Now that you have an understanding of the basic major chords, it is important to explore other chord types. This lesson is all about the minor chords.
Taught by David Anthony in Basic Guitar with David Anthony seriesLength: 30:05Difficulty: 2.0 of 5

David Anthony is an acoustic guitar aficionado. In this series you will learn basic concepts that are essential to playing any style of guitar music.
About David Anthony
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David Anthony was born David Anthony Volckmann, on November 9th, 1982, in the small town of Mount Hope, NY. As a child he absorbed the church flavored musical environment that his parents provided. With this influence he realized at a young age that music would not simply be a passive experience for him. It was not until the age of 15 that he decided to string up his first guitar. Relying solely on his father for his foundational chord knowledge, he quickly became enamored with the possibility of endless melodic structures, and the goal of becoming a fantastic player himself.
His early shredder influences came from Kirk Hammet of Metallica. During his first few years of guitar playing, he developed a very workable knowledge of pentatonic, major and minor scales.
Over the years his musical interests swayed from rock to standards, from jazz to classical, and a strong love of the art of flamenco guitar; Spanish finger style. It was not until the age of 18
that he decided to surround himself entirely with the music of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. This influential exclusivity enabled him to learn more about thinking outside of the musical box. In
one year he had learned than in the prior 3 years. Picking up multiple ways to structure melodies, create chords and use different modes, his writing and improvisational abilities grew exponentially.
In his senior year of high school, he was responsible for the development of the first Musical Appreciation class in the schools history, and had aided the instructor in the teaching of those classes.
After high school, his focus started to rest mainly in writing. With this he realized that he would need additional, abstract influences to develop a unique style of writing. After a couple more
years of playing in a small band, and writing some decent material, he greeted 2004 with a move to Nashville, TN. There he found the exact influence that would change his opinion of the guitar forever.
Attempting to weed out a strong foundation in shredding and solo techniques, he began learning finger style guitar, and quickly realized the options that his door would open for him.
As he picked up more complex chord structures and jazz scales, his style became a passion for him that continues to drive him and push him to learn more. He feels strongly about the connection
between musical input and the music you write. He notes that his subconscious pool of influence, developed from the music he listens to, is almost directly responsible for the type of music that
he writes. He adamantly believes that in order to create a unique, soulful style, the pool must remain unpolluted by substandard music. What's that mean? As David puts it, "If you don't want to play
crap, don't listen to crap."
David currently teaches Jazz guitar in Fort Collins, Colorado, with plans to move back to Nashville in the spring to pursue a career in writing.
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Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.hes gay
On the Gm chord, why isn't the root of the chord a G? Or am I looking at it wrong? I can't seem to understand it, Ive got all the basic major and minor cords down, but if Im not mistaken isn't the root of the chord usually the first note in the chord?
gay
i think onebob forgot to tell you that the a major is a,e and c sharp# so if you drop c# down one half step you get the a minor.just thought it should read correctly.
Hi, Can you please explain what makes a Minor chord? I understand for example that for Am you take the 2nd fret on the 2nd string (this is the difference between Major A and Am) and set it back a half a tone.But how do you make this rule with the other chords?Is there a special chord that you always set a half a tone back to get the minor chord? thanks, -ldanny
Any major cord is the 1st, 3rd, and 5th note of that scale. An A major cord is the notes A, C, and E. A C cord is C, E, and G. To make a minor cord the first note is flated.
My mistake. after reading my response I saw my mistake. It is the second note that is flated
i want david back but i under stand this lesson very much and this lesson is so easy t olearn
Thanks Jeff - you are good in front of the camera. I thought this lesson was very clear. Shame I can't do the barre chords yet but I will perservere
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