Chord Progression

A scale is a group of 7 notes that sound good together (usually followed by the octave of the root note). To Find the notes you must look at the interval pattern, and you must understand whole and half steps.

Lets pick C Major Scale for example purposes. Now all you do is start with C and follow the interval pattern. The interval pattern for the major scale is W-W-H-W-W-W-H. So C whole step to D another whole step to E half step to F (Note: There are no sharps or flats between E and F. The same applies between B and C) then we take a whole step to G then another whole step to A then another whole step to B and finally a half step to C (the octave note). So we get these notes: C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. Some of them are minor chords, some of them are major chords, some of them are diminished chords.

For minor scale the interval pattern is W-H-W-W-H-W-W.

The below chart shows which degree is minor and which is major in a major and minor scale.

Chord progressions are the basis of playing guitar. They set a basic foundation of rhythm. The first thing you must do is find a key which you would like to work in. Let's take the key of C for example. The notes in the C Major Scale are C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. Now take the degrees of these notes and write them out.
I     II    III   IV    V     VI    VII        I(Octave)
Major Minor Minor Major Major Minor Diminished Major

Key of C chords = C Major, D minor, E minor, F Major, G Major, A Minor, B diminished, C Major

There are some standard Chord Progressions. Such as a Blues Progression -> I - IV - V. Try playing C major, F major, then G major chord together. Now try playing a I - III - IV - V progression using C major, E minor, Fmajor, G major. Notice that the III was an E minor chord because the III degree is minor. Try making up your own progressions. Have fun with it. But remember: I, IV, V are Major and II, III, VI, VII are Minor. These all sound good because they're in the same key. They're in the same key (C) because all of the chords that you went down the list with earlier use the same 7 notes which are the notes of the C major scale.