Complete Guitar Chord Construction Method: Guitar Lessons

Master chord construction with the one, three, five formula across keys to reproduce many chords from a single system. This formula liberates rhythm and lead work on the guitar.

Explore essential music theory terms for guitar chord construction, including half steps, whole steps, intervals, sharps, flats, chords, major and minor chords, arpeggios, major scales, and the one-three-five structure.

Explore how the piano shows naturals, sharps, and flats across white and black keys, then relate this octave-based layout to the guitar fretboard.

Discover how harmony arises from skipping notes on the piano, build chords from the C major scale, and compare consonance and dissonance to enhance guitar chord construction.

Learn chord construction from triads to extended shapes, understanding that a C major chord uses notes C, E, and G. Build any major, minor, or seventh chord on demand.

Explore the major scale construction and its role in diatonic harmony; learn the whole-step, whole-step, half-step, whole-step, whole-step, whole-step, half-step pattern on one string and apply it to any key.

Learn how to construct major triads from the major scale using the one-three-five pattern, and explore minor, diminished, and augmented variants, plus voicings across octaves on guitar.

Learn how to construct minor triads using the same one three five framework as major chords, by flattening the third and applying the routine across the fretboard.

Build the diminished triad from the one flat three flat five formula, learning to lower the three and five. Apply the pattern to any key and explore fingerings and examples.

Explore the augmented triad and its construction as a major chord with a raised five, using the A13 sharp five formula, voicing, and tension in context.

Explore the suspended fourth chord and how the four replaces the three to create tension that resolves in major chords, count through the scale on D, A, and E.

Build diatonic major, minor, and diminished triads from the major scale using the 1-3-5 structure, whole-step and half-step intervals, and scale degrees 1-7.

Explore the naturally occurring diatonic chords in the key of G on guitar by building major and minor triads (1-3-5) across the fretboard, with patterns, practice, and key awareness.

Explore chordal scales in G and C with capo to keep shapes open; learn the 1–7 chord sequence in G major (major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminished).

Master diatonic triads in c major—major one, minor two, minor three, major four, major five, minor six, and diminished seven—using open strings five to three with capo on first fret.

Extend triads into seventh chords by adding diatonically occurring sevenths, using the major scale as the benchmark to expand your chord vocabulary.

construct major seven chords by adding the seventh scale degree to a major triad using the one-three-five-seven formula, and alter one note by a half step to flavor the chord.

Discover how to build minor seventh chords from minor triads using a flat seven, with easy fretboard formulas and practical open and barre shapes for popular keys.

Explore how to build dominant seventh chords from major triads by adding a flat seven, using the major scale and fretboard exploration to embellish chords.

learn the half-diminished seventh chord on guitar, built from the seventh scale degree in G major as a diminished triad with a flat seven, i.e., minor seven flat five.

Discover how to form a minor major seven chord by adding a major seventh to a minor triad. Practice the formula on the fretboard and hear the jazz sound.

Explore the augmented seventh chord, a dominant seventh with a raised fifth, and learn quick shapes across keys, muting options, and multiple forms to expand chord vocabulary, especially in jazz.

Explore the fully diminished chord by stacking minor thirds, its non-diatonic role as a passing or leading tone to the one, and versatile voicings with a dominant-like sound.

Extend your chord vocabulary beyond the seventh by exploring ninth, 11th, 13th, and sixth chords, while building a flexible formula-based skill to identify and construct chords on the fly.

Consolidate your progress by practicing the course exercises to deepen your organic understanding of chords and harmony, building a versatile chord vocabulary through fretboard puzzles.