Which chords should you learn first? How to organize chord progressions? Someone asked me to play aI VI IV V chord progression. What does it mean?
So many questions right!
Let’s start by saying that chords are everywhere. Almost every song has chords, and it’s kind of hard to imagine a song played only with a melody (me singing in the shower for example).
Chords are one of the three elements that make music possible along with scales and rhythm. Every guitar player should learn a good number of chords but how do you know which chord should you learn. Also, once you learn them, how can you use them to play beautiful chord progressions on guitar.
In this lesson, I am going to show you 18 beautiful chord progressions you MUST know perfect for songs and songwriting. You can learn the ones I play in this lesson before writing your ideas.
Take it step-by-step and learn one chord progression at a time.
How can we tell a story with chords? Which chords make the story sad, melancholic, joyful, or calm?
If it’s true that music should always express an emotion, then it’s in our best interest to acquire the tools that would allow us to communicate this feeling.
For guitar players, these tools are harmony (the chords), melody (the scales), and rhythm (the beat). You have to develop a good level of skills to be able to transform these three elements into music.
In this guitar lesson, I am going to show you five emotional chords and how to use them. We are going to explore five different keys, and for each key, you will learn one emotional chord.
In this example, we are going to play a simple E minor chord.
The chord is played in position VIII with the low E string open, the D string fret 9, the G string open and the B string fret 8. Leave the A and top E string out.
This chord shape makes the chord sound extremely sad.
Try to play a basic E minor chord, then switch to this shape to hear the difference.
One thing I noticed is that minor chords sound sadder when you play a chord shape that emphasizes the minor 3rd.
The voicing for this chord is the B string fret 8, the note G, which is indeed the minor 3rd of the E minor chord.
Bulb moment: Make a minor chord even sadder by playing the chord shape that emphasizes the minor 3rd.
The chord progression I am playing along with this chord is Em, Dadd11, C, Dadd11, Em, D6, Cmaj7.
And we are just getting started.
Emotional Chord 2: Dm(add9)
The Dm(add9) is an extended chord. Extended chords are chords that have added notes beyond the 7th such as 9th, 11th, and 13th.
The basic D minor chord is built with these three notes: D, F, and A (Root, minor 3rd and fifth). Every additional note we add to this chord will make it extended.
The additional note we are adding to this chord is the 9th.
The Dm(add9) shape looks like this:
The chord progression I like to play around this chord is Dm(add9), Bb(#11) and Csus4.
Emotional Chord 3: C major
Not all emotional chords have to be played with minor chords.
We can build emotional chord progressions with major chords too. A major chord will convey different emotions such as sweet, love, gentleness and devotion.
The chord I am showing you in this lesson is a simple C major chord played in position X. The root note of the chord, the note C is played on the D string fret 10. I am also playing the note G on the G string fret 12, and the note E on the E string fret 12.
Pluck this chord one time. It sounds sweet right?
The chord progression I am going to play along with this chord is C, G/B, Am, G, F, G, Am, G/B, C.
To make the chord progression even gentler, I avoided the notes on the A and low E string. Chords without deep bass notes tend to sound sweeter.
Bulb moment: Make chords sound sweet by avoiding low bass notes.
Emotional Chord 4: Am(add9)
The Am(add9) is another beautiful extended chord.
This chord sounds very emotional and melancholic, like a person who feels sad thinking about the past.
This chord is played like this:
The chord progression I like to play with this chord goes as follows: Am(add9), Fmaj7(#11), Am(add9) and Gadd11.
Emotional Chord 5: The C#m9
Minor chords can sound positive.
In this example, I am going to show you an emotional chord in C# minor key that sounds positive, dreamy and happy.
The chord is C#m9 played with the root note C# on the A string fret 4, the minor 7th B on the G string fret 4, the major 9th on the B string fret 4 and the minor 3rd played on the top E string open.
Check the diagram below.
The chord progression I like to play around this chord is C#m9, Asus2(#11) and E major chord.
There are hundreds of beautiful fingerpicking patterns that you can play on guitar and today we are going to have a look at 23 epic fingerpicking patterns and how to use them.
