Useful Guitar Stuff

1. The Major Scale
Everything is based on the major scale so you have to start there. Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do. You don't have to memorize the notes in all 12 scales (although it would be helpful) but you have to be able to figure them out in all 12 keys.
The formula is simple. Start on any note and use the following intervals to get the rest of the notes:
Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half
So in the key of C, you get the following notes:
C D E F G A B
You can use this formula starting on any note to figure out the major scale of said note (e.g. E♭-F-G-A♭-B♭-C-D).
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2. The Intervals
Each note in the scale has a specific interval name. You don't have to know the names to be able to identify chords. What you have to know is the number assigned to each note in the major scale. Sticking with the key of C, the notes in the major scale have the following names:
C - 1
D - 2
E - 3
F - 4
G - 5
A - 6
B - 7
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3. The Formulas for Creating Chords
Unfortunately, there is no way around this other than to memorize these formulas. It may seem like a lot but it's not as difficult as it looks.
Here's a link to the formulas.
So looking at the formula guide, we see that a major chord is made up of the 1,3, and 5 notes of the major scale. In the key of C major, that gives us the notes C-E-G.
Again, the formula guide shows us that a minor chord is made up of the 1,♭3, and 5 notes of the major scale. All we have to do is flatten the 3 note of the scale (♭3) which gives us the notes C-E♭-G.
The ♯ symbol just means you raise the note a half step like in an augmented chord (1,3,♯5). That gives us the notesC-E-G♯.
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4. Figuring Out the Chord From a Bunch of Random Notes
So you randomly put your fingers on the strings and strum and it sounds good. How the hell do you figure out what the chord name is exactly?
The first step is to actually figure out all of the notes you are playing. Hopefully everyone is able to figure out the notes they are playing. If not, take a look at this.
Let's say we play a chord that looks like this. It's essentially just an open C major chord moved up two frets. The notes are as follows:
D-F♯-G-D-E
Notes that are repeated can be ignored. So we are left with these notes:
D-F♯-G-E
First, we have to figure out the root note. This can get confusing. The reason being is that the same notes can have many different chord names. The "correct" name of the chord is determined by it's function in the chord progression so the context of the chord matters. Music Theory buffs have tons of fun arguing why a certain chord should be named a certain way. But that's a much larger discussion than the scope of this so I'll stick to the basics.
But back to the root note. The trick is to look for major or minor 3rd intervals. Since almost every chord contains either a major or minor 3rd interval (except for Suspended chords), we can locate the root note that way.
In our example, we see right away that F♯ is the major 3rd of D. Knowing that, we can certainly make a case that this is some type of D major chord. We just have to figure out what role the G and E notes play in it. We start by laying out the notes of the D major scale:
D-1
E-2
F♯-3
G-4
A-5
B-6
C♯-7
Assuming this is a chord with D as it root, that leaves us with the following intervals:
D-Root
F♯-3
G-4
E-2
It's important to note here that the 5th of each chord is often left out in many chord voicings. It's considered to be the weakest note of the triads and Jazz musicians often leave the note out of many chords simply because they'd rather use their other fingers to play the more interesting notes of the chord.
So looking at our formula, that would give us the chord Dadd2add4.
Well that could be our name for it, but that's a very weird chord name. So let's look for other major or minor 3rd intervals.
E to G is a minor 3rd interval. Could this be some type of E minor chord? Using the above process with the E major scale, we get the following intervals:
E-Root
G-♭3
F♯-2
D-♭7
Here, the chord formula shows we have the notes to make an E minor 9th chord. Since we have a D note in the bass, we would call this an Em9/D (D being the bass note).
In truth, the possibilities of naming chords are almost endless. In the example above, you could make a case that this is a Gmaj13/D(no3) if you're one of those people who believes in the whole "no3" thing of naming chords.
Anyway, this turned out much longer than I thought it would and I'm sure it's very intimidating at first but after you wrap your head around a few examples it becomes much easier to figure out on your own.
