Playing Chord Patterns on Guitar

We've learned about the I - IV - V chords as well as the ii, iii and vi chords. Now let's play around with all these chords and see what melodies we can create.

I - IV - V - I Chord Pattern

Examples:

• Key of C: C - F - G - C
• Key of D: D - G - A - D
• Key of E : E - A - B - E

I - iii - IV - ii - I Chord Pattern

Examples:

• Key of F: F - A - Bb - G - F
• Key of G: G - B - C - A - G
• Key of A: A - C# - D - B - A

I - vi - ii - V - I Chord Pattern

Examples:

• Key of B: B - G# - C# - F# - B
• Key of Db: Db - Bb - Eb - Ab - Db
• Key of Eb: Eb - C - F - Bb - Eb
• Key of Gb: Gb - Eb - Ab - Db - Gb

I - ii - iii - IV - V - I Chord Pattern

Examples:

• Key of Ab: Ab - Bbm - Cm - Db - Eb - Ab
• Key of Bb: Bb - Cm - Dm - Eb - F - Bb

I - vi - ii - IV - I Chord Pattern

Examples:

• Key of C: C - Am - Dm - G - C
• Key of D: D - Bm - Em - A - D

Practice

Using the I - vi - IV - V - I - vi - V - I chord pattern play the following chords: C - Am - F - G - C - A - G - C

Listen to it several times, what songs come to mind when you play this pattern? One example that uses this pattern is the song "Unchained Melody."

Try it:

C - Am
Oh my love

F
my darling

G
I hunger for

C
your love

Am
a long

G
lonely time

Then back to C for the second verse.

You can play around with various chord patterns to see what other melodies you can come up with.