Desi Serna

Open chords are chords that fall within the first four frets typically using open strings. They sound twangy because they include unfretted strings that are permitted to ring open. This chart represents 24 of the most useful open chords you use to play guitar:

You can use chord patterns to track chord progressions in the open position on the guitar, although doing so takes some extra work and requires that you identify the actual note name of each chord.To play in the key of G using common open chords, visualize the 6th string chord pattern starting on G at the 3rd fret and replace each barre chord with an open chord.

A triad is a set of three notes stacked in 3rds. Playing in 3rds on the guitar means that you start on a scale degree, count it as “1,” and then move to the scale degree that is three away, “3.” For example, the G major scale is G-A-B-C-D-E-F♯.If you start counting from G, then the 3rd is B (G-A-B, 1-2-3). If you start counting from A, then the 3rd is C (A-B-C, 1-2-3).

You can’t talk about blues on the guitar without mentioning the so-called blues scale, which is really just a pentatonic scale with a chromatic passing tone. This added scale tone is a f5th in the minor pentatonic. When the pattern is applied as major, the same note in the patterns becomes a f3rd. Here is an example that includes A minor pentatonic patterns with added f5ths shown in gray.

After you know how to approach a dominant 7th chord in a blues fashion on the guitar, you’re ready to tackle a whole chord progression. The most common type of blues chord progression is the so-called twelve-bar blues. It’s based on what appears to be the I-IV-V chords of a key, and it’s actually one of the most popular chord progressions in all of popular music.

Blues-based music on the guitar usually applies all three of the scales (that is, the major and minor pentatonic, as well as the full dominant scale) by mixing them up on the fretboard. To begin this mix, combine the major and minor pentatonic scales, as shown here. Credit: Illustration courtesy of Desi Serna You can see an example in Chapter 15, Video Clip 36: Mixing Major and Minor Pentatonic.

Before you dive into the harmonic minor scale on the guitar, you need to understand the concept of dominant function. Basically, dominant function is the tendency of the dominant chord, chord V, to pull to the tonic, chord I, in a key. Similarly, secondary dominants are a way of using the dominant sound to strengthen a progression toward chords other than the tonic.

On the guitar, Dorian mode is the second mode of the major scale. It’s the sound that’s created when the 2nd scale degree is functioning as the tonic. Because it features a f3rd and centers on a minor chord, it’s considered a minor mode. Drawing from the G major scale, Dorian mode looks like this: G major 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 G-A-B-C-D-E-Fs I-ii-iii-IV-V-vi-viif5 G-Am-Bm-C-D-Em-Fsmf5 A Dorian 1-2-f3-4-5-6-f7 A-B-C-D-E-Fs-G i-ii-fIII-IV-v-vif5-fVII Am-Bm-C-D-Em-Fsmf5-G Looking at this scale’s construction, Dorian mode can be thought of as a natural minor scale with a major 6th.

On the guitar, Phrygian is the third mode of the major scale. It’s the sound that’s created when the 3rd scale degree is functioning as the tonic. Because it features a f3rd and centers on a minor chord, it’s considered a minor mode. Drawing from the G major scale, Phrygian mode looks like this: G major 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 G-A-B-C-D-E-Fs I-ii-iii-IV-V-vi-viif5 G-Am-Bm-C-D-Em-Fsmf5 B Phrygian 1-f2-f3-4-5-f6-f7 B-C-D-E-Fs-G-A i-fII-fIII-iv-vf5-fVI-fvii Looking at this scale’s construction, Phrygian mode can be thought of as a natural minor scale with a flattened 2nd.