Well, I’m a bit reluctant to do that as I believe that working these kind of things out for yourself will be more beneficial to your development in the long run. That said, I think this grip can be manageable if you are a beginner (the image comes from a different site, the notes in red are not the root note):
In the Practical Music Theory Course, Justin puts a great emphasis on (1) learning where each note can be found on the fretboard and (2) learning a smallish number of chord grips and how those can be manipulated to arrive at different chords. A useful tool for the 1st one is the “chord-finding method” worksheet that you can download here under the “Resources” tab:
On this worksheet, you can add the following information to aid you in your practice:
Chord equation: it refers to the chord formula, e.g. 1 3 5 for major triads; 1b3 5 for minor triads; 1 3 #5 for augmented triads; 1 b3 b5 for diminished triads. Of course, chords with more than 3 distinct notes (“letters”) also exist, so this formula can get longer.
Key: this is for the root note of the chord; at the beginner stage, it is the lowest note in the chord.
Then, based on the root note and the chord formula, you can write out the notes you’d like to find on the fretboard, and then mark them on the diagram accordingly. After that, it’s only a question of how comfortable each grip is to play, and which one of those grips is the most appropriate for the given song.
If you remove the note on the 3rd string from the diagram @Jozsef posted, that leaves the three notes you need for the triad - frets 2 and 3.
The other strings are muted.
The overwheleming proportion of diminished chord is in the form of an extended diminished chord, extended to a 7th version, not the triad version.
These are usually called minor 7 flat 5 (m7b5) chords.
I understand the C major scale and the intervals. I understand the key of C begins with C and then D, E, F, G, A B back to C… E to F and B to C are natural half steps. But I don’t understand exactly what Justin is doing at 1:50 onwards playing the notes? I know if we number the notes in a scale or key we then choose 3 numbers/notes to make chords? If I have that right? Can anyone help me further please
From 1:50, Justin is playing the C major scale - specifically in the open position- and then showing how the chords of the C Major scale ( in this case the open chords C, Dm, Em etc) superimpose perfectly over the scale.
Sorry I just came back to this. I see now thank you. Each time he plays a chord he plays the C major scale we learned? And that the notes are ‘contained’ within this scale or the first 3 frets?
Yep, every note in any of those chords comes from the scale. They have to, by definition.
A good way to see it, is to simply write the C major scale out, then list the chords underneath, then write the notes in those chords next to them.
You’ll see its all connected. Its all one thing really.
