C, G, and D Major 3 String Triads I IV I V Progression Video Transcript

Hello, friends. Chris with beginningguitaronline.com. In this video, we're leading you through exactly where to place your fingers to create the triads that make up the I-IV-V chords in all of the common major keys for guitar playing. I'll lead you through a breakdown of each of the keys, going slowly, playing four beats on each chord, and showing you where to place your fingers to create the triads for each key. 

C Major

First up is the key of C Major. We'll be exploring the triads that make up the I-IV-V chords in this segment. Here's C. We play open G, first finger C, open E. We'll then go to our four chord, F Major. Second finger on A, the first finger doing a small bar across C and F natural on the top. Back to C. Now G, open third, open second, and our pinky on the third fret of the first string. Back to C. Open one open.

All together. F. Back to C. G. Back to C. And, here, we get a closeup look. C. One, two, ready, play. F. Back to C. G. Back to C.

G Major

And here we walk through the triads of G Major, beginning with G, open third, open second, pinky on the third fret G of the first string. Our four chord is C. Open third, first finger C, open E. Back to G. Now D Major, first finger on the second fret. A found on the third string, ring finger on third fret. D, third fret of the second string. F-sharp, second finger on second fret of the first string. 

And back to G. Let's play through it together. Here's G, one, two, three, G. C. Back to G. Now D. Back to G. G Major, one, two, ready, play. C. Back to G. D. Back to G.

D Major

Here we go through the triads of D Major. Our first chord is D, first finger on the second fret of the third string. Ring finger on the third fret of the second string. The middle finger is on the second fret of the first string. Our notes are A, D, and F-sharp. The next chord is G Major. Open third, open second. Pinky on the third fret G of the E string. And A Major. 

First finger on A, second fret third string. Second finger on second fret second string. Open E on the top. A, C-sharp, E. And back to D. You can keep your first finger planted on the A. Put your third finger on the third fret of the second string, and your second finger on the second fret of the first string, and you've pivoted right back to D Major. 

All together. D Major. One, two, ready, play. G Major. A Major. Back to D. And remember to keep that first finger down on the A as you pivot back to D Major. Let's do it one more time. D. G. A. Back to D. Always look for connecting fingers. 

You'll notice that that first finger remained in the same place between the A Major chord and the D Major chord. You're also now probably catching on to the fact that we're using that G triad in all three of our first three-chord progressions here. D Major. One, two, ready, play. G. Back to D. A. Back to D.

Adding Some Strum Patterns to the Triads

Now that you've had a chance to explore the triads that make up the I-IV-V progression, in each of our most common major keys that we often find ourselves playing on guitar, we can now add a steady strum pattern. 

We were arpeggiating through our triad exercises there, meaning we were playing one note of the chord at a time. Now adding a simple strum pattern, we really hear how these chords put together make up the bases of so many fantastic folk songs. Each of these triad progressions can be played with four beats of rest in between each change. Remember it's the time between the chords to get your handset up correctly that's critical. 

As long as it's rhythmic, your brain will track along and remember the motor movements. We'll now take that approach of adding a good amount of rhythmic time between the chord changes to each of the I-IV-V progressions.

C Major Triads with Strum Pattern

C Major, four beats of rest between the changes. C, ready, play. F, two, ready, play. C, two, ready, play. G, two, ready, play. Back to C, two, ready, play. 

C Major now with no rest between the changes. One, two, ready, play. F. Back to C. G. Back to C.

G Major Triads with Strum Pattern

G Major with four beats of rest between the changes. One, two, ready, play. C, two, ready, play. Back to G, two, ready, play. D, two, ready, play. Back to G, two, ready, play.

G Major with no rest between the changes. One, two, ready, play. C. Back to G. Now D. Back to G.

D Major Triads with Strum Pattern

D Major with four beats of rest between the changes. One, two, ready, play. G, two, ready, play. Back to D, two, ready, play. A, two, ready, play. Back to D, two, ready, play. Again, pivoting that first finger stays in the same spot and pivots the fingers around back to the D.

Here we go, D Major with no pause in between the changes. One, two, ready, play. G. Back to D. A. Back to D.

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