Guitar Chord Progression
How to spice up your chords on guitar using the 153 chord shape
Are you bored with always playing the same chords over and over again? Well, I can’t really blame you!
We spend so much time practicing things such as technique, tone, dynamics, and melodies. But what about chords?
Today I will show you how you can spice up basic chords on guitar using the 153 chord shape. This chord is perfect if you use fingerstyle guitar, and it is very simple to memorize and implement in your guitar playing.
You can learn more about what fingerstyle acoustic guitar is here in this article I wrote a while ago.
The Guitar Lesson
As always, let’s start with the video lesson to have an idea of what we are going to learn. This guitar chord progression is pretty simple and “basic.” There will be only two chord shapes to learn, and the fingerstyle pattern is pretty simple and straightforward. Check the guitar lesson down below.
The Chord Progression
Awesome! I am sure you like a guitar lesson. Let’s analyze the chord progression and learn the four chords you will need.
D major, A major, B minor, and G major
If you are familiar with the basic chord progression above you, probably realize that what I just played in the video doesn’t sound like the chord progression, you know.
The reason for that is because I am using a different chord shape that changes the interval structure and the voicing of the chord giving it a completely different sound.
Let me show you how to play this awesome guitar chord progression using the 153 chord shape.
The 153 Chord Shape
The 153 chord is a type of chords built on three notes: The root note, the 3rd, and the 5th. We call that triad (or chord).
The triad is the simplest chord in music, and you have been using it since you started playing guitar. In fact, all the basic chords you play are probably triads.
What a 153 chord shape looks like?
Let me show you the two-chord shape we are going to learn today. The chord progression we are about to learn has three major chords and one minor. For that reason, we will be learning two different 153 chord shapes.
The Major 153 chord shape
This is the major 153 chord shape. The number next to the notes refer to the left-hand fingering.
You will play the note on the 4th string with the index finger, the note on the 3rd string with the second finger, and the note on the 1st string with the fourth finger.
The index finger (the one on the 4th string) represents the ROOT note, giving the name of the major chord considering its position on the neck.
Example: Play this chord with the index finger on the 4th string fret two; this note is E; therefore, the chord will be E major,
The 153 Minor Chord Shape
The minor 153 chord shape is also pretty simple to memorize. We are lowering the 3rd the notes on the first string one fret down to change the chord from major to minor.
The left-hand fingering is the same, with the only difference in the first string where we will use the 3rd finger rather than the 4th.
Familiarize yourself with the two-chord shape before putting it together and play the whole thing.
If you find the chords too stretchy for your left hand, you can check this useful left-hand stretchy exercise here.
The Chord Progression Diagrams
Below you will find the chord progression written in chord diagrams. By using the chord diagrams, you will be able to see the chord shape as well as the distance between each chord. Obviously, the three major chords share the same 153 chord shape. Click to enlarge.
