When starting out on the guitar, or any instrument for that matter, it’s important to build a strong foundation. Seems like a pretty common sense principle, but we all can agree that we’ve had to fight the urge to tackle more advanced concepts and techniques before we were ready for them. So with this lesson I’d like to hit on the essential guitar chords for beginners to learn.

Like its major counterpart, the minor pentatonic scale is a highly popular scale due to its versatility and playability. A staple in blues music, this scale brings moodiness and tension that creates that familiar blues feel, particular when played over major/dominant chords.

In this lesson we look at chord formula basics to help make sense of these names and build an understanding of how chords are made.

Few concepts in music theory provide an “aha” moment quite like learning about the relative major and relative minor keys. The realization of the relationship between the two brings quite a bit of clarity to the learning the major/minor scale patterns and sets the groundwork for exploring the concept of modes.

The importance of knowing the intervals on guitar can’t be overstated. It allows you to better understand how scales and chords are constructed and gives you a deeper understanding of how music works.