Chord & FretFolk · three-chord — Guitar
What is the Folk · three-chord progression?
The Folk · three-chord progression is G → C → D (I – IV – V), in the key of G. Read as harmonic function it moves tonic → subdominant → dominant, arriving home on a cadence. Play one chord per bar and let it loop.
Four chords, a whole story: G (I, home) → C (IV, the stroll) → D (V, time to come back). Hit play. First pass, just listen. Second pass, follow with your finger on the names — and notice that by the second-to-last chord, your body already knows G — home — is coming.
Guitar
Its six strings spread across a wide neck, so each chord has room to ring, and one player can be the rhythm and the harmony at the same time. Folk, country and Celtic songs are built on the acoustic guitar; in reggae it chops the off-beat, and Hawaiian slack-key is its own gentle guitar tradition. Its home chord G keeps its lowest note on G and rings 3 open strings.
Cadences — Harmony comes to rest here — hear every cadence type and train your ear · try it in Chord & Fret
Save this progression in Chord & FretReharmonize — Want richer substitutions? Reharmonize the progression in a tap · open in Chord & Fret
Learn each chord of the trip
This is one shape of G. In Chord & Fret, you open every position of all 3 chords in this progression along the neck — on any instrument, and hear each one. Open in Chord & Fret →
Metronome — Drill this change in time, with tap tempo and subdivisions · see it in Chord & Fret
If you want to keep exploring, the Chord & Fret app picks up right here, with every chord and scale variation one tap away. App stores, today.