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triad Inversions - learn 144 chords

*Major Triads have a root, 3rd and a 5th. (see note below on intervals)
Minor triads have a root, minor third and a 5th

An F major chord as an example would have would have an F (root) an A (third) and a C (fifth)

Chords do not have to have the notes in order. The root does not have to be the lowest note

.
We often use inversions as shown below

F major chords

       
             1 3 5             3 5 1            3 5 1             5 1 3           5 1 3             1 3 5

Numbers shown below chord diagrams are the intervals

The first F chord has the root in the bass followed by the 3rd and 5th. This is called root position.
The next F chord is called 1st inversion 3rd 5th root
1st inversion - third fifth root
2nd inversion - 5th root 3rd
2nd inversion - 5th root 3rd
Root position - root 3rd 5th

F minor chords

               
the minor chords are the same inversions as the majors only they have
minor thirds (sometimes referred to as flat thirds or a note 1 1/2 steps above the root)

1) learn where all instances of the F major chords are in relation to one another.

2) Learn where all instances of the F minor are

3) Learn where the roots are in each form (signified by the "1" underneath the chord grids
(example

4) pick a note on any of the first 4 strings and play the correct major or minor chord off
of that root

examples for #4
if you picked the second string (B string) on the 5th fret, the note is E. To play an E major either the third or the fourth chords in the series above would have worked. If you wanted to play E minor, the third or fourth chord in the minor series would work.

If you see all F chords and how far apart they are, you can start up one fret higher, keep the relationships, and you have all F#majors and minors etc.  Six major forms plus six minor forms plus all the 12 note names (roots) gives us 144 chords.

Excerpt from Joe Walsh's "life's been good to me so far" for a good example of these
highly functional three string triads.
           

             F            C         F                F           C         F                 Am       G        Am             Am       G         Am  

note: roman numerals on chord diagrams refer to the position (fret) the chord is played on.

*third = a note two whole steps above a root (reference tone)
fifth = a note three and one half steps above a root