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Music Theory 101
by; Larry McCabe

How to Quickly Find
the I, IV & V Chords

by Gerald Jones

Most tunes are made up of only three chords. In the key of G they are G, C & D. You hear them called I, IV & V chords. This sounds mysterious but is really a simple shorthand for chord changes that is independent of the key. If I were to write out a G scale:

Notice that G, C, and D notes are the 1^st, 4^th, and 5^th notes of the scale.

If I do the same with a C scale then C, F, and G notes are the 1^st, 4^th, and 5^th notes of the scale.

This is the same for any scale. The great thing about this is that if people have capos at different frets you can just call out or use fingers to tell them the chord changes in numbers. It's up to them to play the proper chord for where they are capoed. If you call out chords in a loud jam "C" can sound a lot like "E", etc. On a banjo you can play these three chords using just two positions. I call them a "D" form and an "F" form since that is the chords they make near the nut of the banjo. When you move them to different frets they make other chords. If you put the 1^st string of the D position on the 9^th fret it becomes a G chord. If you put the 1^st string of the F position on the 10^th fret it becomes a C chord.

To get your I, IV & V chords all you need to do is:

(1) Start with a D position at whatever fret it takes to get the I chord. In G that is the 9^th fret.
(2) To get the IV chord just move up one fret and swap your fingers on the 2^nd and 3^rd strings and you are automatically making a C (or IV chord in the key of G).
(3) Move the F position up two more frets and you are making the D (or V chord) automatically.

As long as you get the first chord right the others are right too. You don’t even have to know the names of the chords though you should. Another cool thing is that most tunes use only three chords and usually the first one is the same as the key you are in. When you hear a chord change do one of the other two. You have a 50/50 chance of being right! As an exercise play the chords to any three chord songs up the next using these three positions.

Let's pick!
Gerald Jones
http://www.AcousticMusician.com