But, what’s a fingerpicking pattern? A fingerpicking pattern is a right-hand fingers movement in which the thumb, index, middle, and ring finger pluck the strings to play the notes of a chord or a melody. Each finger is named with a letter. The thumb with the letter “P”, the index “i”, the middle “m”, and the ring finger “a.”
You will learn:
Naming the right-hand fingers
How to pluck the strings
Fingerpicking pattern #1 – Thumb only
Fingerpicking pattern #2 – Thumb and index
Fingerpicking pattern #3 – Thumb, index, and middle
Fingerpicking pattern #4 – P i m together
Fingerpicking pattern #5 – P i m a
Fingerpicking pattern #6 – P i m a m i
Fingerpicking pattern #7 – P i m a m i with Slap&Strum
Fingerpicking pattern #8 – P i m i a i m i – The classical pattern
Fingerpicking pattern #9 – Thumb and ring finger together
Fingerpicking pattern #10 – P i m a plucked together
Fingerpicking pattern #11 – Pluck together with different combinations
Fingerpicking pattern #12 – The rolling
Fingerpicking pattern #13 – Plucking together + additional notes
Fingerpicking pattern #14 – Rhythmic pattern
Fingerpicking pattern #15 – Plucking together plus thumb slap
Fingerpicking pattern #23 – Classical pattern with alternate fingering
There is a musical example for each pattern so that you get inspired. The examples are simple and contain music rather than technical exercises. My goal is to write the most beautiful music with the least amount of effort. If you are on the same page as me, you will enjoy this video.
The number one thing that I want to convey in this lesson is that you don’t need to use intricate fingerpicking patterns to write beautiful chord progressions and melodies.
You should always position the thumb in front of the fingers and pluck downwards. This is the number one position I teach to all of my students.
You might have seen other guitar players positioning the thumb differently. If you are a beginner, I recommend that you start with the approach shown in this lesson.
I pluck the strings with the side of the thumb, and I combine both flesh and fingernails.
This angle gives me the best tone.
Check the thumb position below.
Rule 2 | 45 Degree angle
The second step is learning how to pluck the strings with index, middle and ring finger.
This is, in my opinion, the very best way for fingerpicking beginners to get started with fingerstyle guitar.
Rule 3 | Articulation
It’s time to learn how to articulate the fingers.
With the thumb, only use the big knuckle and keep the small knuckle rigid. With the index, middle and ring finger, the articulation is slightly different. Start the movement with the big knuckle, then, as you are plucking the strings, use the small knuckle to complete the plucking.
Pattern #1 | Thumb Only (P)
In this pattern, play a beautiful and simple melody in A minor with the thumb only. This is one of the very first fingerpicking patterns for beginners.
The chord progression is Am, G, F and E7.
Pattern #2 | Thumb and index finger (P, i)
Playing a chord progression with just two fingers, allows you to simplify the chords down to just two notes.
In this example, I am playing D, A, Bm, and G by plucking just two strings. I am alternating thumb and index.
Pattern #3 | Thumb, index and middle finger (P, i. m)
I played this pattern with thumb, index and middle finger.
Playing with three fingers only make it easy to come up with patterns in three.
The example sounds Spanish, and the chord progression is E and Am chord.
Pattern #4 | P i m Together
This is a simple variation of the Pima pattern played simultaneously.
The chord progression is: Em7 | Cadd9 | G | D | Em7 | Cadd9 | D
Pattern #5 | P i m a
The most famous fingerpicking pattern you can play on guitar. Almost every beginner starts with this pattern.
In this example though, I want to show you how you can still play beautiful chords with such a simple pattern.
Chord progression: Em, Dadd11, Am7, C.
Pattern #6 | P i m a m i
A pattern with six notes.
Chord progression: Am, C, Dm, F, G | Am, C, Dm, F, E.
Pattern #7 | P i m a m i with Slap&Strum
I like to spice up the pattern #6 by adding a percussive technique called Slap&Strum.
