E-A-C A-C-E

What if we want to build the main ones? Just use an important third - that's C sharp (C#)

Example 2 - An important Chord & Inversions

A in root First Inversion Second Inversion A in root, octave up
E||--------------|--------------|--------------|--0---------||
B||--------------|--------------|--2-----------|--2---------||
G||--------------|--2-----------|--2-----------|--2---------||
D||--2-----------|--2-----------|--2-----------|------------||
A||--4-----------|--4-----------|--------------|------------||
E||--5-----------|--------------|--------------|------------||

A-C#-E C#-E-A E-A-C# A-C#-E

pretty clear, is it not? Using this principle, you can build basic guitar chords literally anywhere about the fretboard. Just remember to practice these examples changing the root note and the inversion randomly, so you learn them well. For example, instead of saying "I want to play all B Minor Chords" and playing all of the inversions one after another, say to yourself: "I want to play in the second inversion of B Minor, after that I want to play D# Minor in root position" etc. and you'll see that you will quickly learn all guitar chords.

Just thought you may be interested in reading this guide: all guitar chords and learning guitar chords.
Guitar Tuning

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