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Hacking your guitar brain: interactive learning tools and guitar games This ebook is brought to you by Fachords Guitar Software, a website that provides free online software that will help learn how to play the guitar and improve your skills.
If you have any questions or comments feel free to write me. Enjoy the book! Gianca from FaChords Guitar Software
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INTRODUCTION In the begining you should memorize as many chords and/or chord shapes as possible to utilize during your play. In the case of movable shapes, such as barrè chords, you might memorize the chord and its root note, in order to play different chords with the same shape. This is a good foundation, but it is only a foundation, on which you should learn to build. If you consider a chord to be a rigid shape on the fretboard, you will severely limit your options to color or stylize your sound. You should also learn to modify them by adding variations, substitutions, and the like. Chords are not just strict shapes to simply memorize and repeat,but flexible. Once you know how they are built, you can create and adapt them to fit your situation greatly increasing the potential of your play. Knowing how chords are built means knowing how intervals work on the fretboard, and in this ebook you are given an introduction to intervals, chords, and how intervals create chords.
INTERVALS In music, an interval is basically the distance between two notes. In western music, the smallest interval is the semitone. The chromatic scale is composed of 12 semitones, so to play the scale you need to play all the semitones in order.
The chromatic scale of C is:
C‐C#‐D‐D#‐E‐F‐F#‐G‐G#‐A‐A#‐B‐C Intervals have different names depending on the number of semitones between the two notes. Here is a table showing the number of semitones and the respective names of the intervals from wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_(music) So, for example, the interval between the C note and the G note of our chromatic scale, is 7 semitones long. Looking at the table, this distance is called a perfect fifth. In the same way, if you were to play from the lower C of the chromatic scale to the higher C, you would cover a path of 12 semitones. This is referred to as the perfect octave. A distance can have different
names, depending on the context. For example, a distance of 6 semitones, can be called either the augmented fourth or the diminished fifth, more on this later.
FRETBOARD OCTAVES The first interval that you should memorize on the fretboard is the octave. Knowing your octaves is a great shortcut for fretboard navigation. As you probably already know, two notes, spanning a distance of one octave, or 12 semitones, will have the same name (C and C ), but different pitch‐ one note sounds lower than the other. If you know how octaves are placed on the fretboard, you can easily navigate the strings. Have a look at the picture below:
Black dots always represent the same note (suppose a C). The first and the sixth strings have the same notes (in standard tuning), thus you can find your note in the same fret (yellow circle) on the first and the sixth string. In the red circle, you will
notice that a note on the second string, is also placed on the fourth string, two frets in,and on the fifth string, two frets out. The pattern is similar in the yellow and orange circles, just look at the diagram. If you memorize where octaves are placed on your fretboard, you'll have a helpful visual aid for more advanced fretboard geometry concepts. Using octave concepts, you can identify the same notes on different strings. Take for example the minor third interval:
The root note is the one marked with the black dot (fourth string). You may find a minor third on the upper string (fifth string), but, using your octaves, you may also find it on the second string. In the next diagram you can see another interval example‐the diminished fifth. You can get it on different strings. This gives
you many options to vary and to color your style of play .
INTERVALS GEOMETRY Chords are composed of a number of notes played at the same time. The distances between the root note, which gives the name to the chord, and the notes of the following chords, are called ntervals. Depending on which kind of interval, you will get different chord qualities. For example,major and minor chords are composed of the root note, a third interval(major or minor), and a fifth interval. C major: root C, major third E, perfect fifth G C minor: root C, minor third Eb, perfect fifth G More complex chords are created by adding seventh intervals, ninth intervals, and so on. Important interval patterns you should memorize are minor and major thirds, perfect fifths, augmented fifths and
diminished fifths. An augmented fifth is a perfect fifth raised 1 semitone (7‐> 8 semitones), a diminished fifth is a perfect fifth lowered 1 semitone (7 ‐> 6 semitones). If you add one octave to an interval , you get what is called an extended interval; it is composed of the same notes by name but the distance between the notes is one octave longer. For example, a major second with one octave added becomes a ninth (have a look at the following diagrams). The following diagrams show the various options that you have when you are building chords on the fretboard: it will help if you don't think of chords as strict orders but more like flexible suggestions. So learn the single intervals and then assemble them in order to create specific chord shapes. With practice, this will get easier until it is almost second nature! Graphic convention: in the following diagrams, the root note is marked with a black dot. Other notes are represented by an empty circle.
3 semitones Minor Third adding 1 octave: Minor Tenth
consonant enharmonic equivalent: Augmented Second
4 semitones Major Third adding 1 octave: Major Tenth
consonant enharmonic equivalent: Diminished Fourth
6 semitones Diminished Fifth adding 1 octave: Diminished Twelfth
consonant enharmonic equivalent: Augmented Fourth
7 semitones Perfect Fifth adding 1 octave: Perfect Twelfth
consonant enharmonic equivalent: Diminished Sixth
8 semitones Minor Sixth adding 1 octave: Minor Thirteenth consonant enharmonic equivalent: Augmented Fifth
CHORDS CONSTRUCTION Next you will see some examples of chord constructions, using the intervals you've just learned (minor and major thirds, perfect fifth, diminished and augmented fifth). Try to recognize visually the intervals geometries you've seen on the previous diagrams. Due the nature of the fretboard, in which the same note is placed on different strings, for a given chord can exist different fingerings and positions. The following diagrams are just one of many possible fingerings you can use.
