Lesson 2: The Ionian Scale, Using 7 Chords instead of Normal Triads

Ionian Mode or Major Scale is the mother of all scales in western music, for this lesson, lets look at everything in the Key of G, it's a good key to work in on the guitar because you can play the entire key without it being interrupted by the neck stopping. Your chord forms and all the scale positions line up neatly in a row up and down horizontally. The key of G contains the letters G, A, B, C, D, E, F# and G again, following Ionian's step pattern. That's why you have separate sharp and flat Ionian keys. The chords for G Ionian are G Major 7th. The second A Minor 7th. The third B Minor 7th. The fourth chord is a C Major 7th. The fifth chord is D7. The sixth chord is an E Minor 7. The seventh chord is an F# half diminished or Minor 7th flat 5, (we use both terms).

Everyone usually begins by learning arpeggios that outline each chord. This becomes totally frustrating because everything sounds so contrived. The real deal is that those 7 seven chords, if you take things a step further are divided into two separate groups.
Chords which contain the fourth (Suspended) degree of the scale (The forth degree of the Ionian scale is the key to all of music's tension and release) and those chords that don't or what I call resolved and unresolved. If you can control the movement of that one note alone, you can play effortlessly through changes.
                                                    1 2