Lesson 10: Related Chords and Chord Progressions

This lesson assumes you’ve got a guitar that’s in tune, you know your note names, understand intervals, remember your major scale, and have a handle on your bar chords and diminished chords.

Todays lesson is something of a culmination of everything you’ve learned thus far!

Step 1. Lets start with the idea that scales can have an associated chord. For example our G Major Scale pairs with a G Major Chord.

Play me a G major chord and then play the G major scale and listen for how they relate and support each other.

Notice where we find the G major chords within our scale with the first (root), third (major 3rd) and fifth (perfect 5th) notes of the scale.

Step 2. So we see that our G major chord is derived from the 1, 3, and 5 of our G major Scale. Next we will identify the interval relationships starting FROM each individual note within the G major Scale.

The second note of our scale is an A. If we start from this note and play every other note we find a Root (A), a minor 3rd (C), and a perfect 5th (E).

So the 2nd chord in the G major family is A minor!

If we continue this process up each note of the G major scale we find this pattern:

I = G Major
ii = A Minor
iii = B Minor
IV = C Major
V = D Major
vi = E Minor
vii• = F# Diminished (a diminished chord = root note, minor 3rd, tritone)

Step 3. Use your bar chords to play through this pattern:
Green = Major Chord | Red = Minor Chord | Yellow = Diminished

All major keys follow this pattern! Repeat this vocally until committed to memory.

Using your open and bar chords, see if you can play the chords in every key:

Happy practice!

Video lesson available to subscribers :)