The Chord Charton the back of an envelope that is a music education in a nutshell... |
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Did you know that I got my start in piano playing from a chord chart I ordered from an ad in Popular Mechanics? Sounds unlikely, doesn't it? But it's true. I took piano lessons as a small child, but never would have really gotten into music if it were not for that $2. chord chart. The chords I learned from that little two-buck chart got me hooked. From then on I couldn't wait to learn the next chord, the next progression, the next riff, the next substitution. That 2-buck chord chart got me started in a career in music that....well, enough about that. The point is this: YOU can learn a TON about music just from this chord chart! Did you know that it is quite possible to know exactly which chords will occur in any given key? It's true. Once you know the principle behind it, it becomes easy to predict which chords you are going to encounter in most any song. Why is that? Because in any given key, there are 3 "primary" chords: the chords built on the 1st, 4th, and 5th degrees of the scale. I all these 3 chords "the fam", because they show up more often than any other chords in that key. Just like at your house you and your family probably show up oftener than, say, Tony Blair, Tiger Woods, or Governor Terminator. There are also 3 "secondary" chords: the chords built on the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th degrees of the scale. I call these "the cousins", because while they don't show up as often as "the fam", they show up much more often than, say, Hillary Clinton, Bill Murray, or Sean Hannity. Other chords can be used, of course, and sometimes are, but by mastering the "big 6" you probably will cover 80% to 90% of the chords you'll every meet in any given key -- and that's a HUGE advantage! The chart show below illustrates this principle in the Key of C:
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Now click on the button below to watch Duane demonstrate the chart:
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