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Chords, Constructing Arpeggios and Scale
Relationship
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 | The chord to the left is the
Root 6 bar chord. It is determined by the note played on the Low E
string or 6th string. It is also at times called an E type bar chord,
this is because the E chord can be converted to the E bar chord. |
| For our
examples, we will be explaining this chord played at the fifth fret. This
movable bar chord when played at the 5th fret, would be the A Major
Chord. By raising the middle finger, this would now be the Am chord.
Look at the Am chord below. This is played at the 5th fret index finger. |
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| This Root 6 minor chord is also
movable. By removing your middle finger, it becomes the Am chord, and is also determined by the note on the
Low E string or 6th
string. This chord played at the 5th fret would be the Am chord. You
can play all the minor chords using this fingering. |
| The note on the Low
E string determines the minor chord. If you played this fingering at the
5th fret, it would be the Am chord. If you moved it to the 7th fret, it
would be the Bm chord. |
| If you moved it to the 12th fret, it would be the
Em chord and so on. |
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Understanding the relationship to chords
over scales and arpeggios
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| The first
illustration to the left shows the Am pentatonic scale at the
root note fret, which is the 5th fret. |
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| The second illustration shows the Am pentatonic scale, with
only the notes of the root 6 Am bar chord. |
| The Am chord is made up of three
notes. These notes are the A, C and
E. |
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| Strum the Am chord and play the Am pentatonic scale and it should sound real nice, this is because you are playing
the notes of the Am chord. |
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| Compare
the fingering of the Am bar chord to the left to the illustration
above. Notice how this chord fits over the Am pentatonic scale. |
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| The
illustration to the left shows the Am chord. It is played as a
root 6 bar chord. The note on the six string determines the
chord. Look at the note at the 5th fret Low E string. It's an A
note. |
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| By moving the Am to
the 7th fret it would now be the Bm chord. Notice that both chords have
the same fingering pattern. The note on the low E string determines the
chord. Notice that it is now the B note. |
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How to build Arpeggios. An Arpeggio is
when you pick each note of a chord one note at a time in a pattern. A chord is when
all of the notes of the chord are strummed together. You can learn to
build melodies and construct songs, using arpeggios. The first arpeggio
we will construct will be the Am chord at the root note fret or
5th fret. The picture above illustrates that chord.
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| Look at the
illustration to the left. This is the root 6, Am bar chord played at the 5th fret. |
| The notes that make up the Am chord are A, C and E. Look at the next
illustration to the left, notice all the notes of the Am chord are
illustrated. |
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| Notice how all the
notes illustrated are the notes of the Am chord. Now look at the next
illustration below. |
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| The illustration to
the left shows how to use the notes of the Am chord to play as an
arpeggio. |
| Start on the A note, 5th fret Low E
string. Then play each note in the number sequence. |
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| The illustration to the left
should be really familiar to you by now. But once again, I will explain
what is going on. The outer circle to the left shows all of the chords
of the key of C major. Each section shows the notes of each chord. |
| Each of the chords in this section are called triads. A triad is a
chord that is made up of three notes. Each of the chords in the key of C
major are illustrated. |
| Look to the left and notice the C chord. The three notes that make up
the C chord are the C, E and G notes. |
| Notice the notes that make up the Am chord. These three notes are A,
C and E. These will be the three notes we will use to play are first
arpeggio. We will begin our arpeggio at the root note fret of the Am
pentatonic scale and eventually learn them in other positions. |
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| Look at the Am
chord to the left. Notice the three notes that make up this triad. A
triad is a chord with 3 notes. The three notes that make up the Am chord
are A, C and E. |
| Look at the illustration above and notice those three notes in the
section with those three notes. Each section in the circle illustrates
the notes that make up each chord. |
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It is possible to play every
chord in the key of C major as an arpeggio over the Am pentatonic root note position.
The chords
we will learn in this position, will be the C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am and the B diminished chords
and arpeggios.
| Before we do that, we must go learn the C Ionian major
scale. So, go read up on this scale and we will begin to advance on our
theory. |
Assignments:
Good luck,
From the Jam Room
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