Finding Chord Tones on the Guitar

Okay, then. So now we've found our chord tones. We know how to find our chord tones for a major or a minor chord.

Suggested Exercise

A great exercise I'd like you to try at home is to:

• Play an A major or a minor chord, whichever you've chosen.
• For this example, let's go for a G major chord.

How to Set Up Your Practice

1. Loop the Chord:

   • You could record it on your phone.
   • If you have a loop pedal, record it there.
   • Alternatively, if you have a friend who plays guitar, ask them to play just a G chord. It doesn't need to go anywhere.

2. Practice Finding Chord Tones:

   • Focus on practicing and finding the chord tones in as many places as you can on the guitar.
   • This will greatly improve your fretboard knowledge and understanding.

Importance of Understanding Chord Tones

It's really important that we get to understand what notes we're playing and when. While sounding good is crucial, understanding is equally important.

• For example, knowing:
  • G here
  • B there
  • D depending on where you are on the fretboard

Practice Loop Example

Let's just pop down a quick loop. Here is something that I'd like you to try and practice at home.

"Three, four."

• You'll have a G chord ringing out in the background.
• As you find as many chord tones as you can, remember these are G, B, and D.
• We found these from our G major scale: notes 1, 3, and 5.

These notes should all sound really at home over that chord.

Exploring Different Tones

• Open G String: Don't forget the easiest one, the open G string.
• Find Thirds: Let's find a B.
  • Hear how different that sounds. Still sounds lovely, though.
• Find Fifths: Now, let's find some Ds.
  • Again, you can hear how this note has a different sound and a different relationship to the chord underneath.

Moving Around the Neck

At the end there, what I was just playing was simple arpeggio ideas, just moving around the neck. This is an excellent way to understand where you can play a G major chord in different locations.

• You'll really surprise yourself as you start to find where these notes are and play them at the same time.
• This allows you to form chords rather than just playing a melody or an arpeggio.

Benefits of This Skill Development

By developing this skill, you will:

• Enhance your chord library
• Expand your arpeggio library
• Improve your understanding of fretboard notes
• Understand how these notes relate to chords underneath
• Hopefully, develop your ear
• Build your ability to be creative with chord progressions

Ultimately, you'll have a better idea of how to come up with something when presented with a chord progression.

Next Steps

So let's take a look at the next idea.