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Multiple chords for same letter????
Just finished playing Flippety Doo for Thursday’s lesson. Don’t understand why there are two different D cords and different C cords as far as placement of the fingers. I thought maybe it was because we’re in the key of G, but I have a chart and it shows that in the keys of C and G, the C chord has the same placement of fingers in the frets. In this progression, for the C chord, index finger is on 3rd fret of high E and 2 other fingers on 5th fret of B and G strings.
I know u all will clarify this.
Thanks!
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11 Replies
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@campfire the same chord can be played in many ways and in many parts of the fretboard. A chord is made up of three notes. A C Chord is made up of an A note, an E note, and a G note. Since these notes repeat all over the fretboard there are many ways to play a C chord.
There is a lot more to this but is quickly gets over my head.
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OK, so the same chord doesn’t mean the fingers have the same shape when it moves up or down the fretboard. That helps. Thanks!
I guess I’m not understanding my ‘guitar progressions’ chart because a C chord, in key of C, is the same placement on the fretboard as a C chord, in key of G.
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@Crabby said, “A C Chord is made up of an A note, an E note, and a G note.”
@campfire – I’m sure Crabby meant to say that a C chord contains the notes C, E and G rather than A, E and G. Just a typo, I’m sure.
I’m going to add some more thoughts that might help you, but please stop reading if any of this makes your brain hurt!
The first C chord most of us learn is the open C, for which we fret the A string in the third fret (producing the note C), the D string in the second fret (producing an E) and the B string in the first fret (producing a C note that is an octave above the C we have at the third fret of the A string). We also play the open G string and the open high e string, the latter producing a note pitched an octave above the note at the second fret of the D string.
But there are Cs, Es and Gs all over the fretboard. (Note: it’s a fun exercise spending some time to learn where the C is located on each of the six strings, then the E and then the G on each string.). Any time we play a chord that has only the notes C, E and G and we include at least one of each, our ear will interpret the resulting chord as a C major chord. It does not matter where those notes are located on the fretboard. It does not even matter what note is on the bottom (the lowest note). Our ears can interpred it as a C major chord because we hear all three required notes for that “triad” and only those notes – nothing extra thrown in that would produce new “colors” of sound and force us to name the chord something different.
When we sound an E-G-C with the E as the bass note, theorists call that the “first inversion” of the C major chord. If the G is the lowest note (G-C-E), they call it a “second inversion” triad. This is a lot of technical speak and more than you need to know. What you do need to know is that any chord that contains at least one C, at least one E and at least one G with no notes that are not C, E or G, it is a C major chord, regardless where on the fretboard those notes are being played.
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@Crabby is correct, but I highly recommend taking the Fretboard Wizard class. It will help make sense of all of this. I’m retaking it again because I forgot a lot of stuff myself.
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Thanks! I plan on taking Fretboard Wizard but am currently on Fretboard Navigation.
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👍 Good start
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Hi @campfire , are you familiar with chord shapes and barre chords? In your example, imagine playing an A shaped barre chord with the index barring the 3rd fret, that is a C chord. Now look at the top 3 strings (high strings), and you’ll notice that you’re fretting the hi E string at the 3rd fret, the B and G strings at the 5th fret – that’s where that shape comes from. You can also get a C chord from an E shaped barre chord with index barred at the 8th fret. Looking at the top 3 strings, hi E and B strings are fretted at the 8th fret, G string at the 9th fret – also a C chord.🤩
Hopefully you’re seeing this and starting to understand – Light Bulb 💡 moment!
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I thought I was familiar w/ chord shapes, but apparently only in the key of C, at least I guess that is the key they are in. I took the barre class that Tony offers a while back. I tried playing an A-shaped barre chord with index barring 3rd fret, but that’s not a C chord, which, from my understanding, is B/1st fret, D/2nd fret, & A/3rd fret. So I DO understand that I’m missing some cognitive theory here and will get there eventually. Thanks for your help! I WILL get it eventually.
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@campfire said: “I tried playing an A-shaped barre chord with index barring 3rd fret, but that’s not a C chord,”……
You are correct. If your index only bars the third fret it is a Bflat chord
To make a C chord, index finger bars the third fret (all strings) and the ring finger bars D,G,B strings on the 5th fret. I am focusing on those 3 strings because they are the three strings that differentiate the A shape from the other shapes (mostly). Bar those three strings on the fourth fret to make B chord and since there is only a half step between B and C when you go a half step higher to the 5th fret that is where the C chord is made. Again, only focusing on DGB strings. Any of those bars can be made into a 6 string chord “A shaped chord” if you bar the rest of the strings two frets back.
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Not to be picky, but i think @Crabby has his notes a bit off. A “C” chord is made of the notes C, E, and G. This is a triad. But he’s correct on the rest.
In your example, your fingers are playing those 3 notes, only in different places on the fretboard.
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