Choosing Chords Guitar Lesson

Chapter 1: (02:14) Songwriting Lesson 2 Okay, so you’re saying to yourself, “who is this Mark Lincoln and why does he think he can write songs?” Well the fact is, you’re right! I am a person just like you who just happens to take a risk or two at trying my hand at songwriting. Yes I’ve got a couple of decades of playing and singing experience, but other than that, I’m just a regular guy who occasionally jots down a chord or two, or a line of verse onto a cocktail napkin! The truth of the matter is that anyone can write a song and some of the greatest songwriters were just regular working stiffs who happened to come up with a catchy tune. So what do you have to lose?

We started (and ended) our discussion last time on the topic of starting the songwriting process with chord selection. Is there a “right” way to link chords together? Do some chords sound better together than others? Well, the answer to these questions is both “yes” and “no.” From a theoretical perspective, there are chords that work well together, i.e. relative majors and minors. But from a subjective and humanistic perspective, you can do anything you want when it comes to composition! True, you may come up with a song that no one but you wants to hear, but that’s the risk you take in any creative endeavor, right?

Chapter 2: (02:33) Chord Construction Chord Construction
How do you construct a chord? Well, chord construction is fairly simple in lieu of the fact that all you have to do is look at what individual notes you are holding down. That’s it! What notes make up the E major chord? Well if you take a close look at your guitar, you will notice that the E major is made up of the notes B, E, and G#( I’m hoping you all know where the sharps and flats are on the fretboard, but if you don’t you can always go back and look at my Intro to Guitar series). Watch:

E Major
E_0_
B_0_
G_1_
D_2_
A_2_
E_0_

Your first finger on the G string holds down a G# note (or one half step up from G). Your second or middle finger holds down a B note (or one whole step up from A), and your third or ring finger holds down an E note (or one whole step up from D). Okay, so now you know what notes are in this chord. So what? If you know the notes in a given chord, then you have clues as to what melody notes will go well with that chord. We know that E major contains B, E, and G# right? Now play the notes B and G# along with an E chord. Do you think the chord and individual notes work together? Well, of course how certain chords “sound” together is always going to be a subjective issue, but most will agree that these notes work well with the E chord that they are derived from. Try this same exercise with a D major chord:

D Major
E_2_
B_3_
G_2_
D_0_
A_X_
E_X_

Your first finger holds down an A note (or one whole step above G). Your second or middle finger holds down an F# note (or one whole step above E), and your third or ring finger holds down a D note (or a step and a half above B). Now as we did before, play the chords D, A, and F#(minor) together. What do you think? Again, whether one likes how these chords go together or not is a matter of personal preference. However, looking at chord construction can be a clue as to how to group chords together and a possible source for songwriting material. Take a look at this chord construction chart:

Chord Notes
A - E, A, C#
B - F#, B, D#
C - C, E, G
D - A, F#, D
E - B, E, G#
F - F, A, C
G - G, B, D

This chart is just a quick, at-a-glance reference for you to experiment with. So, let’s experiment shall we? Chapter 3: (0:33) What Type of Song? What kind of musician are you? What kind of music do you like? What are you driven by, moved by, disgusted by? These are fairly important questions when setting out to write music. Perhaps you are in an experimental mode and really don’t have the answers to any of these questions, and that’s awsome! Sometimes the greatest discoveries are made by not knowing where you are going. However, it is important to know that certain types of music tend to have certain types of chord structures. Many blues progressions have what’s called a 1-4-5 type of structure which means that if you were playing in E then you would progress to an A and then a B (I will avoid getting terribly technical in this section as I would rather focus on the essential elements of the songwriting process itself). Popular music is broader and more difficult to define, hence chord progressions are much more flexible. Still, there are myriad crossovers between blues, rock, country, and jazz which have created hybrids of various styles of music. This synthesis of styles has given the songwriter more creative license. Chapter 4: (01:14) Exercise 1 Take a look at the notes played in an A chord - E, A, and C#. Play these three chords using the strum or "down down-up down-up." Play each of the chords one set of strums () until you have played all three. How do you think they sound together? What do you think you could add to make them sound better together? Watch me in the video for more insight into this exercise. Chapter 5: (02:13) Exercise 2 Take a look at the notes played in an F chord: F, A, and C. Play these chords using the strum or "down down-up down." Play each of the chords with one set of strums until you have played all three. Do you think these chords go well together? What could be added to make them work better together? What if you played the A chord as a minor? Are you getting any ideas of how these might go together to make a little song? Chapter 6: (01:45) Exercise 3 Take a look at the relative minors. How do you think you might be able to incorporate that information into the last two exercises?

How do you think it sounds adding minors in with the major chords? How could you play this exercise differently to be more experimental and more creative with the information that you have?

Chapter 7: (01:05) Exercise 4 Experiment with the other five chords. Play chord representations of the notes contained therein (like we’ve been doing) and see which of those, if any, might work for you in your songwriting endeavors. As usual, take note of which you find to be unusually powerful or expressive to you.

Note: I will never suggest that one chord combination is better than another. I am merely here to offer tools for your own personal toolbox that you may use or discard at your own discretion. There is no “right” way to write a song and those who may attempt to adhere to presubscribed notions of what others have succeeded at may find themselves at a loss for words. I will always suggest though that you be creative, inventive, weird, and just plain unconventional when approaching the world of songwriting. You can’t go wrong if you follow your heart, right?

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