A Little Bit Of Chord Theory
You don't need to know this to play the chords, but it's interesting
to know how to "spell out" a chord. That is: what notes make up a
major chord? ... or an augmented chord, or a 9th chord? If
you learn how the chords are constructed, and then get stuck somewhere
without a chord chart, you can still sit down and figure out how to play
a minor chord, or a suspended chord, or whatever, in any key.
Here's a brief summary. |
|
NAME
|
SYMBOL
|
NOTE
NUMBERS IN
THE SCALE
|
EXAMPLE
|
NOTES
IN THE
CHORD
|
FOOT-
NOTE
|
| major |
(none) |
1 3 5 |
C |
C E G |
(none)
|
| minor |
m |
1 b3 5 |
Cm |
C Eb G |
1
|
| dominant 7th |
7 |
1 3 5 b7 |
C7 |
C E G Bb |
2
|
| diminished 7th |
dim or o |
1 b3 b5 6 |
Cdim |
C Eb Gb A |
3
|
| minor 7th |
m7 |
1 b3 5 b7 |
Cm7 |
C Eb G Bb |
4
|
| augmented 5th |
aug or + |
1 3 #5 |
C+ |
C E G# |
5
|
| major 7th |
Maj7 |
1 3 5 7 |
CMaj7 |
C E G B |
6
|
| major 6th |
6 |
1 3 5 6 |
C6 |
C E G A |
7
|
| dominant 9th |
9 |
(1) 3 5 b7 9 |
C9 |
(C) E G Bb D |
8
|
| minor 6th |
m6 |
1 b3 5 6 |
Cm6 |
C Eb G A |
9
|
| suspended |
sus |
1 4 5 |
Csus |
C F G |
10
|
| 7th suspended |
7sus |
1 4 5 b7 |
C7sus |
C F G Bb |
11
|
| dominant 7th w/ aug. 5th |
7+5 |
1 3 #5 b7 |
C7+5 |
C E Ab Bb |
12
|
| dominant 7th w/ flat'd 5th |
7-5 |
1 3 b5 b7 |
C7-5 |
C E Gb Bb |
13
|
| minor 7th w/ flatted 5th |
m7-5 |
1 b3 b5 b7 |
Cm7-5 |
C Eb Gb Bb |
14
|
| major 9th |
Maj9 |
(1) 3 5 7
9 |
CMaj9 |
(C) E G B
D |
15
|
Footnotes:
1. Like the major chord, but with a flatted 3rd.
2. Like the major chord, but with an added b7 (flatted 7th).
3. Four equally spaced tones, each a minor third above the other.
4. Has a flatted 3rd (like the minor chord) and an added b7 (like the
dominant 7th chord).
5. Like the major chord, but with a sharped 5th.
6. Like the major chord, but with an added 7th (in contrast to the
dominant 7th chord, which adds a flatted 7th).
7. Like the major chord, but with an added 6th.
8. Like the dominant 7th chord, but with an added 9th (an octave above
the 2nd). The root note is frequently omitted in 9th chords.
9. Has a flatted 3rd (like the minor chord) and an added 6th (like
the major 6th chord).
10. Like the major chord, but with a sharped 3rd (this changes the
3rd to a 4th).
11. Has a sharped 3rd (like a suspended chord) and an added b7 (like
a dominant 7th chord).
12. Like the dominant 7th, but with a sharped 5th.
13. Like the dominant 7th, but with a flatted 5th.
14. Like a minor 7th, but with a flatted 5th.
15. Like a major 7th, but with an added 9th (an octave above the 2nd).
The root note is frequently omitted in 9th chords. |
|