I hope this helps someone out there.

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An understanding of Dominant Chords and how to apply them in certain situations is a great tool to have in your arsenal. In my opinion, it's the first step in going "outside the box" of normal diatonic playing. In short, it can spice up your chord progressions and even your lead work if you understand it.
NOTE: In order to understand this topic, you have to have a grasp on the concepts of chord construction, the harmonized major scale, and Roman Numeral analysis. If you're not familiar with these topics read these two guides first:
Chord Construction
The Harmonized Major Scale and Roman Numeral Analysis
This is a lot of information to digest and if you don't have a solid understanding of the above concepts, you'll be completely lost here.
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1. Definition and Use of a Dominant Chord
A dominant chord is built on the 5th scale degree of any given key. If we look at the key of C Major, we have the following chords:
C Major
D Minor
E Minor
F Major
G Major
A Minor
B Diminished
So in the key of C Major, G Major (which is made up of the notes G B D) is the dominant triad chord. G7 (G B D F) is the dominant seventh chord which is notated as "V7" in Roman Numeral Analysis.
NOTE: The term "dominant chord" is typically used to signify a seventh chord. So if someone says "It's G Dominant", you can usually assume it's a G7 chord.
A dominant chord provides tension that wants to resolve to it's I chord. To hear this in action, play this chord progression which is a I vi ii V7 in the key of C:
C - Am - Dm - G7
You'll notice that stopping on that G7 chord feels very tense. That's because the G7 chord wants to go back to it's I chord which is C. Play the chord progression again and after the G7 chord play a C chord. You'll hear the difference immediately. The tension created is almost as if the G7 makes you hold your breath and going to the C chord lets you exhale.
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2. Secondary Dominant Chords as Chord Substitutions
Now we're getting into how to apply this knowledge. Secondary Dominant Chords are a great way to go outside of the diatonic key.
In short, a Secondary Dominant Chord is a chord that is not diatonic to the parent key that goes to it's I chord.
Take a look at the first chord progression we discussed in the key of C:
C - Am - Dm - G7
You'll notice that A is the fifth degree of D in this progression. So since our Am chord is going to a Dm chord (v chord going to it's i chord), we can change that Am chord to an A Dominant chord to create more tension. So now we have the following chord progression:
C - A7 - Dm - G7
Note that it doesn't matter that we are going to a D Minor chord. In fact, it doesn't matter what the quality of the chord we are going to is at all. What matters is that the root note of the first chord is the fifth note in the scale degree of the next chord (A is the fifth scale degree of D).
But we can change another chord in our progression. That Dm to G7 also has a V I relationship. So we can change that D Minor chord to a D Dominant chord as well:
C - A7 - D7 - G7
This is actually an example of a very common Jazz substitution for your typical I vi ii V chord progression.
Check out the song Sweet Pea by Amos Lee (It's the song that was on that AT&T commercial). You can hear the Secondary Dominant chord in action 3 seconds into the video. The chord progression for the song goes like this:
A C♯7 F♯m E
If you know your harmonized major scale, you'd know that in the key of A Major you have a C♯ Minor chord. But because the C♯ is going to an F♯ (which is a V I relationship), he changes the C♯ Minor to a C♯7 to create more tension.
Another example is Hey Jude by The Beatles. The song is in the key of F. At 51 seconds in the video (right after the words "then you begin to make it better"), Paul is going to a B♭ chord from an F chord. So to make the transition a little more tense, he changes the F chord to an F7 chord. Again, it works because F is the fifth degree of B♭.
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3. Using Secondary Dominants to Modulate
Secondary Dominants are probably the most common way to modulate to a new key. Let's say you're in the key of F and you want to modulate to the key of C. Throw a G7 to C progression in there and you've just modulated to C if you want to continue playing in the key of C. The "rules" for modulating to a new key using Secondary Dominants are basically the same as using Secondary Dominants as chord substitutions.
