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Section 3—

Chord Sequences Part 1

ABBREVIATIONSRoman numerals I VII

indicate chordrelationships within a key.

m maj minormajor

Song sectionsbr bridge :

c ch codachorus

hk i introhook

pch v versepre-chorus

Most of the chord-sequence examplesare standardized for comparison

intoFamous songs referred to in C or A minor. C major

orthe key of the original recordings A minor are not necessarily in.

Many guitarists write songs but don't necessarily know the theory behind the chords – they simply use their ears.
Sometimes a melody or a riff will suggest an unusual chord change, and you may later discover that you have
included a chord that is not strictly "in key". If it works in the context of the song, that's fine. The history of music is
littered with broken rules.

Chords in a Major Key
In fact, though, there is a simple formula for working out which chords fit together best. Let's look at it in a guitar-
friendly key, C major. The notes of the C major scale are: C D E F G A B. They are separated by a set pattern of
intervals: tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone (full step, full step, half-step, full step, full step, full step,
half-step). In frets, the pattern is: 2 2 1 2 2 2 1. This pattern governs all major scales, regardless of the starting note.
You can test this by choosing any note on any string and going up the string playing the notes in the 2 2 1 2 2 2 1
pattern. You will always get a major scale.

Scale of C major