whats a root note

[nauc]

read its the first note of a scale or chord

is that right

thanks

[ojedad23]

yea, fx if you were to play an a chord. A would be the root note and c and e the other two notes.

[AXE]

A B C D E F G. < roots ...

[nauc]

Originally Posted by ojedad23

yea, fx if you were to play an a chord. A would be the root note and c and e the other two notes.

alright, thanks

[nauc]

Originally Posted by AXE

A B C D E F G. < roots ...

har har har

[Tons of Sobs]

Originally Posted by nauc

read its the first note of a scale or chord

is that right

thanks

It's the first note of a scale - but not necessarily the first note of a chord.
A simple major triad for instance can be the first, major third and fifth of the scale, e.g, the chord of c major is c, e, and g. But you can play them in the order; e.g. on the first three string of the guitar, you can play g, c & e. It's still a c major.

John

[PraXis]

YouTube - Sepultura "Roots Bloody Roots"

YouTube - Sepultura "Roots Bloody Roots"

[AXE]

We are going to discuss the Basics of Chord Building and Major Scales(Ionian), once you
understand the basics you can then move on and study more advanced Theory Lessons at
provided links (bottom of page). The basics are a must to understand, especially if you want
to create your own music.

The Basic Chord is made up of 3 notes I, III, V from the scale of the chord being formed.

• Example:
  The C chord would be C note(I), the E note(III), and the G note(V).
  The A chord would be A note(I), the C# note(III), and the E note(V).
  

The Minor Chord is the same thing except you play a flat III note, one fret back.

• Example:
  The C minor chord would be C note(I), the Eb note(bIII), and the G note(V).
  The A minor chord would be A note(I), the C note(bIII), and the E note(V).
  

There are basically unlimited chords that can be formed, Major, Minor, Dominant, Diminished, Suspended, and Augmented to name a few.
The power chord is very popular with Rock music, it is the same
concept as above but you leave out the III note, I and V is the only
notes played.
Example:
The E power chord(also called E5) contains the E note(I)
and the B note(V).

There are 7 notes in the Major scale which can contain sharps(#)
and flats(b). A sharp or flat is actually one fret up or down from the
natural note on the guitar.
The first note is always labeled as I and each note following is +1.


Below is the Major Scale for each Root Note.


Below is the Chord Formulas Chart.


The Circle of Fifths(clockwise) or Circle of Fourths(counter clockwise). With each step
that will be the actual 5th(V) from the previous note/chord scale. Use C for a starting
point and look at the Major Scale above, you will see the 5th (V) note is the G, now
move to the G scale and the 5th will be the D note, that corresponds to each step
around the circle. This can be used to build chord progressions very quickly.

Circle of Fifths

[Boleskinehouse]

It's not quite that simple.

[nauc]

Originally Posted by Boleskinehouse

It's not quite that simple.

lol, didnt really think so. thats why i always hated music theory and why i keep walkin away from it and play whats in my head or things that i hear

[Boleskinehouse]

Nobody needs any "theory". Pick the damn thing up and play it.

[siore]

Everybody needs a little theory, so you can forget it after a while.

[PABassPlayer]

Root notes are what the bass player plays....

[jppr8]

it's that noise she makes when...

[theguitarmaster]

The question is not answered all that easily... A scale or a chord can have a root, and as pointed out by others, the root is not necessarily the lowest note of the chord.

You start to delve into the area of inversions and modes here. An inversion is a chord where the lowest note is not the root. So, G,C,E could be thought of as a C chord, even though the lowest note is not a C. This can be written as C/G, which you've probably seen before. There are many inversions of the same chord going up and down the scales and the neck of the guitar, typically achieved by playing your open chord shapes but using bars at different parts of the neck, or simplified chords using less than all 6 strings.

Modes are similar in a way, in that you begin by playing a major scale, but not the "ROOT" note, i.e. play a C major scale, but starting on D (this would be Dorian mode). As each mode has an associated root chord (C ionian, D dorian, E phrygian, F myxolidian, G Lydian, A Aeolian and B locrian) you can write a song in each of these modes by using the chords from C major but changing the root chord, i.e. maybe the chord that you keep coming back to, and the scale that you base your melodies around to be a note (or chord) from C major, other than C.

Off the top of my head, Guns and Roses Sweet Child of Mine is a good example of a song in myxolidian mode. And I think that David Bowie's "Man Who Sold the World" is a good example of switching between modes from Phygian mode to Aeolian (I think!!!).

hope this helps, and doesn't just make it more confusing. I find this quite useful:

The Guitar Master's Interactive Circle of Fifths