So.
If we take our sequence
G, C, G, D
what we need to learn now is how to move our triad shape around.
So, the very first one that we looked at,
the very first shape,
. . .
the one down on the 3rd fret,
we already talked about that the root note
was the note on the thinnest string
at the 3rd fret.
So, that chord becomes G
because the note at the third fret on the thinnest string is the note G.
So, that becomes G chord
or G Major, or G Major triad, you can call it what you like,
or just G is OK as well.
So, that's G, now.
Let's say that we want to use that same shape and make it a C chord.
Now, the thing that you...
The importance of knowing where your root note is that
all you have to do is move that root note to the note C
and you've got yourself a C chord. So,
the root note was on the thinnest string at the third fret,
that was the note G.
Now, hopefully most of you are starting to get to know
the names of the notes on the guitar.
It's really, really important. If you're not,
you definitely want to go to check out the web site
and suss out some ways to do that.
The note C
is found at the 8th fret
on the thinnest string.
So now we're just going to use that same
-- I'm kind of going to call it shape one --
the same shape that we started off with in G
down at the 3rd fret.
. . .
We now move it up to the 8th fret
. . .
And we've got our C chord.
So, G down at the 3rd fret:
. . .
8th fret:
. . .
C chord.
Now, we said our progression was going to back to G,
so back all the way to the 3rd fret:
. . .
And now we want a D chord.
Now, hopefully most of you know that
D is one tone higher than C.
So, if C was at the 8th fret,
D must be at the 10th fret.
. . .
We're just going to strum the chord once,
just so you can hear what is going on.
So, we'd be going G:
. . .
2, 3, up to C:
C (plays)
2, 3, 4
back to G (plays)
2, 3, and up to D
. . .
2, 3, 4.
G (plays)
2, 3, 4
Up to C (plays)
2, 3, 4
Back to G (plays)
2, 3, 4
And up to D (plays)
2, 3, 4.
Now, what you want to try and have it a go at now is
getting your mate or, you know,
your buddy or, if you've got a recording device, record yourslef
just playing G (plays).
In fact, I'll play rhythm guitar now.
I'm changing the lesson all the way through this time! This is quite funny.
So, I'm going to play now the sequence
G, C, G and D
And what I want you to try and do is
move your chord and go:
G from there, up to the C (plays),
back to the G (plays)
and up to the D (plays).
So here we go:
3
4
G
. . .
To C.
. . .
Back to G.
. . .
And up to D.
. . .
Now, I'll do it again, so you should be in third fret now.
. . .
and then you're going to move up to the 8th fret.
. . .
Back to the 3rd fret.
. . .
And then up to the 10th fret.
. . .
And you finish on the G.
Now, you can either just strum this chord,
just like here (plays):
2, 3, 4
And then up to C (plays).
Or you can make a pattern,
You could go:
. . .
And then to C:
. . .
4
1 and, 2 and, 3
4
1 and, 2 and, 3
4
You can do it anyway you want.
You could go:
. . .
It doesn't really matter.
You can kind of play about with the rhythm a little bit yourself.
In fact, that's one of the things that will keep it interesting
if you're jamming with your buddy
and he's playing the chords
and you get to play about with the triads,
it kind of makes it fun.
You'll find that the sound that I've got has a little bit of delay on it
and I think a little bit of chorus as well.
And that kind of sound is nice one:
a clean guitar sound playing triads,
while an acoustic guitar plays the chords:
Bellissimo!
Beautiful, beautiful sound.
So, that's something you want to have a little bit of play about with.
Just experiment with the rhythm that you use.
Now, that's just using shape one,
but we've got three shapes that we can deal with.
So, the second shape
that we looked at was the one... the G chord
based around the 7th fret.
. . .
Now, in that shape, the root note was on the second string.
. . .
That's the note G, and the reason that this is a G chord,
or a G triad,
is because third finger in this case is on the root note,
which is the note G at the 8th fret of the 2nd string.
Now, we are going to stick with our same little chord sequence
G, C, G, D.
So, if we want to move this one
to a C chord
we have to put the note on the 2nd string
onto the note C.
So, those of you who now, get to it now.
