These lessons will teach you the “numbering system” for chords, and the most common chords for western music. Mastering this knowledge will allow you to quickly play almost any song in any key with a group of other musicians.
Lesson 1. A major scale is the famous notes: DO re me FA SO la ti DO (remember this from “The Sound of Music”?). Number these notes with roman numerals from 1 to 7 (I to VII). The last (8th) note is another "DO"; it is the same note as note 1, but an octave higher.
If you are in "the key of C", then your scale starts on C (DO = C); so the notes of the scale are: C D E F G A B C. If you are in "the key of E", then your scale starts on E (DO = E); so the notes of the scale are: E F# G# A B C# D# E.
Exercise: Try playing all 12 major scales on your instrument.
Lesson 2. Basic chords are "triads", or three notes in the scale, with a starting note, then 2 notes higher, then 2 notes higher. E.g. if you are playing the "I" (one) chord, you'd play a triad that starts on the first note of the scale: the "DO me SO" notes. If you are doing the "IV" (four) chord, you'd play a triad that starts on the fourth note of the scale: the "FA la DO" notes. If you are playing the “V” (five) chord, you’d play a triad that starts on the fifth note of the scale: the “SO ti re” notes (add “re” and other notes above the top “DO” as necessary to get the triad you need, e.g. DO re me FA SO la ti DO re me FA SO la ti …).
As you can see, the chord "number" just means which note of the scale (first, fourth, fifth, etc.) you start the triad on.
In the key of C the IV chord would be the notes: F A C; this is called an F Major chord.
In the key of E the IV chord would be the notes: A C# E. This is called an A major chord.
Note that the bass guitar usually (but not always) plays the “root” (lowest) note of the triad.
Exercise: Try playing a I chord and a IV chord in at least 3 different keys on your instrument (e.g. keys of C, E, G)
Lesson 3. The most popular 3 chords in modern music are the I, IV and V chords (one, four, and five). These are major chords (they sound "happy"). Major chords are written in upper-case roman numerals.
In the key of C, the I, IV, V chords are:
I = C
IV = F
V = G
In the key of E, the I, IV, V chords are:
I = E
IV = A
V = B
Exercise: Figure out and memorize the I, IV, V chords in common keys such as the keys of C, D, E, G, A.
Lesson 4. The next most popular are the "vi" and "ii" chords (six and then two). These are minor chords (they sound "sad"). Minor chords are written in lower-case roman numerals.
In the key of C, the vi and ii chords are:
vi = Am
ii = Dm
In the key of E, the vi and ii chords are :
vi = C#m
ii = F#m
Exercise: Figure out and memorize the vi and ii chords in common keys such as the keys of C, D, E, G, A.
Lesson 5. Chord progressions can be written using roman numeral notation instead of note letters. This allows the chord progression to be independent of the key of the song, making the song easy to transpose into different keys on the fly. A dash indicates a change of measure (a.k.a. bar, e.g. in 4/4 time there are 4 counts/beats per measure). Thus I - IV - V - I means play one bar of the I chord, one bar of the IV chord, one bar of the V chord, and one
bar of the I chord again. In the key of C, this would be C - F - G - C. In the key of E this would be E - A - B - E.
As an example, the common 12-bar blues progression is this: I - I - I - I - IV - IV - I - I - V - IV - I - I.
U2's famous "With or Without You" progression is this: I - V - vi - IV. In the key of C this would be: C - G - Am - F.
Exercise: Try the U2 or blues progression in the following different musical keys: C, E, G, D.
In the key of C the IV chord would be the notes: F A C; this is called an F Major chord.
In the key of E the IV chord would be the notes: A C# E. This is called an A major chord.
Note that the bass guitar usually (but not always) plays the “root” (lowest) note of the triad.
Exercise: Try playing a I chord and a IV chord in at least 3 different keys on your instrument (e.g. keys of C, E, G)
Lesson 3. The most popular 3 chords in modern music are the I, IV and V chords (one, four, and five). These are major chords (they sound "happy"). Major chords are written in upper-case roman numerals.
In the key of C, the I, IV, V chords are:
I = C
IV = F
V = G
In the key of E, the I, IV, V chords are:
I = E
IV = A
V = B
Exercise: Figure out and memorize the I, IV, V chords in common keys such as the keys of C, D, E, G, A.
Lesson 4. The next most popular are the "vi" and "ii" chords (six and then two). These are minor chords (they sound "sad"). Minor chords are written in lower-case roman numerals.
In the key of C, the vi and ii chords are:
vi = Am
ii = Dm
In the key of E, the vi and ii chords are :
vi = C#m
ii = F#m
Exercise: Figure out and memorize the vi and ii chords in common keys such as the keys of C, D, E, G, A.
Lesson 5. Chord progressions can be written using roman numeral notation instead of note letters. This allows the chord progression to be independent of the key of the song, making the song easy to transpose into different keys on the fly. A dash indicates a change of measure (a.k.a. bar, e.g. in 4/4 time there are 4 counts/beats per measure). Thus I - IV - V - I means play one bar of the I chord, one bar of the IV chord, one bar of the V chord, and one
bar of the I chord again. In the key of C, this would be C - F - G - C. In the key of E this would be E - A - B - E.
As an example, the common 12-bar blues progression is this: I - I - I - I - IV - IV - I - I - V - IV - I - I.
U2's famous "With or Without You" progression is this: I - V - vi - IV. In the key of C this would be: C - G - Am - F.
Exercise: Try the U2 or blues progression in the following different musical keys: C, E, G, D.
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