By Desi Serna

Becoming a good guitar player requires a strong knowledge of music theory and chord progressions. Recognizing chord movement and playing by numbers can help guitarists:

” Chart, learn and remember songs better

” Apply and use scales correctly

” Play by ear

” Compose music and improvise jams

” Apply guitar theory to the fretboard

Triads of the Major Scale

guitar chord progressions are critical to guitar theory and stem from major scale patterns. Each of the major scale’s seven notes can be played as a chord. To build guitar chords, each note is combined with others three and five degrees ahead in the scale. Hence the terms root, third and fifth (or 1 3 5). These three chord tones are called a “triad”.

1-3-5, Root, Third, Fifth
Not all triads, or chords, in the major scale are the same. This is because some triads have major thirds (two whole-steps or four frets above the root) while others have minor thirds (one and a half-steps or three frets above the root). This occurs because the distance between major scale tones varies (some notes are a whole-step apart while others are a half-step apart). Coincidentally, the fifth intervals are all the same with the only exception being the chord built on the very last scale tone.

Play By Numbers

The major and minor chords in the major scale create the sequence major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, minor (flat 5). Often referred to as the “Nashville Number System,” the theory behind this sequence is one of the most important elements of music. Major scale chords are best represented by Roman numerals with major chords written in upper case and minor chords written in lower case as follows: I ii iii IV V vi vii

Learn Chords and Keys By Pattern

Different keys have different key signatures (sharps and flats), different notes, and different chords. But the major/minor number sequence remains the same regardless of key. The number system can be visualized on the guitar as a chord pattern so that guitar players needn’t be concerned with key signatures and notes. When this pattern is shifted around the neck, guitarists can instantly see all the chords for each key. Guitar players have a music theory advantage because of this ability to move patterns on the fret board.

Learn and Remember New Songs
Playing chord progressions and playing by numbers go hand in hand and the concept is easier on the guitar than many other instruments. Good players know the right way to map things out on the guitar neck. Visualizing chord patterns on the fretboard will help players group songs by number instead of trying to keep track of movement in other ways. No more minds cluttered with confusing chord information because everything can be simplified with numbers. This really helps guitarists learn and remember new songs.

Learn Guitar Music Theory

Charting chord progressions has more advantages than just playing songs. Progressions play a role in learning guitar theory including using pentatonic and major scale patterns properly, recognizing modes and modal scales, playing intervals and adding extensions to chords.

Hear and Play By Ear

How do some musicians seem to know what’s coming next in a song the first time through? Apparently, knowing where to look is half the battle. When a player maps out all the chords of a key, it’s possible to assume the chord change or even anticipate the chord movement before it happens. Many songs are based on typical progressions, and experienced musicians become very familiar with common changes. Often times numbers are called out on the stage. Many guitarists want to be able to understand these queues, not to mention sit around and talk theory with real musicians without feeling like an idiot.

Composing Music and Improvising
Mapping out keys, determining chord movement, applying scales and playing by ear are all necessary for song-writing and jamming. Guitarists don’t need to leave spontaneity to chance. When technical details are worked out before hand, improvising and composing becomes much easier (and better).

Play Until Your Fingers Bleed!

Mr. Desi Serna (Google Me!)

Author of Fretboard Theory

http://www.Guitar-Music-Theory.com

Scales, Chords, Progressions, Modes

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Desi_Serna
http://EzineArticles.com/?Playing-Guitar-Chord-Progressions-By-Numbers—Guitar-Theory-Lesson&id=922962

A chord progression is basically a series of chords played one after another in a particular order. But before you learn how to play the following 7 chord progressions, you must know how to play the chords.

Here are the chords you will need to know in order to play these chord progressions:

A, A Minor, C, D, D Minor, E, E Minor, G

I have included videos below which demonstrate how to play these chords:

The A & E Chords:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf_9ygMjaJ8

The D Chord:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsikHXIkk7g

The A Minor, E Minor, D Minor, C, G

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ7YMK1JpS4

Watch the videos above and practice those chords first. Then start practicing the chord progressions below.

For the chord progressions, strum each chord 4 times with a down up down up strumming pattern. Or you can take a look at a post I put together on strumming patterns to make these chord progressions a bit more challenging.  Go very slow in the beginning so that you will be able to change chords smoothly and accurately.

You can test and see if you are playing each chord accurately by playing one string at a time on the chord. If you hear any buzzing , or if any of the notes sound muted, you are either not pressing down hard enough, or one of your fingers or your hand is touching another string.

Here are the Chord Progressions:

G -- C -- D -- G

G -- Am -- D -- G

D -- G -- A -- D

D -- C -- G -- D

D -- E Minor -- A -- D

C -- Dm -- G -- C

E -- D -- A -- E

I know this all seems very difficult in the beginning, and it may seem that way for some time.  The most important thing to remember is to never give up.

Eventually your hands will become stronger, your chords will sound cleaner and your chord changes will become faster.

Enjoy and Happy Guitar Playing!