Many people starting to play the guitar concentrate on getting recognisable sounds and miss out learning the fundamentals of music. However, getting to grips with these principles will make songwriting, improvising and playing with other musicians much easier.

To help you understand the simple philosophy underpinning chords we have put together this Fundamentals section of definitions and explanations.

The Basics
Definition of many terms that you may have heard of but don't know the exact meaning such as pitch, octave, scale and chord.

Key, Scales & Chord
How chords and key are related, and how this helps in working out how to play songs and writing your own.

Chord Extensions
How some unusual chords get their names, and how adding notes lets songwriters estabilish a style of music, or change the colour and feel of a song using chord substitution.

Styles & Feel
To show how chord extensions can effect the style and feel of a song we look at how 7th chords are used to good effect in Lyin' Eyes by the Eagles, Day Tripper by The Beatles, Parisian Walkway by Gary Moore, Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin.