Chords Lesson
All chords are formulated from the major scale of the root of the chord. For a chord to sound major, it must have a 3rd in it and/or a 7th, but no b7th. For a chord to sound minor, it must have a b3rd but no major 3rd. For a chord to sound dominant, it must have a 3rd and a b7th but no natural 7th. |
My first chord lessons were obviously difficult as I did not realise that there were fixed formulas to all chords. To play guitar chords in a song was achieved by having to buy the sheet music of the latest pop hit of the 60's. The Shadows, Hermans Hermits, Jerry and the Pacemakers, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Herd etc.. You could buy all their hits in the local music shop for about 5p and all the guitar chords were listed over the lyrics. We thought we were super cool. Most electric guitar teachers of the day were jazzers who knew chord melody well and usually taught Hank Marvin, who at the time was like Hendrix. These guys used old gibson jazz guitars with flat wound strings. Good guitar chord lessons are crucial to open up your lead lines. If you decide to be a professional guitarist, being a good chord orchestrator gives you a big advantage over studying harmony. |
In our family the talent to play guitar is born with every generation. My cousins all played or sang or did did something musical or entertaining. My dad knew old greek-cypriot folk songs and he could read classical music. He was very supportive when it came to my chord education and also taught me to understand intervals at the young age of 7. He sent me to private classical lessons when I was 9. But his memory lives in the feel of beautiful chords I play almost every day. |
Power chords are combinations of 2 or 3 notes consisting of 4th or 5th intervals. Today most rock, pop and metal is based on power chords.
The visual images of chords are like crystals according to John. He has an ability to visualise music and is trying to teach this method of synaesthesia to other musicians. Different guitar chords all have different tonalities and depending on the feel of a guitarist, they project different images into your mind. For instance a beautifully arpeggiated chord sequence played delicately is like the Aurora Borealis. |
Chords come in 3 groups Major, Minor and Dominant unless you understand Mizarolli's system of Chromasonics, which is a crossover of Light, Sound and Emotion expressed as chord symbols. Even chords take on an innovative meaning at Music of the Spheres! Click here for full list of chord formulas.
John Mizarolli guitar lessons 07958 427 236 |
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