Using relative minor chords changes the overall tonal color of a chord progression. David explains the music theory concept behind relative minor chords. He demonstrates how to use them in two new chord progressions.
Taught by David Anthony in Basic Guitar with David Anthony seriesLength: 19:21Difficulty: 1.5 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.Found this very insightful from a true beginner? after 35 years of not playing cuz of the man or corp america... I'm enjoying this and it makes a lot of sense Like David's strumming style thanks...
Can someone answer this question. I understand the relative minor chord but how are the 3rd and 4th chords being chosen in the progressions?
Curranni - I do believe these cords are a bit easier but I find that I can do the bar chord version with almost the same effort. David explained in this lesson, or at least his stand in did, that they are in fact easier versions than the bar chords themselves.
David are the Cm and Cm# chords that you give here easier versions, as i found barre chord versions of the same chord in the same postition. many thanks f you can answer.
hey, this is good stuff. Ive been playing these chords for a while in my own music. Now I understand why the relative minor works . I can actually find them now with the semitone trick! Thanxs a bunch!!!
hey, this helped out a lot! It's kinda giving me a little insight into how to play in a certain key, but I need to figure out the theory a little bit better to do that. I can take the relative minors and go into the IV and V chords though! yay! hahah