My favorite example of this is Mack the Knife sung by Bobby Darrin. The song starts off in the key of B♭ and ends in the key of E♭. Listen to the whole song. It modulates up half a step every verse starting after the second verse.
The first Secondary Dominant Chord happens at 54 seconds in the video. Up to this point, the song is in the key of B♭ and the first modulation goes up a half step to B. So rather than go to the F7 chord (which is the V7 in the key of B♭), the song goes to an F♯7chord (which is the V7 in the key of B). When the next verse wants to modulate up to C, it uses a G7 chord. When it goes to C♯, it uses a G♯7 chord, etc.
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4. Summation
This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of dominant chords but it's the best place to start in my opinion. There's a lot more that can be done with them (e.g. Why is the "Hendrix Chord" so great?) and I plan on doing a guide on these things in the near future.
I hope this helps some of you.










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This is a followup guide to my guide on Chord Construction. If you haven't read that, I'd suggest you get a good understanding of that first before looking at this. If you don't understand the major scale, none of this will make sense.
1. The Harmonized Major scale
Let's take a look at the C Major scale again. It contains the notes:
C D E F G A B
We can harmonize these notes to create chords. These chords will all be diatonic to the C Major scale. Diatonic means 'in the key' so simply put, every chord we harmonize from the C Major scale will work in the key of C Major.
To create the chords, we start on any note in the scale, skip the next note, use the next note, skip the next note, and use the next note. If we start on a C note we get:
C D E F G A B
The notes C E G make up a C Major triad chord (triad simply means 3 notes).
If we start on the D note we get:
C D E F G A B
The notes D F A make up a D Minor triad.
If we do this for every note in the C Major scale, we end up with the following chords:
C Major
D Minor
E Minor
F Major
G Major
A Minor
B Diminished
The quality of the chord (major, minor, or diminished) will always be in the same order no matter what key you are in. So in the key of E Major (E F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D♯), the diatonic chords are:
E Major
F♯ Minor
G♯ Minor
A Major
B Major
C♯ Minor
D♯ Diminished
This is the reason you'll see many songs have chords that go to the same type of chords. Songs in the key of C Major often will have an A minor chord in them. Songs in E Major will often have a C♯ Minor or B Major chord in them. This happens because the chords are all diatonic. Simply put, the chords just work well together.
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2. Roman Numeral Analysis
Let's assign a Roman Numeral to each chord in the Harmonized Major Scale. The Roman Numerals for the Harmonized C Major scale are:
I - C Major
ii - D Minor
iii - E Minor
IV - F Major
V - G Major
vi - A minor
vio - B Diminished
NOTE: The o symbol denotes that the chord is diminished. Also note that major chords have uppercase Roman Numerals (e.g. IV = F Major) and minor and diminished chords are lowercase Roman Numerals (e.g. ii = D Minor)
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4. What About Minor Keys?
The vi chord of any major key (e.g. A minor in C, C♯ Minor in E, etc.) is what's known as the relative minor of the major chord. A Minor is the relative minor of C Major. C♯ Minor is the relative Minor of E Major.
What this means is that both keys contain the exact same chords. The key of A Minor contain the exact same chords as C Major. The only difference is that the numbers are changed.
So if we are playing something in the key of A Minor, the Roman Numeral analysis would be:
i - A Minor
iio - B Diminshed
III - C Major
iv - D Minor
v - E Minor
VI - F Major
VII - G Major
Again, the quality of the chords (major, minor, diminished) does not change if you change keys. They will always be in the above order in a minor key.
5. What's the Point of these Roman Numerals?
Over the years, musicians created these Roman Numerals to use as a type of shorthand for communicating chord progressions. Rather than say "The chords are C Major, A Minor, F Major, G Major" you could hear something like "It's a I vi IV V in C".
