by Mike Overly
At a recent Cincinnati Homeschool Convention someone asked me: How many chords are there on the guitar? That's a very good question, I replied. Is the answer, six, ten thousand, a million, who knows? What we do know is that there are only five simple open shapes from which all chords originate!
Let's begin by imagining the picture on the cover of a puzzle box. Visualize the picture on the box and see it as a whole picture. See this whole picture as the seven letter of music on your fretboard. When these seven letters of music: A, B, C, D, E, F, G are horizontally connected on the 6 strings and 12 frets of your guitar, the following picture is revealed.
Now, imagine taking a pair of scissors and cutting this whole fretboard picture into five pieces, which we will call fractions. How hard would it be to put together a puzzle if it only had five pieces - Playskool® right? Well, the five puzzle pieces are the five open major chords: E, D, C, A, G which like an anagram can be rearranged into the word: CAGED. You probably know these open shapes already.
Next, let's see how these five shapes become movable on the holisticly connect fretboard. To see that, we need to know that a chord contains at least three different letters that are played at the same time. For example, an F major chord is spelled with three different letters: F A C. However, unlike English, these 3 letters may be arranged in any combination, for example: F A C, A C F, C F A, F C A and the chord will still be F major! In the following example, we'll group the three F major chord letters vertically as we move up the fretboard, and like magic, the five F major chord forms appear!
Perhaps you're having a little trouble seeing them? The following image we help you visualize the five shapes more clearly, by highlighting the three F major chord letters, FAC, into five movable major chord forms.
Congratulations! You can now see all five F major chord forms on your holistic fretboard. And here's the important part, no one knows any more F major chords than you do... there are only five! Now, by simply moving these five major chord barre forms to a different letter location the fretboard, all major chords can easily be played - but that's another lesson...
So, till next time, have some fun connecting your five holistic puzzle pieces ~ I'll be listening.
GRAMMY nominated Music Educator, Mike Overly easily combines the worlds of deeply-rooted academic study with a well-textured performance resume. His pathbreaking 12 Tone Music Publishing products, including the newly released Tone Note® Music Method for Guitar, provide valuable illuminating insights while simplifying the learning process.
Join Mike at www.12tonemusic.com to explore and expand your knowledge of these two iconic instruments through a variety of reviews and interviews, tips and tricks and free lessons of remarkable originality, all presented in a family-friendly forum. Plus, as an added bonus, you get to follow Mr. Pick as he introduces you to fun fretboard games, jokes, riddles, quotes and more. Be sure to read the 12 Tone Music Blog where Mike offers a behind-the-scenes look at the development of his unique approach to solving the problems of modern musical notation and traditional guitar and bass methods. Mike Overly's unmatched perspective on fretboard education has something for everyone ~ from the amateur hobbyist to the serious professional player ~ as well as any music enthusiast who wants to come along for the ride.
Copyright ©1998-2013, 12 Tone Music Publishing, All Rights Reserved.
At a recent Cincinnati Homeschool Convention someone asked me: How many chords are there on the guitar? That's a very good question, I replied. Is the answer, six, ten thousand, a million, who knows? What we do know is that there are only five simple open shapes from which all chords originate!
Let's begin by imagining the picture on the cover of a puzzle box. Visualize the picture on the box and see it as a whole picture. See this whole picture as the seven letter of music on your fretboard. When these seven letters of music: A, B, C, D, E, F, G are horizontally connected on the 6 strings and 12 frets of your guitar, the following picture is revealed.
Now, imagine taking a pair of scissors and cutting this whole fretboard picture into five pieces, which we will call fractions. How hard would it be to put together a puzzle if it only had five pieces - Playskool® right? Well, the five puzzle pieces are the five open major chords: E, D, C, A, G which like an anagram can be rearranged into the word: CAGED. You probably know these open shapes already.
Next, let's see how these five shapes become movable on the holisticly connect fretboard. To see that, we need to know that a chord contains at least three different letters that are played at the same time. For example, an F major chord is spelled with three different letters: F A C. However, unlike English, these 3 letters may be arranged in any combination, for example: F A C, A C F, C F A, F C A and the chord will still be F major! In the following example, we'll group the three F major chord letters vertically as we move up the fretboard, and like magic, the five F major chord forms appear!
Perhaps you're having a little trouble seeing them? The following image we help you visualize the five shapes more clearly, by highlighting the three F major chord letters, FAC, into five movable major chord forms.
Congratulations! You can now see all five F major chord forms on your holistic fretboard. And here's the important part, no one knows any more F major chords than you do... there are only five! Now, by simply moving these five major chord barre forms to a different letter location the fretboard, all major chords can easily be played - but that's another lesson...
So, till next time, have some fun connecting your five holistic puzzle pieces ~ I'll be listening.
GRAMMY nominated Music Educator, Mike Overly easily combines the worlds of deeply-rooted academic study with a well-textured performance resume. His pathbreaking 12 Tone Music Publishing products, including the newly released Tone Note® Music Method for Guitar, provide valuable illuminating insights while simplifying the learning process.
Join Mike at www.12tonemusic.com to explore and expand your knowledge of these two iconic instruments through a variety of reviews and interviews, tips and tricks and free lessons of remarkable originality, all presented in a family-friendly forum. Plus, as an added bonus, you get to follow Mr. Pick as he introduces you to fun fretboard games, jokes, riddles, quotes and more. Be sure to read the 12 Tone Music Blog where Mike offers a behind-the-scenes look at the development of his unique approach to solving the problems of modern musical notation and traditional guitar and bass methods. Mike Overly's unmatched perspective on fretboard education has something for everyone ~ from the amateur hobbyist to the serious professional player ~ as well as any music enthusiast who wants to come along for the ride.
Copyright ©1998-2013, 12 Tone Music Publishing, All Rights Reserved.
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