In this technique, you will strike the bass note with the thumb while simultaneously strumming the top strings. Perform Slap&Strum on the 4th note.
Keep the same chord progression as Pattern #6
Pattern #8 | P i m i a i m i | The Classical Pattern
Another famous fingerpicking pattern played with eight notes.
This pattern is perfect for building speed and control. I am playing it with a classical chord progression.
Am | E7 | Am | E7(b9) | Am | E7 | Am. Simple but beautiful.
Pattern #9 | Thumb and Ring Together
One of my favorite way to emphasize the voicing of a chord is by plucking the strings with the thumb and ring together.
Chord progression: G | D/F# | Em | Am | G | D/F#.
Pattern #10 | P i m a Plucking Together
You can pluck the strings simultaneously with this simple yet effective pattern.
Chord progression: Am | G/B | C | Dm | Am | G | Am.
Pattern #11 | Pluck Together with Different Combinations
You don’t always have to pluck the strings with the P i m a. You could, for example, decide only to use P i m or simple P i.
In this example, I am using a different combination of patterns.
Chord progression: C | G | Am | F
Pattern #12 | The Rolling
One of my favorite way of plucking the strings together is by quickly rolling the fingers from thumb to ring.
This effect is perfect if you want to make the chords sound more melodic and sweet.
Chord progression: E | Cadd9 | G | G/B
Pattern #13 | Plucking Together + One Additional Note
Same plucking as pattern #12 but with an additional note on the top E string.
This pattern is great if you want to write beautiful rhythmic chord progressions.
Chords: Fmaj7 | Em7 | Dm7 | Cmaj7
Pattern #14 | Rhythmic Pattern
In this example, I am going to show you how to play a rhythmic fingerpicking pattern with rolling and thumb slap technique.
I am playing the same chord progression as Pattern #13.
Pattern #15 | Plucking Together Plus Thumb Slap
Embellish the fingerpicking pattern by adding the thumb slap technique. Strike the bass note with the thumb while playing the chords.
Chord progression: G | G/B | Cadd9 | D | G | G/B | Cadd9 | D | G |
Pattern #16 | Basic Travis Picking
Learn the basic Travis picking technique. Pluck the two or more bass notes with the thumb while the fingers take care of the accompaniment.
Chord progression: C | Am | Em | G7 |
Pattern #17 | Intermediate Travis Picking
Same chord progression as pattern #16 but this time we are going to add the top three strings.
The Travis picking can be quite challenging. Learn one chord at a time and practice slowly.
Pattern #18 | Travis Picking with Different Chords
You can also use the Travis picking technique for any other chord progression.
In this example, I am going to play over a chord progression in G major. I am only plucking two bass notes with the thumb.
Chord progression: G | G/B | Cadd9 | D |
Pattern #19 | Alternate Fingering i, m Over Scales
We usually use alternate fingering for scales.
In this example, I am going to show you a simple C major scale played with index and middle finger.
Pattern #20 | Alternate Fingering Over Chords, i m Pattern
A beautiful chord progression played with index and middle finger.
In this example, I want to show you that you can use alternate fingering not just for scale but also for chords.
Chord progression: C#m9 | E | Asus2 |
Pattern #21 | Reverse Alternate Fingering, m i Pattern
An example in D minor in which I am playing a melody in thirds.
This example shows how we can use the m i pattern for creating beautiful sounding melodies.
Chord progression: Dm | Bb | C |
Pattern #22 | Pattern in Six + Thumb
You can then combine two patterns.
In this example I am playing the pattern P i m a m i with the thumb only pattern.
Chord progression: Am | G | F | E
Pattern #23 | Classical Pattern with Alternate Fingering
In the last example, we are going to combine the classical pattern with the alternate fingering technique.
This is one of my favorite patterns because allows you to combine chords and melody.
What are the top 5 most beautiful chords I know on guitar? Well, I have to say, I have more than just five but I really had to narrow it down.
A chord is just a bunch of notes played together. If the notes you choose are basic, then you will end up playing a basic chord. However, if you choose beautiful notes, there is no doubt that you can come up with beautiful chords that sound epic.
