We’re going to split this session into two parts.
In part a you’re going to learn:
- The difference between notes, harmonies and chords
- How chords are built
Part a
The difference between notes, harmonies, and chords
If you play an additional note at the same time as your melody notes, you're playing a harmony. So a harmony is made up of two notes that sound good when played together.
If you play an additional two notes at the same time as the melody notes, you're playing a chord:
- One sound is a note
- Two notes at the same time is a harmony
- Three notes or more at the same time is a chord
How chords are built
All major chords are made from the root note (the tonic), the major third interval note and the perfect fifth interval note in a scale.
In the C chord, for example, the first, third, and fifth interval notes are C, E and G:
C - Tonic (or root note)
C# - Flat 2nd
D - Second
D# Flat 3rd
E - 3rd
F Perfect 4th
F# - Flat 5th
G - Perfect 5th
G# - Flat 6th
A - 6th
A# - Flat 7th
B - 7th
Notice, it’s not the third and fifth notes in the alphabet we’re using - that would be C, D, and E. It’s the third interval (which is the fifth note in the scale) and the perfect fifth interval (which is the eighth note in the scale).
So you could take each note in a key and make it into a major chord by adding the third and fifth interval notes.
The difference between a major and minor chord
Notes one, four, and five in any major key will always be made into major chords.
Notes two, three, and six however, will always be made into minor chords. So I need to show you the difference between the two.
The only difference between a major chord and a minor chord is the third interval note.
To make any major chord into a minor chord, we simply flatten the third interval note by a half step or semitone. Let’s look at this in more detail.
To make that C major chord into a minor chord, we would flatten the third interval note, the E, by a semitone.
The notes in the C minor chord would then be C, D#, and G.
Changing A into A minor
Let’s look at another example, with the A chord.
The first, third, and fifth interval notes are A, C#, and E:
A - Tonic (or root note)
A# - Flat 2nd
B - Second
C Flat 3rd
C# - 3rd
D Perfect 4th
D# - Flat 5th
E - Perfect 5th
F - Flat 6th
F# - 6th
G - Flat 7th
G# - 7th
To make that major chord into a minor chord, we would flatten the third interval note, the C#, by a semitone. The notes in the A minor chord would then be A, C, and E.
A - Tonic (or root note)
A# - Flat 2nd
B - Second
C Flat 3rd
C# - 3rd
D Perfect 4th
D# - Flat 5th
E - Perfect 5th
F - Flat 6th
F# - 6th
G - Flat 7th
G# - 7th
Chords in the key of C
Remember, that notes 1,4 and 5 are always made into major chords (in a major key), and notes 2,3, and 6 are always made into minor chords. So, the chords in the key of C are:
Major 1 chord - C
Minor 2 chord - D minor
Minor 3 chord - E minor
Major 4 chord - F
Major 5 chord - G
Minor 6 chord, A minor
Part b
Next, we’ll use this knowledge to play this tune using harmonies.
You’re going to use the knowledge you gained in part a, to start playing harmonies.
The example we’ll be using is the first few bars from Blackbird, by The Beatles:
You’ll find it useful, for this session if you have your PDF printout of notes, and chords in major keys handy.
Harmonies using third internal notes
A good way to start playing harmonies is to play your melody note, along with the third interval note.
As you know, that third interval note is the one that makes a chord either major, or minor, depending on that chords position within the key.
- Notes 1,4 and 5 in a major key are built out into major chords
- Notes 2,3 and 6 in a major key are built out into minor chords
To start with I want you to find the following bass notes (on the thickest two strings) G, A and B. These are the melody notes to our intorduction.
Before you read on, see if you can find those notes by yourself, using your knowledge about how the guitar is tuned. I’ll give you a hint, the G is on the sixth string, and the other two notes are on the fifth string.
How to find the bass notes of the melody
The first note is the G. This is on the third fret of the sixth string.
The second note, A, is played as the open fifth string.
The third note is, B, is on the second fret on the fifth string.
Finding the third interval note to G
Let’s find the third interval note for our first note, G.
We know that G is the first note in our key (our set of seven notes).
We also know that if we play G as a chord in our song, instead of a single note, that G is going to be a major chord, because notes 1, 4, and 5 in the key are all always made into major chords. So when we find the third harmony, we won’t need to flatten it by a semitone.
The third note in the G major scale is the B - so that is our harmony note. So we play the G and the B together for our harmony. We can use the open B string for this, which is our second thinnest string.
Finding the third interval note to G
Let's move on to find the next harmony note. This time, we need to find the third interval for our A note.
The A chord is made up of the notes A, C#, and E.
Remember, A is the second note in the key of G, and notes 2, 3 and 6 always become minor chords, so we need to flatten the C# in our A chord down to a C. So we play the A and the C together for our harmony in this case.
Playing the C on the first fret of the B string.
Play those two sets of harmony notes together and listen to what you've built out so far, using harmony notes with third intervals!
Finding the third interval note to B
Our final melody note is the B.
The B chord is made up of the notes B, D#, and F#.
The third interval note is the D#.
Remember, B is the third note in the key of G, and notes 2, 3 and 6 always become minor chords, so we would need to flatten the D# down to a D in our harmony. So we play the B and the D together for our harmony in this case.
Play the D on the third fret of the B string.
Now play those three sets of harmony notes together and listen to what you've built out so far, using harmony notes with third intervals!
Adding an extra layer of harmony
Between each pair of harmony notes, you can pick the open B string.
You may realise from this lesson, that B is the major third interval note in the key of G, so it works perfectly. So, just a little bonus piece of information for you there to add an extra layer of harmony.
That shows you how we can take a simple three note bass line, and turn it into a really interesting piece by adding in thirds. It worked for the Beatles anyway! Lots of tutorials out there on YouTube if you want to learn how to play Blackbird, by the Beetles. It’s a good beginner song, it sounds great, and you can expand your knowledge and experience of playing third interval harmonies.
Finding third interval notes on the fretboard easily
Now you understand the power of third interval notes, in the next lesson I'll show you how to locate them on the fretboard really quickly.
Guitar practice journal
Download the Guitar Practice Tracker today. It will help to keep you motivated and give you a visual representation of your progress, and areas of focus throughout the year.
A guitar journal will enable you to:- Set personalised goals and monitor your progress
- Identify the number of hours or days you've spent on a particular skill
- Provide a quick reference to the notes and chords in a particuar key
- List the songs you know and sort by key, capo placement, artist, and chord progression
- Link directly to your favourite YouTube videos and tutorials
Download the Guitar Practice Tracker
Go to Lesson 5: How to find thirds intervals
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