Tag Archives for " thirds "

Using Triads For Tasty Accents

CLICK HERE FOR SECRETS OF TASTY RIFFS & SOLOS

Download The Jam Track Here (Right-Click, Save As)

Or just use this Play button

In this lesson we’re going to use a basic D major chord and move it up the freboard… however we’re adding one note to it, an F#. That gives us a few different options for notes we can use. Here’s a refresher of relative chords in this jam track:

A minor – C major
F major – D minor
D minor – F major
E minor – G major

If you missed the previous lessons, you can find links to the in the sidebar on the left.

Give the triads a shot, and let me know how it goes in the comments below!

Climbing Run Using Thirds

CLICK HERE FOR TASTY RIFFS & SOLOS

In today's lesson we're using thirds to create a tasty run we can use all the way up the fretboard! This is perfect for transitioning between scale patterns, or moving from one place to another on the fretboard, and can be made as long or as short as you please. As with the previous lesson, take your time with this - don't try to play it too fast right at the beginning! Slow sounds good too.​

Give it a shot, and let me know how it goes in the comments below!

The Difference Between Major and Minor Chords

Have you ever wondered what makes a minor chord different from a major chord? The difference boils down to a single note, which is the 3rd. The other two notes we put in every chord – EVERY chord – are the root note and the fifth. Those two notes are the same regardless of whether we’re talking about a major chord or a minor chord.

There are two types of thirds, major thirds and minor thirds. So, if you’ve got a minor third in between the root note and the fifth, you end up with a minor chord.

Major and minor thirds are the color notes, and they make great harmonies. Learning to use those thirds can really help your guitar playing, and that’s part of what this lesson is about.

If you’re not familiar with the scale degrees, and how they can be used like numbers, you might want to checkout my Guitar Theory Unlocked course, as it explains that in detail.

The Four Types of Chords on Guitar

The Four Types of Chords on Guitar

Did you know that there are really just four basic types of chords on the guitar?

Here they are:

  • Major
  • Minor
  • Diminished
  • Augmented

In most songs, you won’t even come across the Diminished or Augmented chords, so it really boils down to Major and Minor as being the two most common chord types.

And there’s just a single difference between those two chords; the third.

Both chord types have three notes in them, the tonic or root note, the fifth, and a third.

In a major chord, the middle note is a major third which is four semi-tones from the root note.

In a minor chord, the middle note is a minor third, which is three semi-tones from the root note.

That’s it – that’s the only difference between a major chord and a minor chord (in their simplest forms, anyway!).

This is just one of the topics I cover in detail in Guitar Theory Unlocked; in fact, you’ll learn how to build any chord you want using some very simple steps.

You can create your own versions of common chords all over the fretboard, if you want to!

The Guitar Theory Unlocked course is designed to give you a very good understanding of how music works in relation to your guitar… and how you can use theory to your advantage!

This is rubber-meets-the-road theory, stuff that will literally make you become a better guitar player.