In this lesson, I am going to walk you through the top 5 most beautiful chords I know. Obviously, I am not going to just show you the chord. That would be horrible.
I am actually going to show you a short musical idea for each of the top 5 chords I love the most.
We will cover:
Dadd9 chord played over a “classical type” of chord progression.
A13 chord played over a twelve bar blues.
Dm(add9) chord played over a sad chord progression.
Em9 chord played over the most common chord progression on guitar.
C#m9 chord over a dreamy chord progression.
You can get the tab, check my Patreon page and subscribe to the YouTube channel.
Another great classical piece for the BlitzGuitar Academy Program.
Today I am going to show you how to play a composition by the Italian composer Matteo Carcassi called Pastorale. This is a beautiful piece in E minor key perfect for beginner/intermediate.
In this first part, I am we are learning the main theme of the piece. I wanted to complete the tutorial but today was a crazy day, and I will finish the recording on Saturday.
You don’t have to be gifted to write beautiful music. Of course, it takes time, knowledge and experience to find the right combination of chords, but these are things that everyone can develop as long as you have to work for it.
In this guitar lesson, I am going to show you three easy tips for writing beautiful chord progressions. Let’s leave out things such as “Look outside the window to get inspired.”
Instead, we are going to keep things very practical.
These are the three tips we will learn today that will help you write beautiful chord progressions on guitar:
Some of the concepts I am about to show you can be considered intermediate level. If you are a beginner, go ahead and give it a try but, please, take things step by step and learn one chord at a time.
Extended chords are chords played with notes above the root, 3rd, and 5th. If you play a C major chord with just root, 3rd and 5th (C, E, G) and you add notes such as the 7th (B), 9th (D), 11th (F) or 13th (A) you build an extended chord. An example could be a Cadd9 or C13.
Let me show you the difference between basic chords and extended chords. The examples are in C major, but in this lesson, we will be working on a chord progression in C# minor.
C major: Root, 3rd, 5th – C E G
Cmaj7: Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th – C E G B
Cmaj9: Root, 3rd, 7th, 9th, – C E B D
C9(13): Root, 3rd, 7th, 9th, 13th, – C E Bb D A
There are a lot of different extended chords that can be played on guitar.. The shapes and functionality of the chords will change depending on whether the extension is major, minor, diminished, dominant, suspended or augmented.
The Extended Chords in this Lesson
We are going to learn the following extended chords:
C#m9: Root, 9th, 7th, 3rd – C# D# B E
Asus2(#11): Root, 2nd, #11th, 5th – A D# B E
Emaj7: Root, 7th, 5th, Root – E D# B E
Badd11: Root, 3rd, Root, 11th – B D# B E
The C#m9 Extended Chord
The m9 chords are very popular chords on guitar.
The m9 chords are built by adding the minor 7th and the major 9th to the chord.
The C#m9 I am showing you in this lesson is played with both fretted and extended notes.
The major 9th (the note D#) is played on the G string fret 9, and the minor 7th on the B string open (the note B).
On top of the extensions, we are also playing the root note C# on the low E string fret 9 and the minor 3rd on the E string open.
The Asus2(#11) Extended Chord
The Asus2(#11) is a interesting extended chord.
The extended notes for this chord are the 2nd which is the note B, played on the B string open and the #11th, the note D# played on the G string fret 9.
You will also play the Root note A on the A string open and the 5th, the note E on the top E string open.
This is indeed one of my favorite chords.
PS: On the video, this chord is spelled wrong. Follow the chord on the guitar tab.
The Emaj7 Extended Chord
The maj7 chords are just beautiful, dreamy sounding chords.
The chord shape we are learning today will have the extended note, the major 7th on the G string fret 9 as well as the Root note on the low E and top E string and the 5th played on the B string open.
The Badd11 Extended Chord
The add11 chords are built by adding the 11th to the Root and 3rd of the chord.
This chord doesn’t necessarily need the 5th.
In this chord progression, we are going to be playing the extended note E on the top E string open.