Those of you who don't
we're going to now move that third finger
up to the 13th fret
of the 2nd string.
. . .
That would now be a C chord.
So, your hand is now up to the 12th fret.
. . .
Now we go back to G, which is based around the 7th fret.
. . .
With the root note on 8th fret, of course.
Not forgetting where the root note is.
Knowing the root note is the most important thing about this exercise.
. . .
And then, if we want to go to a D chord,
Well, we've got our little D chord (plays)
Hey hey!
You already know...
You probably already familiar with D chord,
at least you should be, if you're now doing this lesson on triads.
So.
And that one would be, of course, the root note
on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string.
And...
I mean, it wouldn't hurt if you played the open D string as well,
like a regular D chord, but
for this exercise I'd recommend that you don't.
Just play the three strings that your fingers are on.
So, in this one,
you use the same sequence as before,
we're going to have G
. . .
2, 3
Up to C.
(plays) 1, 2, 3
Back to G.
(plays) 2, 3
And then all the way down to D.
(plays) 2, 3 and
Through that again:
(plays) G, 2, 3.
All the way up to C, 12th fret,
(plays) 2, 3
and then back to the 7th fret,
. . .
for the G chord,
and then down to the 2nd fret for D.
. . .
And then through this.
And so on.
And again, you could change just the rhythm of it.
You don't have to just do this one strum,
if you want to change the rhythm or pick out the notes individually
that will sound cool.
Now, I'm going to play the chords again for you,
just so you can practice
moving that little triad shape
from one part of the neck to the other.
So, we are using the one that looks like a D chord.
We're going to be moving it...
I'm going to talk about the root notes now.
The root note is at the 8th fret for the first shape,
for the G chord:
. . .
The root note is at the 13th fret for the C chord:
. . .
Back to the 8th fret:
. . .
And down to the 3rd fret:
. . .
So, last time through I was describing where the first finger sat.
That time I'm talking about where the root note is.
What fret the root note is on,
because that's the bit I really want you to remember.
So, here we go, I'll play the chords now,
and I'm going to be calling the fret that the root note is in,
which is the note that you'll be playing
in this case with your third finger.
So. Important: check out the shapes,
make sure you know where they are
and then have a go at playing along.
Here we go:
So, 3, 4. G Chord.
. . .
That was at the 8th fret.
To C.
Right up in the 13th fret you should be now.
Back to G.
. . .
To the root note at the 8th.
To D.
. . .
And again.
. . .
You should be at the 8th fret now.
You're going to C.
. . .
Right up to the 13th.
Back to G.
. . .
Which had the root note in the 8th.
And then to D.
. . .
The third shape that we talked about,
I'll be calling it shape 3,
is the one that's kind of based around the 10th or 12th fret,
and the root note is on the 3rd string,
so we've got our third finger
on the root note, little finger underneath,
and first finger back in the 10th fret.
So, it's going 12-12-10.
And that is the G chord.
. . .
Now, if we want to change that one to
a C chord,
we need to find the note C on the 3rd string.
So, again,
those of you who know where that is, go to it now,
and for those of you who don't,
we're going to slide our shape right down here,
because the note C is the 5th fret of the 3rd string.
So we are using that same shape again:
. . .
And we've got our little C chord.
And then we go back to G:
. . .
With the root note on the 12th fret.
And then we've got to get to D.
Hopefully you remember,
D is just one tone
or two semitones, two frets,
higher than the C.
So that would put the root note at the 7th fret.
. . .
First finger is obviously going to be in the 5th fret for that one.
So, it's just going 7-7-5.
And again, we take it through that same sequence again,
So this time we have
G
. . .
down to C
. . .
back to G
. . .
and then down to D
. . .
Here we go again:
G
. . .
Down to C
. . .
Back up to G
. . .
And then to D
. . .
OK, here we go,
I'm going to play some chords for you now
to have a go at moving that around,
Here we go, so:
2, 3, 4
G:
. . .
Sliding it down to C:
. . .
Back to G:
. . .
And then up to the D chord:
. . .
or rather DOWN to the D chord.
. . .
G
. . .
Over the C.
. . .
Down the... root note at the 5th string...
5th fret.
Back up to G:
. . .
And then to the D.