6 String Freedom

Part 5: Understand the chords you already hold · Lesson 042 / 117

Practice stop: two familiar triads in time

Practice stop — no rush
Today’s one thing

Connect chord understanding to a relaxed strumming pattern.

Use C and Am, both of which you can now describe by their notes. C contains C–E–G; Am contains A–C–E. Two ingredients, C and E, are shared, while G and A distinguish the collections.

Strum C for one four-beat bar, then Am for one. First use one attack per bar; then try four quarter-note attacks. Keep naming the chord's ingredients as a separate slow exercise rather than forcing a spoken analysis into the performance.

Pick the shared C and E in each grip. Listen to how the surrounding chord changes their context. We will later give precise names to those changing roles. Today, simply identify what stays and what changes.

Finish by playing the passage after a short pause. If your counting suffers, simplify the strum. If naming suffers, stop the rhythm and inspect one chord. These are connected skills, but they need not be mastered simultaneously.

Hear it

C Am Rhythm

Audio file

Four-beat count-in · 60 BPM · Warm sampled electric guitar. Listen once before playing along.

A concrete example

C | Am | C | Am. Shared note names: C and E. C uses G; Am uses A.

C chordCEADGBe×Am chordAmEADGBe×
Low E is left; high E is right. Open circles mean open strings; × means leave the string silent. Use relaxed, comfortable voicings.

Fretboard view

High E (string 1) is the top line, matching guitar tablature. Select a note to hear it.

Root / tonicChord toneTargetChanged / colour noteOther note
Open C major: C–E–G–C–E
Five strings, three distinct chord notes.
Guitar fretboard diagram: Open C major: C–E–G–C–E. High E string on top, frets 0 to 3. Notes C, E, G, C, E.
C major shares the notes C and E with A minor.
Play notes from a larger button list
Open A minor: A–E–A–C–E
A minor adds A and keeps C and E.
Guitar fretboard diagram: Open A minor: A–E–A–C–E. High E string on top, frets 0 to 3. Notes A, E, A, C, E.
Hear the two chords without rushing the change.
Play notes from a larger button list

One small map at a time. Hear the notes, then play the example without looking.

Try it, slowly

  1. Strum once per bar for four bars.
  2. Pick and name each chord separately.
  3. Return to the progression with quarter-note strums and keep the four-beat count.

Check one idea

Which note names are shared by C major and A minor?

Show the explanation

C and E. C major adds G to those; A minor adds A. Sharing notes does not make the two chord names interchangeable.

A good place to stop

You can keep time and explain the two chords in separate, comfortable passes.

Return to the example after a short break. A clear explanation matters more than speed.