We will also play the Root note on the low E fret 7 and the major 3rd D#. The root note is also played again on the B string open.
In which position of the fretboard I can write a melody.
What does it mean to be in a key in music?
A key is a set of notes that sound good together.
For the majority of Western music, these notes come from the major or minor scale. If you are in A minor key, you are playing a set of notes and chords from the A minor scale.
The reasons why it’s so important to understand in which key you are playing is because it allows you to determine the notes of the melody you can combine with the chords.
In this lesson, the key is C# minor. Therefore we will play the melody using the C# minor scale.
Which scale can I use to create a melody?
Chords come from scales. A melody comes from the notes of a scale. How you can make a melody from a chord progression depends on how good you can play the notes of the scale around the chords.
In this lesson, we are going to use the C# minor scale.
In which position of the fretboard I can write a melody.
As you learn the melody, you will notice that the notes I am choosing rotate around the chords.
This is a good starting point for creating beautiful melodies around the chords. However, this exercise isn’t as simple as it looks.
You must know how to hack the five minor scale shapes if you want to create beautiful melodies easily.
Learn the C# minor scale below.
How to Play the Melody Around the Chord Shape
Once you memorize the C# minor scale, you should then learn how to play a melody over a chord progression.
Notice that the melody I play in this lesson is always played around the chords. This is a great exercise but unfortunately doesn’t come naturally at first. You have to learn the chord to scale relationships.
In the diagram below you can see both scale and chord shape in one position.
The white dots represent the notes played for the C#m9 chord. I also included the E and B open string.
Chord to Scale Relationships
We can apply the same concept for the Asus2(#11), Emaj7 and Badd11 chord.
For this chord progression, the relationship between the chords and the scale is pretty easy to visualize since the chords we are playing are similar.
The exercise becomes more difficult when the chords have completely different shapes and change position all the time.
3. How to Diversify a Chord Progression
The last tip for creating beautiful chord progressions is arranging chords in a different order. I call it “Diversify a chord progression”.
Nobody wants to listen to the same four chords over and over no matter how beautiful the chords are.
By creating a B section with different chords, you will catch the listener attention and create a surprising element that is necessary for any chord progression.
In these exercises we are going to play the diversified chord progression as follows: Aadd9 – Badd11 – Aadd9 – Badd11 – E.
The Aadd9 chord shape is one of the most popular chord shapes on guitar as well as the Badd9. Notice how they share the same chord shape and are very easy to play.
The Add9 is an extended chord played with the A string open, the major 3rd on the G string fret 6, the 9th on the B string open and the 5th played on the E string open.
The fingerpicking pattern is also different.
How to Actually Create a Chord Progression from Scratch
Learn how to put together a chord progression by using this straightforward trick. In this example, I am going to show you how to choose the chords from a given key. Once you understand that, you can then add extended chords and melodies.
We learned that chords come from scales. Once we learn the chords that the scale generates, you can then select the chords that you like and arrange the chords into chord progressions.
How Chords are Built from Scales
Learn the chords from the major scale. Memorize the order of the major and minor chords the scale generates. This is an example in C major, but it can be easily transposed in other keys once you memorize the chord structure.
Don’t even bother to play the chords in this example. Just memorize that:
The I, IV and V degree of the scale generates a major chord.
The II, III and VI degree of the scale generates a minor chord.
The VII degree of the scale generates a diminished chord.
All the chords from the C major scale can be used to build chord progressions.
Some of the most common chord progressions are:
I VI II V – C, Am, Dm, G.
I IV V I – C, F, G, C.
I II III, IV, V – C, Dm, Em, F, G.
I III II IV V – C, Em, Dm, F, G.
The Relative Minor Key
Each major key has a relative minor key built on the 6th scale degree. For the C major, the relative minor key is A minor. They are the same scale starting from different notes.
The A minor scale generates the same chords as the C major scale only starting on the A note.
The only difference is that:
The I, IV and V scale degree is minor.
The III, VI and VII scale degree is major.
The II degree of the scale is diminished.
Select some of the chords from the A scale to build chord progressions.
