Major chords are the most important as all the other chords are built up from them.? There is a major chord for each note.? In your first lesson you learned that the notes are ABCDEF and G so you are now going to learn the major chords to go with each of these notes.? Sounds daunting?? Well here is something really nice which you will be very pleased to know.? The rule for forming major chords is exactly the same for every note so you only have to learn one simple rule.???

I think it is a shame that many courses and books on how to play the guitar do not go into any detail about HOW a chord is formed and WHY it is played the way it is.? Instead you are usually given a chord chart with dots to show where to put your fingers on the strings but don't you want to know why you stick your fingers there?? It isn't just some haphazard whim of the composer/arranger.? There is a definite reason why you are required to play a particular chord.? So we are going to spend a few minutes explaining exactly what a chord is.? After all the guitar is very much an instrument for playing chords so we should try and understand them.

The first note of any major chord is always the note which bears the name of the chord.? So the first note in the chord of A major is A.? The first note in the chord of B major is B.? It's pretty easy so far isn't it.? These first notes are known as the TONIC note.? Now for the simple rule.? Simply remember the numbers 1, 5, 8.? say the numbers 1, 5 and 8 over and over to yourself until it's really sunk in.?

Now here is the simple secret of how to form any major chord.? Print out your fret board chart if you haven't already done so and grab a piece of paper and a pen.??

Play the first (TONIC) note.? You can pick any note but for this example let's pick C which is the 3rd fret position on the 5th string.? Have you found that on your fret board chart?? This counts as 1 then count the fret positions up from the tonic note and when you count include the sharps or flats as well,

Count 2, 3, 4, 5.? When you count? 3 you will have moved to the 4th string which is D then count 4 and 5 to bring you to the E, 2nd fret. This is the second note in your major chord. Now count 6, 7, 8. and this brings you to the G which is the 3rd string open.? This is the third note in your major chord.?

This works with any major chord.?

Play the note C (5th string, 3rd fret) and include this in your count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.?

We know note 1 is C and we have now discovered that count 5 brings us to E and count 8 brings us to G.? Remember when counting to include the sharps and flats.? C E and G are the notes making up the chord of C major.? Try the same exercise with the other tonic notes and listen to the different sounds thus created.???

Now why are we counting 1 to 8 to find the correct notes to play in any chord?? It is all to do with the key a piece is written in and the scale of that key.? Seeing as we are dealing with the C major chord let us remind ourselves of the scale of C which consists of the notes C D E F G A B C.? You will see by looking at the scale that the notes making up the chord of C major, C E and G are in fact the 1st 3rd and 5th natural notes (no sharps or flats) of the scale.? All major chords are the 1st 3rd and 5th notes of the scale.? We use our simple counting device of 1 to 8 because we need to take into account all the sharps and flats on our fret board.

We are going to concentrate on three important chords, C major, G major, and F major.? Once you know these chords and learn to play them? you will hear a vast improvement in your playing.? You will use these chords frequently in many different pieces of music so take the time to learn them properly.? These are not the easiest chords for you to learn but it is important to be able to play these chords because they are used a great deal in popular music.? Once you have mastered these you will find it very easy to play many other chords.