NOTE: You would literally say "It's a one, six, four, five in C." If a minor key is not specified it means it's in a major key. Otherwise, you would say something like "It's a one, six, four five in C Minor."
This system was done for a few reasons. The most important being that you can change the key of a song easily without having to rewrite the entire chord progression. In a studio situation, a vocalist might have a particular vocal range that they feel more comfortable with. Using the Roman Numeral system, you can easily change a song from something like C Major to F Major to better suit the vocalist's range. Or in a big band situation, it may be easier for certain instruments to play in certain keys.
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6. Common Chord Progressions
If you start analysing songs using the Roman Numeral system, you'll quickly see that there are many chord progressions that are common to a lot of tunes. The only difference is that they've changed the key. Below are a few examples.
The I IV V
This is the typical blues progression. You've heard it thousands of times. You've also heard it in many pop songs (The Sweater Song is almost entirely a I IV V IV).
As usual, it's played in a variety of keys.
The I vi IV V
This one can be heard in all sorts of songs as well. Run Around Sue uses it in C. D'Yer Maker does it in C as well. The Beatles do it in Octopus's Garden in E.
The ii V I
This is the most common chord progression in Jazz. It's what's known as a "turnaround" (i.e. a way to get back to the I chord). Fly Me to the Moon uses it to get back the C Major chord (Dm-G-C). Miles Davis does it in Tune Up to get back to the D Major chord.
It's literally everywhere in Jazz music.
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I hope this helps some of you.
I'm planning on doing another one of these posts after this that introduces 4 note chords in the Harmonized Major Scale, Extended Chords, and a basic introduction to chord progressions that get out side of the diatonic scale.






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NOTE: In order to understand the modes it's imperative that you understand the Harmonized Major Scale. In order to understand The Harmonized Major Scale you must understand the Major Scale and How Chords are Created.
If you aren't familiar with these topics you should go read my two guides before even glancing at this guide.
The Major Scale and How Chords are Created
The Harmonized Major Scale
This is often the problem with people who can't grasp the modes. They don't understand other music theory concepts that are necessary to know before diving into the modes. It's a crawl before you walk thing.
1. The Names and Notes of The Modes
There are 7 modes and they have a specific order. The order and names of the modes are:
1. Ionian
2. Dorian
3. Phrygian
4. Lydian
5. Mixolydian
6. Aeolian
7. Locrian
Now instead of using numbers, let's put the notes of the C Major scale next to each mode:
C - Ionian
D - Dorian
E - Phrygian
F - Lydian
G - Mixolydian
A - Aeolian
B - Locrian
So here's the mind blower that people have a hard time wrapping their head around; The notes for each of the above modes are exactly the same.
Yes, you read that right. D Dorian has the same notes as B Locrian and the same notes as F Lydian and so on.
The notes for each corresponding mode are as follows:
C - Ionian - C D E F G A B
D - Dorian - D E F G A B C
E - Phrygian - E F G A B C D
F - Lydian - F G A B C D E
G - Mixolydian - G A B C D E F
A - Aeolian - A B C D E F G
B - Locrian - B C D E F G A
NOTE: You will often hear something like "The 5th mode of C major is G Mixolydian" or "The 2nd mode of C Major is D Dorian". This is important to remember for later.
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2. Making Sense of the Modes
So how do we differentiate between playing something in D Dorian or something in G Mixolydian if the notes are all the same? Well, the answer lies in what's known as thetonal center of the music. If we don't have a tonal center we can not clearly define what the notes we are playing are relative to.
If you sit there on your guitar and just play the notes A, C, F, F, B, C, D, you could be playing any one of the above Modes. But have a bass player play a steady D note or another guitar player play a D Minor chord and play those exact notes above, and you'll be definitively playing in the D Dorian mode.
The reason is because your ear is telling you that D is the tonal center of the music. It's the note that everything you are hearing is relating to.
Thus, without a defined tonal center, we can not define what mode we are in.