Common minor chord progressions:
Am, F, C, G.
Am, G, F, G.
Am, Dm, G, Dm, G.
Am, C, Em, F, G.
How to Transpose Chords to Other Keys
The exercise I show you in this video is in C# minor key. Now that you learned how to make chords from the scales it shouldn’t be difficult to transpose the concept to a different key.
Let’s do it together.
The first step is to learn the C# minor scale.
Did you memorize the chord structure for the minor scale? Great, we are going to use it on the C# minor scale.
We learned that:
The I, IV and V scale degree is minor.
The III, VI and VII scale degree is major.
The II degree of the scale is diminished.
Based off of that, write down the chords of each scale degree. You will have:
C# minor chord
D# diminished chord
E major chord
F# minor chord
G# minor chord
A major chord
B major chord
The Chord Progression I am Playing in This Exercise
Now that you learned where the chords for the C# minor key come from, it should be easier to analyze the chord progression we just learned.
The chord progression C#m9, Asus2(#11), Emaj7, Badd11 can now be visualized as I – VI – III – VII. For the B section, the chords were Aadd9 and Badd11, which is the VI and VII degree of the scale.
IMPORTANT: Don’t get confused between major and minor. The I VI III VII chord progression in this lesson refers to the C# minor scale and not the E major (relative major).
Let’s Wrap This Up
Writing beautiful chord progressions isn’t a simple task.
The three tips I showed you in this lesson can help you figure out where to start but not where to finish. I think that you will never truly finish exploring with chords.
We learned that extended chords are essential for creating more interesting chord progressions and adding a melody around the chords can drastically make chords beautiful to play and hear.
We also learned that diversify chords is an excellent tool for keeping things interesting (for you and the listener) and that, after all, it shouldn’t be difficult to transpose chords in different keys.
This is just a starting point guys. I hope you get inspired and finally build beautiful chord progressions.
Make sure you get the tab on my Patreon page if you need it and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to keep up with all the upcoming lessons.
Hey guys, let me show you this beautiful melody in A minor.
The goal for this lesson is learn how important it is to navigate the guitar neck. I am sure the majority of you will be able to play the first part easily. As we learn the second section though, you’ll notice that the melody gets more and more challenging.
One of the reason is because the melody is played on a higher position of the neck.
By playing this melody you will become more familiar with playing “stuff” on different positions of the neck. This is awesome, but you have to be willing to take the challenge.
What is the next step to create beautiful chords that are easy to play?
In my opinion, once you get rid of the “most played” beautiful chords that everyone teach on YouTube you are left with very little choices.
Truth is, if you have been playing for a while, chances are that you already know the most beautiful chords that are also easy. So … what’s left for us?
In this guitar lesson I am going to show you how to create beautiful chords using two different approaches:
Slash chords: Chords with a different bass note.
Same voicing chords: Chords that share the same voicing note.
Hey guys, let me show you how to play this beautiful classical piece by Mauro Giuliani called Allegretto. This is a classical piece that can be played on classical and acoustic guitar.
I honestly think classical music is great if you want to improve technique and musicality, so please, give this piece a try.
This composition is a beautiful melody in A minor perfect for beginners.
I also did my best to break it down into four different parts so that you can take it step-by-step and learn it at your own pace.
Hey guys, let me show you this simple yet beautiful chord progression in G major using what I call “The three steps chords”.
Whenever I play a chord progression I always consider three simple factors:
Chords
Melody
Rhythm
We are going to start with the chords, then add a simple melody around the chords (more of an embellishment) before adding the percussive pattern.
We are going to play the chords with a really effective fingerpicking arpeggio in three.
I recommend that you practice the chords for a while before moving on to the melody. The rhythmic/percussive part can be quite challenging so take things step by step (I’ll probably say that many times through the video lesson).
![5 Emotional Chords and how to actually use them]](https://i0.wp.com/www.blitzguitar.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/5-Emotional-Chords-and-how-to-actually-use-them.png?ssl=1 "5 Emotional Chords and how to actually use them]")
