Major and Minor Guitar Chords - How a Guitar Chord is Formed

A chord is defined as playing 3 or more different notes being played at the same time. Major and minor chords are the most common type of basic guitar chords in music.

We will be going through some simple music theory in this lesson in order to understand how basic chords are formed.

In the lessons at GuitarPlayerWorld.com, chords are always formed and named with reference to the major scales on guitar.

Hence, it is important that you already have some basic knowledge on guitar scales before reading this lesson. Let's carry on with our lesson to learn guitar chords.

Major Scales

Let’s lay out the notes of the C major scale.

I have added the intervals of the scale in this table. Basically, an interval is the distance between 2 notes. The major chord is composed of the I, III and V notes of the major scale. From the table, we can see that C major guitar chord is made up of C, E and G notes.

e|----0----|

B|----1----|

G|----0----|

D|----2----|

A|----3----|

E|---------|

C major chord

Simple? We will do another example using the F major scale.

e|----1----|

B|----1----|

G|----2----|

D|----3----|

A|----3----|

E|----1----|

F major chord

Using the I, III and V formula again, we have the notes F, A and C for the F major chord.

By applying this formula to any major scale, we will be able to find the notes of any major chords and work out the fingering on the fretboard.

Having said that, let’s move on to minor chords. The minor chord is composed of the I, IIIb and V notes of the major scale. By flatting the III note of the scale (from E to Eb), we get a minor 3rd interval.

e|----3----|

B|----4----|

G|----5----|

D|----5----|

A|----3----|

E|---------|

C minor chord

The C minor chord consists of the following notes: C, Eb and G. Similarly, in order to get the F minor chord, we apply the formula I, IIIb and V to the F major scale.

We will get the notes in F minor as: F, Ab and C

e|----1----|

B|----1----|

G|----1----|

D|----3----|

A|----3----|

E|----1----|

F minor chord

Now, play the F maj and the F min chord one after the other. Can you hear that the major chord sounds happy and positive while the minor chord sounds mellow and sad?

This sums up the theory part of the lesson. Here are some essential guitar chords that every guitarist needs to learn.

Cmaj Dm Em Fmaj Gmaj Am
e|----0----1----0----1----3----0----|
B|----1----2----0----1----0----1----|
G|----0----3----0----2----0----2----|
D|----2----0----2----3----0----2----|
A|----3---------2----3----2----0----|
E|--------------0----1----3---------|

These chords are found in the key of C. To make this fun, we have form a chord progression using some of these chords and introduce a simple guitar strumming rhythm.

I have also listed some of the other MUST KNOW open string major guitar chords.

Dmaj Emaj Amaj
  e|----2----0----0----|
B|----3----0----2----|
G|----2----1----2----|
D|----0----2----2----|
A|---------2----0----|
E|---------0---------|

Basic Guitar Chords Exercise

Strum the chord progression (in C key) according to the rhythm given for each bar.