Chords in Music
Chords in music are like words in a spoken language. When you assemble the ‘right’ combination you make meaningful phrases that have direction. Self-taught students often make the mistake of trying to memorize many chords to grow their chord vocabulary. This approach may work in time, but a better way is to focus on common chord shapes and sequences. This lesson explains three essential mandolin chords.
Building Chords
By definition as chord is a group of three or more notes played together. Any three note group is called a Triad. Many of the most common chords we first learn are basic triads.
Lets build a chord from the first note of the G Major scale. G is the first note of the scale and is referred by it’s number, “One”. This note names the chord and is called the Root. Now we’ll add two more notes to the root, skipping every other note. This is referred to as stacked thirds. When the triad is complete the resulting chord contains the notes: G-B-D (or ‘1-3-5’).
Lets look at how these notes would look on the mandolin.
By repeating this process from the other notes in this scale we get other types of chords some with a Major sound and some with a Minor sound. Chords are always named after the first note of the triad. Roman numerals are used when referring to the chord by number. With that in mind lets make a few observations. The I-IV-V chords are the the only major chords and ii-iii-vi are the only minor chords.
Here are the chord charts for the IV + V chords on the mandolin. Focus on these three major chords for now. There are thousands of songs that can be played with only these three chords. Plus in the future I will teach you how to move these chords to other parts of the mandolin fretboard enabling you to play ANY chord that you need.
Check out this helpful video by Brad Laird where he explains these three chords and ways to practice. Please subscribe to my Blog for my follow up lessons to this one where we will cover: Minor Chords, Movable Chords, and Chord Progressions. Thank s for reading.
Michael ‘Gonzo’ Gonzalez has taught people of all ages, background, and skill level to play the mandolin. Learn to play mandolin to any style of music. From traditional techniques like Bluegrass, Celtic and Italian to more contemporary sounds of Pop, Jazz, and Folk. In addition Michael Gonzalez also teaches the mandola, bazouki, and related instruments. He delivers private lessons to homes throughout Whatcom County Washington (WA). Michael has students in Lynden, Ferndale, Nooksack, Blaine, Bellingham, and Everson, WA. For more information on private lessons (in-person or online) visit:
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