Guitar Lesson, Chords in G

G major is a popular key for guitar songs, for good reason - the open strings available make most chords sound great. In this article I'm trying to expand the use of open strings to give the chords a fuller and more interesting sound. Quick theory - which is covered in detail in my other hubs:

In the key of G we find these chords used together:

G / Am / Bm / C / D / Em / F♯m7b5 / G

- each chord built on a note from the major scale.

At the risk of stating the obvious: learning this sequence of notes will cover both the major scale, and all the chords associated with it.

The G major scale is G A B C D E F♯ G. Notice that there is one sharp note, reflected in the key signature for this key.

The 2 scales that work with these chords, either as a melody line or a bassline, are G major and Em pentatonic. For playing lead guitar in G - Em pentatonic is the easiest, as there are less notes to worry about, and you can do pull-offs to the open strings. But they both work fine.

The 6 vertical lines are the strings, the horizontal lines are the frets. Open strings are denoted by 0, where the headstock would be.

This is a full sounding version of G, moving across one string you have C add9, then Dsus4 to D. To play D sus4 (or D with a G note added...) just play your normal D shape and play the top note with your little finger. You can often use C add9 instead of C in this key, it will usually sound better.

Why the key based approach? - because when you learn a new song in the same key you will have a whole bag of tricks and improvements you can use with confidence.

If you play this set of chords backwards, it will be like Sweet Home Alabama by - no, I'm not going to try to spell it.

Green Day's popular song Time of Your Life uses just these chords, plus Em. Check out my hub Guitar Comedy for a great parody of this song.

A nice way to play C to D - just slide the shape up 2 frets. Em7 is used in Wish You Were Here, Heart of Gold, Wonderwall etc.

Am, D, G is a common progression. Here it is tweaked a little to improve the sound. The D chord is an inversion - with an F sharp note in the bass. This helps to make a smooth transition to G.

Chords on top 4 strings - good for playing with other guitarists, as they complement the low position chords so well. Especially good for recording, a concept used by The Beatles. The G here is just a D shape moved up the fretboard. Also, use the top 2 strings in these chords to play harmony lead parts.

Remember when you're playing lead that the guitar is polyphonic - harmony in 3rds or 6ths sounds great, and can be mixed in with single-note runs at any time. In this key, Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison is a good example of this. Harmonics are also easy to use because they will come out in the right key. If you're in the key of G you can use pull-offs to open strings, which works best on strings 3 and 4, as G and D are both notes in the chords anyway -try playing up the 3rd G string  0  2  4  5  7  9  11 12, with pull-offs to the open string. It's easy, but sounds impressive.

Slash Chords - this uses so-called slash chords. C/D for example, means a C chord over a D bassnote. Actually quite simple, when you start using these chords it will improve your playing instantly.

If you number the chords in G, chords I, IV and V are G, C, D.

Most easy songs, Dylan early period, folk, country and bluegrass, will use these three chords, sometimes with another chord from the sequence added.

The numbers in a chord name describe an interval - that is, the distance of the added note(s) from the starting point, the tonic or bass note of the chord.

So C add9 just means a C chord (CEG) with a D (9th note starting from C)

C D E F G A B C -that's 8, then start again D E F G A....

If we described this chord in numerical terms, it would be 1,3,5,9

It's easier to see this on a piano keyboard.