Why Some Guitar Chords Sound Great Together (and others sound trash)

When playing different chords, you might have noticed that some sound really good together while others sound terrible. There’s a really good reason for this which we’ll get into in this article.

Keep reading to find out why some chords sound great together and how to be sure you’re playing compatible chords.

Understanding Which Chords Go Together

If you’ve learned a few chords on the guitar in order to play a certain song, you’ll have noticed how they all sound good together. The reason that those certain chords sound good together is because they are all made up of notes that work together on a harmonic level.

The notes of all of these chords are made up from the notes of a scale (in most cases the major scale). A scale is a group of notes that can be played in sequence. Each scale is based around a root note, for example the scale of C has a C root note which is the start note of the scale. It ends on the note just before the root. So in the case of C the notes run as follows, C, D, E, F, G, A, B. The next note is another C but it is 1 octave higher than the original C that we started on.

It’s called an octave because it is 8 tones away from the root. For example, an A note has a frequency of 440 Hz and the next A, an octave higher, has a frequency of 880 Hz.

Chord Progressions

The group of notes explains how we create chords that go together well. But how does that apply to which chords work well together? Well, chords are usually grouped into what are known as chord progressions.

One of the most common chord progressions is the 1, 4, 5 progression. This refers to the 1st, 4th and 5th chord in any key.  The 1st chord is typically the root chord and as long as we know the root chord we can work out the 4th and 5th.

The root chord is often the chord the song starts and ends with. So, as long as we know the root chord all we need to do is count up 4 notes from that first chord to find the 4th chord and then count up 5 notes from the first chord to find the 5th chord. 

But, for almost every chord you don’t use the musical alphabet to count notes. All you use are the natural notes, the white keys on a piano. Or A, B, C, D, E, F, G. For the purposes of chord finding you ignore the sharps and flats.

So let’s take the E chord as an example, using E as our starting chord (root chord), count up like this; E is number 1, F is number 2, G is number 3, A is number 4 and B is number 5. So we now know that if E is the root chord, A is the 4th and B is the 5th.

That works for most chords so let’s take one more example. Let’s use A as our root chord. Which means that A is number 1, B is number 2, C is number 3, D is number 4 and E is number 5. So we now know that the 1, 4 and 5 in the key of A are A, D and E.

Exceptions To The Rule

This method works for most chords which have a root note that is not a sharp or a flat. There are, however, two exceptions which are the key of F and the key of B.

In the key of B, the 5th chord is F# not the F chord as you would expect from using the 1, 4, 5 method of counting that we just used. 

Then, in the key of F the 4th chord is Bb instead of B.

All of the other root chords have natural notes as their 4th and 5th chords. It’s only B and F that are different. This does make it quite easy to remember though, because the 5th chord in the key of B is F#, and the 4th chord in the key of F is Bb.

So all you need to remember is to flatten the B in the key of F and sharpen the F in the key of B.

The 1, 4 & 5 Chords For All Natural Root Chords

The Circle of Fifths

If you don’t want to count through all of the chords in your head and would prefer to use a chart. We have a free downloadable copy of the circle of fifths. This has all of the chord steps you will need to quickly navigate from the root to the 4th and 5th chord quickly and easily, plus much more information besides.

For the purpose of this article all you need to know is that if you look at the chord that is your root chord, the chord next to it on the left is the 4th and the chord to the right of it is the 5th. 

Another interesting and useful thing about the circle of fifths is that the minor chord directly below the root chord is its relative minor and can also be incorporated into the song without sounding discordant.

Once you get to grips with these common chord progressions you will be able to recognise patterns in many of your favourite songs which will make it easier to learn how to play them. Plus, as you progress, it will also help you to decide which chords to use when writing your own songs as well.

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