Chord Theory - Tomo Fujita Guitar Wisdom Forums

Hi Chris. I'd say a good start are the ones in the Beginner Series on the open chords. Even if you aren't a beginner, Tomo talks about the recipe for chords a lot in those. Beyond that, the theory videos on the major scale and its modes is also helpful, because Tomo's style of teaching is all about degrees of the scale, or in other words, intervals between notes and the feeling that each interval evokes. Chords (at least as far as Western Music Theory is concerned) are based on stacked intervals. So, your basic major chord is always Root M3 5. A minor chord is created by flatting the 3rd (moving it back a fret). A Maj7 chord is a major chord with the major seventh internal note added in (R M3 5 M7). Then you get into less common chords like sus2 - move the 3rd back to a 2nd. Sus4 - move the 3rd up to a 4th. And so on. Generally, the number in the chord name refers to the scale degree of the added note. Basically, chord construction is based on knowing where the all the notes that make up the various degrees of a given scale are located on the fret board. So, if your root note is C and you play the major scale (all major intervals away from that C until you arrive at the next one) You'll get 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8. The C Major chord is C E G (1 3 5). Minor is going to be C Eb G (1 b3 5). Even with various tunings, you may change the relationship of one string to another in terms of pitch. But per string, the distance between intervals is going to remain the same. You just need to get used to how the vertical movement changes with different tunings. But, as Tomo would say, it's not about the shape so much as it is about knowing what the interval sounds like, and where the notes you need are located relative to the root note in whichever tuning you're playing with. I hope that helps at least somewhat. Cheers.

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