Diatonic chords are chords that naturally occur within a key. They contain only the notes found in the scale (or key) that you’re working in. For guitarists and especially those wanting to play and jam with other musicians, this is a must know concept. More on this in my upcoming Music Theory for Guitarists module.

C Major Scale with Diatonic Chords

Use the interactive TAB to set your tempo (starting much slower is fine!). Use the 'loop' feature to challenge yourself play along to this in a loop four times!

Here we simply pick the C major Scale with the thumb, then strum the chord of which that is the root note of. The result is playing each chord and root note in the key of C, which needs to be memorised. The key of C is easier to memorise than most keys as it has no sharps (#) or flats (b) in either the scale or any of these chords!