Rob Chappers has an excellent video illustrating how important the tonal center is to defining what mode you are playing.
Before I go any further, I'd like to point out that tonal centers are often a subjective thing in music theory. Some people hear songs differently and can make a case that one chord is stronger than another in a song and therefore that chord is the tonal center. Check out a discussion in /r/Musictheory on what's the tonal center of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky". The song only has 4 chords in it but some people hear the song as having F♯ Minor as the tonal center and others hear it as having B Minor as the tonal center. Luckily, the majority of music has a pretty clearly defined tonal center.
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3. Modal Chord Progressions
And now we are back to the Harmonized Major Scale. If we take the chords from our Harmonized Major Scale and really put an emphasis on one certain chord (i.e. Define a tonal center), we can create a Modal Chord Progression.
Let's say we have the following chord progression:
C Major-F Major-G Major
Well, we know that these chords make up the I, IV, and V chords of the C Harmonized Major scale. We can also clearly hear that the tonal center of this progression is the C Major chord. If you don't believe me, play the progression and stop on the G Major chord. You'll hear that it wants to resolve back to that C Major chord.
So with our tonal center clearly defined as a C major chord and all of the other chords in the progression fitting within the C Harmonized Major scale, we can say that this is a C Ionian progression or simply a C Major progression (Ionian is the fancy name for the major scale). We could play lead guitar over this entire progression using the C Major scale and it would sound good.
But what about a progression like this:
G Major - F Major
G Major is the clear tonal center. It wins the tonal center award by default for simply being the first chord to be played. But there's a problem here...
That F Major chord doesn't jive with the G Major scale. In fact, the note F doesn't appear in a G Major scale at all (G, A, B, C, D, E, F♯). So what is going here? What notes can I play over these two chords that will fit?
Well, a keen eye will tell you that two major chords a whole step away from each other exist in the Harmonized Major Scale as the V and IV chords. In this case G Major and F Major are the V and IV chords of the key of C.
So we know we can play all of the notes of the C Major scale over these two chords. We also know that our tonal center is G Major. And since the V chord of C Major is our tonal center, we know we are in G Mixolydian (Remember "The 5th mode of C major is G Mixolydian"?)
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4. Well That Was Confusing
The Modes are one of those things that seem very confusing at first but once it clicks in your head, you usually kick yourself for not understanding it much more easily. The trick is to identify the chords and what the tonal center is.
Here are some other examples:
In the song Oye Como Va by Santana, we have the following chords:
A Minor - D7
If you look at the Harmonized Major Scale, you'll see that this corresponds to a:
ii - V
in the key of G Major. Since we're playing the G Major scale over a chord progression that's tonal center is A Minor, we know we are playing in A Dorian (The 2nd mode of G major is A Dorian).
In the song Fire on the Mountain by The Grateful Dead, you have the following chords:
B - A
Again, if you look at the Harmonized Major Scale, you'll see that this corresponds to a:
V - IV
in the key of E Major. Since we are playing the E Major scale over a chord progression that's tonal center is B Major, we know we are playing in B Mixolydian (The 5th mode of E Major is B Mixolydian).
In the song Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, we have the following chords:
F - G
If you look at the Harmonized Major Scale, you'll see that this corresponds to a:
IV - V
in the key of C Major. Since we're playing the C Major scale over a chord progression that's tonal center is F Major, we know we are playing in F Lydian (The 4th mode of C major is F Lydian).
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5. Summary
This is the way I learned to understand the theory behind the Modes. There are other ways to attack the topic that may work better for some people than others. For example, some people learn the modes by memorizing the intervals (e.g. Mixolydian = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ♭7, Locrian = 1, ♭2 ,♭ 3, 4, ♭5, ♭6, ♭7). This is useful to understand but, in my opinion, doesn't really explain howthe modes are created or, more importantly, how and when you can get modal in your music.
I hope this guide helps some of you.

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