How to Make Guitar Chords on a Synthesizer

Press buttons on a synthesizer to find different sounds.

Synthesizers are often associated with the '80s music sound, but they still find great use in rock and pop music of later generations. The appeal of a synthesizer is that it has the ability to sound like many different instruments, even guitars. Playing chords on a synthesizer is one of its common uses, but the abilities of a keyboard player and a guitar player are different. Once you understand how to build chords on a guitar, you can duplicate the sound on a synthesizer.

Instructions

1. Learn the names of the white keys on your synthesizer. Each key has a given name, and you determine the names of each key by relating it to the groups of two or three black keys. The white key before a group of two black keys is C; in-between two black keys is D; after two black keys is E; the key before a group of three black keys is F; in-between the first two in a group of three black keys is G; in-between the last two in a group of three is A; after three black keys is B.

2. Learn how the black keys function. If you go up from a white key to the next black key to the right, you make the note “sharp.” The first black key in a group of two is called C-sharp because it is one key higher than C. Alternatively, if you go down from a white key to the next black key to the left, the note is “flat.” The first black key in a group of two can also be called D-flat because it is one key lower than D.

3. Learn about music theory and how to build chords. Scales are built of seven consecutive notes; some keys require you to use sharps and flats. For example, the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C make up a C major scale. C is the first scale degree, D is the second, and so forth. A C major chord is made from the scale degrees 1, 3 and 5, or C, E and G.

4. Understand how chords are built on a guitar. The guitar has six strings, so it is capable of doubling some notes in a chord, like a C major chord. For example, in a C major chord, the lowest note a guitarist plays is a C. The next note is E, followed by G, C and E. The notes start on a low C and get higher consecutively.

5. Find the notes of a C major chord on your synthesizer. To make it sound more like a guitar, find a sample from your synthesizer that mimics the guitar. Play a low C, the next E, G, C and E. This chord will sound more like a guitar than simply playing C, E and G because it is voiced the same way it would be on a guitar.

References

• Fret Jam: Guitar Chord Theory
• Jazz Guitar: Jazz Guitar Chord Theory
• "How to Play Keyboards: Everything You Need to Know to Play Keyboards"; Roger Evans; 2001