There is an awful lot packed into this lesson, don't try and consume it all at once, I've been as brief as I can. I have included the theory on how to work out a chord from the name, although I've left a lot out. As ever feel free to get in touch with any questions.
Double stops
The simpliest type of chords to play are just two notes, known as double stops, these are usually, root and fifth, or root and third. Any combination of two notes is a double stop though. The introduction to Smoke on the water is good example.
The primary triads
Most chords are constructed in thirds, these are known as the primary triads. This means you use every third note from the scale.
C major scale
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
Starting with the note C in a C major scale you go up the scale to the third note, E, then go up three more, G.
The first chord in this scale is C major
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
You may have noticed that chords are constructed with Root, third and fifth
Let's now look at the D or the second degree of the scale. If we follow the same pattern as before we have, D, F and A,
this is a D minor chord. It is a minor chord as the third (in this case the F)
is a minor third relative to the D (3 semitones above), where as for the C chord, the third (E) is a major third relative to the C (4 semitones above)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
The third of a chord determines whether it is a major or minor chord. Major chords tend to be referred to without the word major in them, simply just a C chord
I shall continue to map out each of the other chords below and name them
E minor
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
F major
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
G major
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
A minor
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
B° (diminished)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
The primary triads for a C major scale are:
C major,
D minor,
E minor,
F major,
G major,
A minor and
B diminished. This pattern is the same for any major scale,
so we refer to each chord with roman numerals, we used UPPERCASE for major chords and lowercase for minor. The numerals number from I being the root chord.
I
ii
iii
IV
V
vi
vi
C major
D minor
E minor
F major
G major
A minor
B diminished
Adding the sevens
We can further extend each chord to include the next triad, this being the seventh interval, so for C major we get
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
This chord is known as a C major seven (△7)
Again we can do this with each of the other 6 six chords giving us:
D minor seven
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
E minor seven
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
F major seven
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
G major dominant seven
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
A minor seven
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
B minor seven flat five (also known as half diminished𝆩)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
The numbering of these chords is:
I△7
ii7
iii7
IV△7
V7
vi7
vi7♭5
C major 7
D minor 7
E minor 7
F major 7
G 7 (dominant)
A minor 7
B minor 7 ♭5
You can apply this theory to any scale/mode you can think of, you may end up with some rather unusually named chords, but what's in name? For more on different seven chords see here
Add chords
You can add any interval to a chord and get an add chord, Cadd9 is a popular chord
Cadd9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
Suspended chords
There are more chords than those I've outlined above, first let's start with suspended chords.
Suspended chords are so called because the third in the chord is missing and replaced with usually a second or a fourth (although you can use any other tone).
These chords are either a sus2 or a sus4 chord
Csus2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
Csus4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
Six chords
Next we can add the 6 to a chord. This can apply to a major or minor chord, although in both cases, it is the major 6 that is added (you can also have minor 6 chords)
C6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C minor6 (C minor major 6)
1
2
m3
4
5
6
m7
C
D
E♭
F
G
A
B♭
Adding the minor six to chords
You can also add the minor 6 to a chord, we could play a Bminor minor 6 for example
Bmm6
1
2
m3
4
5
m6
7
B
C♯
D
E
F♯
G
A
Extended chords (Nines, elevens, thirteenths)
These major chords all have the minor seven played, along with either a second (for a nine, 7 + 2 = 9), a fourth (for an eleven, 7 + 4 = 11)
and finally a sixth (for a thirteenth, 7 + 6 = 13). E9 (E,G♯,B,D,F♯) E11 (E,G♯,B,D,A) E13 (E,G♯,B,D,C♯)
To make things more complex, you can sharpen or flatten these extensions! You may have heard of the ♯9 chord, also commonly called
the Hendrix chord, this is a really funky chord, it can't decide whether it's a major or minor, as the ♯9, could be considered a minor third
Chords constructed with fourths
So far we've looked at chords made by triads, or in threes, there is another way to look at chord construction, that is by constructing chords with fourths.
The guitar is tuned in fourths (apart from the G to B strings which is a major third), so most of these chords use few frets.
As I did above with the primary triads I'll illustrate below how these chords are constructed. The names of these chords is one interpretation, you could
probably name them differently yourself, I've seen many chord diagrams with the same chords, but different names, this is why knowing how these names work
will help.
C major 11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
D 11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
E minor 11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
F major 7 flat 5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
G 11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
A minor 11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
B minor 11
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
Chords made of minor thirds (diminished)
Another way of constructing chords is by stacking minor thirds, Take for example C, it's minor third is E♭, it's minor third is G♭ and finally it's minor third is A (another minor third would talk us back to C. These chords work well as the vii chord in a major progression, slide the chord up a minor third (three frets) and you have an inversion of it, really fun chord to play around with. The whole/half scale works really well over this chord. C diminished
Chords made of major thirds (augmented)
This is a similar way of constructing chords as diminished above. Take a C add it's major third, E then to A♭, to a C, this is also known as an augmentedchord as, the fifth is raised or augments, compared to a C major chord (R = C, M3 = E, P5 = G). The introduction to Riding along in my automobile by Chuck Berry is an augmented chord. C augmented A augmented 7 the Chuck Berry chord, the A root note is actually the highest note here, the chord is inverted G (the 7), C♯, F, A
Altering dominant seven V chords
The V chord out of a progression has special powers if you like, it's a leading chord, it wants to resolve. You can always play it as a dominant seven chord, in any key, so long as you resolve to the root afterwards. Take the minor progression
C minor,
F minor,
G minor,
C minor
. This is a i, iv, v progression, so we can think of the v as a dominant V chord. Play a G dominant seven instead. Still sounds good doesn't it (C minor,
F minor,
G7,
C minor),
. It gets even better than this. You can sharpen or flatten the fifth and ninth degrees of this chord and the chord will still function the same, it's the 3 and 7 that give it the tension, altering the chord adds extra character to the chord (C minor,
F minor, G7♯9, C minor) . We've already looked at sharp five augmented chords and the 7♯9 chord, these are both altered chords. This is only glossing over the surface of altered harmony and tritone substitution