Cmaj chord Name variations: C major, CM, C This chord is a major triad: root, major third, perfect fifth.
Cm chord Name variations: C minor, Cm, C‐ This chord is a minor triad: root, minor third, perfect fifth.
Caug chord Name variations: C augmented This chord is an augmented triad (root, major third, augmented fifth)
C‐5 chord Name variations: C diminished triad, Cb5 This chord is composed of the root, a minor third and a flat fifth.
MORE INTERVALS You can now move on and learn the remaining kinds of intervals: minor second, major second, perfect fourth, minor and major seventh, minor and major sixth, and so on.
1 semitone Minor Second adding 1 octave: Minor Ninth
consonant enharmonic equivalent: Augmented Unison
2 semitones Major Second adding 1 octave: Major Ninth consonant enharmonic equivalent: Diminished Third
5 semitones Perfect Fourth adding 1 octave Perfect Eleventh consonant enharmonic equivalent: Augmented Third
9 semitones Major Sixth adding 1 octave: Major Thirteenth
consonant enharmonic equivalent: Diminished Seventh
10 semitones Minor Seventh adding 1 octave: Minor Fourteenth
consonant enharmonic equivalent: Augmented Sixth
11 semitones Major Seventh adding 1 octave: Major Fourteenth
consonant enharmonic equivalent: Diminished Octave
CHORDS CONSTRUCTION EXAMPLES PART 2 Csus4 chord Name variations: C suspended fourth, C4, C#3 This chord is composed of the root, a perfect fourth and has no third (suspended), therefore is neither major nor minor.
C7 chord Name variations: C dominant seventh, Cdom7 This chord is a major triad with a minor seventh.
Cmin7 chord Name variations: C minor seventh, Cm7, C‐7 This chord is a minor triad (root, minor third, perfect fifth) with a minor seventh.
Cmaj7 chord Name variations: C major seventh, CM7, CΔ7 This chord is a major triad (root, major third, perfect fifth) with a major seventh.
MORE CHORDS TO CREATE Now that you hopefully understand the process, your job is to create the other kinds of chords, exploiting the interval diagrams you now know wellYou can check your answers on the Fachords Chords Library http://www.fachords.com/guitar‐chords‐library/
C7‐5 chord Name variations: C dominant seventh flat five chord, C7b5, C7(‐5), C7(b5), C7/b5 This chord is composed of the root, a major third, a diminished fifth and a minor seventh. C7+5 chord Name variations: C dominant seventh sharp five, C7(#5), C7#5 This chord is composed of the root, a major third, an augmented fifth and a minor seventh. C6 chord Name variations: Csixth, Cmajor sixth
This chord is composed of a major triad and a major sixth Cm6 chord Name variations: Cminor sixth, Cm6, C‐6 This chord is a minor triad with a major sixth Cm9 chord Name variations: Cminor ninth, C‐9, Cmin9 This chord is a minor triad with a minor seventh and a major ninth C6/9 chord Name variations: Cmaj6/9, CM6/9, CMAJ6/9, C6add9 This chord is composed of the root, a major third, a perfect fifth, a major sixth and a major ninth C7sus4 chord Name variations: C seventh suspended fourth, C7‐4, C7sus This chord is composed of the root, a perfect fourth and a minor seventh. It has no third (suspended), then is neither major nor minor.
C7‐9 chord Name variations: C dominant seventh flat ninth, C7(b9), C7(‐9) This chord is a major triad with a minor seventh and a minor ninth C7+9 chord Name variations: C dominant seventh sharp ninth, C7(#9), C7(+9) This chord is a major triad with a minor seventh and an augmented ninth C9‐5 chord Name variations: C ninth flat five, C9b5, C9(‐5), C9(b5), C7/9(b5) This chord is a 7/b5 chord (root, major third, flat five, minor seventh) with added a major 9th. C9 chord Name variations: Cdominant ninth, Cdom9 This chord is a major triad with a minor seventh and a major ninth
Cmaj9 chord Name variations: C major ninth, CM9, CΔ9 This chord is a major triad (root, major third, perfect fifth) with a major seventh and a major ninth. C11 chord Name variations: Cdominant eleventh, Cdom11 This chord is a major triad with a minor seventh, a major ninth and a major eleventh C13 chord Name variations: Cdominant thirteenth, Cdom 13 This chord is a major triad with a minor seventh, a major ninth and a major thirteenth
What's next? To practice utilizing these concepts, you should take a well known chord progression, and play it without using the shapes that your muscles have memorized in the past, but building chords on the fly in different fretboard zones. For example, play the C, G, Am, F progression starting with the C root note on the 8th fret of the higher E string. If you need help, write me at
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Next Step: The best way to learn how to play guitar online There are many online lessons sites that you can use to teach yourself guitar, some reputable, and many looking to re-hash the same old info. At the link below you'll find a big guide that will help you find the best for you (free video lessons included):
http://www.fachords.com/guide/
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