How One Finger Chords Work

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Let's go over what you know so far:

• How to hold your guitar
• About open G tuning
• How to tune the guitar
• The thumb-brush strum
• Basic note values and rhythm
• Three chords
• Two songs!

Before we move on to the next picking pattern and start learning some more songs I want to talk a little bit about the bar chords that you have been using. By now you know your open G, a barre-C and a barre-D chord but you don't know why these one-finger chords work.

In order to understand why and how these chords work we have to talk about the chromatic scale.

The Chromatic Scale

In Western music (as in "Western Civilization") there are twelve notes. The twelve notes are named after the letters A through G with a half-step between each pair of letters except between B & C and E & F:

A | B C | D | E F | G |

The " | " symbol is used to represent a half step

Your half step is either a sharp (#) or a flat (b)

The half step between A and B can be called either A# or Bb.

A# means that the A note is raised one half step higher. Bb is the B note lowered one half step. A# and Bb are the same note and the other half steps follow the same pattern.

So with all twelve notes laid out you have the chromatic scale:

A  A#/Bb  B  C  C#/Db  D  D#/Eb  E  F  F#/Gb  G  G#/Ab
1   2     3  4    5    6    7    8  9   10   11   12

Once you understand the idea of half steps you can just write out your chromatic scale like this to save space and make it a tad clearer.

A | B C | D | E F | G |

The " | " symbol is used to represent a half step

There is an old saying that goes, "If you learn one thing you have learned ten thousand things." When it comes to the chromatic scale that is a true statement. Everything, and I mean everything, you do on the fretboard of your guitar is based on the chromatic scale.

One thing to keep in mind is that the chromatic scale can start on any note. We started with the A note in the example above, but on the guitar in open G we would write out the chromatic scale starting with a G. In fact, we're about to do just that.

The Chromatic Scale On Your Fretboard

The frets on your guitar are laid out in half-steps. When we tune a guitar to open G the barre chords wind up following the steps of the chromatic scale.

Fret: 0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12
      G  |  A  |  B  C  |  D  |  E   F  |   G

If your guitar is tuned to open G a barre chord at the first fret has to be G#/Ab and a barre chord at the second fret has to be A. If you look at how this is laid out your barre chord at the fifth fret is C and at the seventh fret you get D. Since everything repeats itself after twelve frets you can get another G chord by barring across the twelfth fret.

We know that G is an open chord, so starting with the first fret:

Is that cool or what?

The Capo

The other amazing thing about this is that when you add a capo into the equation you can start playing in other keys without a lot of fuss.

You see, the capo works like your barre chords. If you capo at the second fret your guitar is now in open A tuning. The fifth fret and seventh fret chords we were using in open G both move down two frets.

So in G you were playing G, C and D. Capo at the second fret and everything changes to A, D and E.

Now look at the chord chart and see if you can figure out what you would play capoed at the third fret or the fourth fret. Try playing "Skip To My Lou" in A and "Boil Them Cabbage Down" in B.

Single Strings

This isn't just limited to chords. Each string on your guitar follows the chromatic scale. If you know what note the string is tuned to and you know the chromatic scale it's not a big deal to figure out all of the notes on the guitar.

In open G tuning the first string of your guitar is tuned to D:

      D  D#/Eb  E  F  F#/Gb  G  G#/Ab  A  A#/Bb  B  C  C#/Db  D
Fret: 0    1    2  3    4    5   6     7    8    9  10  11   12

And now you know every note on that string. It's that simple. The cool thing is that it works with any fretted instrument. If you know this inside out you can pick up almost anything and play it!

Don't go crazy memorizing this. Live with the concept for a while and roll some ideas through your head as we expand on your right hand technique. We will come back to the chromatic scale and some other music theory "stuff" once we start working on the alternating bass picking pattern.

But before we get into that, let's take a look at adding some bass notes to your basic thumb-brush strum.

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