Craft 3: Working with Chords

Chords

Experimenting with chord relationships is part of the craft process. Why does a chord sound better going to one chord more than another? Why does a chord relationship work in one song, but not in another?

 

Answers to these questions don’t emerge right away. You might have to wait for the next song. Or you might never get an answer. Or the “answer” might come in the form of an insight that has nothing to do with the question. Just ask the questions. Things will happen. You’ll get better.

 

Developing skill means trying things out to see what works.

 

 

Different chord shapes

The most common chord progression in the world is C major to G major. How many C chords do you know? How many G chords? If you only know one of each, then you only have one choice for a progression. If you know two C chords (I’ll call them C1 and C2; same chord, different shape) and one G chord, you have two choices. If you know two of each, you have a total of four choices: C1 to G1; C2 to G1; C1 to G2; C2 to G2.

 

And there’s a lot more than two of each. Here’s a link to major triads shapes.

 

http://www.infosnacks.com/snack/428/guitar-major-triad-inversions/

 

Trying things out means doing the work to see what the possibilities are. Working with the possibilities develops skill. This is craft.