guitartalk

In my last two issues of “Guitar Lesson: Chords (part 1) and (part 2) I talked about many of the common chord types used in music. However, there are still plenty of chord types left, for me to talk about.

These chord types are more complex, bizarre, and may not even sounds that great but like I always say “There is a song for every chord.” That being said, I felt a need to teach you these last remaining chord types.

Let us begin, shall we?

Add Chords

Add chords are very simple. You simply do what it says and add the given interval. Let us say we have a chord named Gadd9. Well we know that a G chord has the intervals: Perfect 1st, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, and it calls for us to add a 9 so we simply find the 9th (2nd) interval in the G Major scale (since the 3rd interval is Major) and add that to the chord giving us: Perfect 1st, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, 9.

6 Chords.

A 6 chord is just another add chord; in means that you have the basic triad of a normal chord and the 6th interval added on. A lot of people do not write “Gadd6″ when tabbing out guitar sheet music, so I was just clearing up any confusion you may have if you have ever seen this.

5 and -5 Chords.

By definition, a “5 chord” is not technically a legit chord at all. Simply because a 5 chord has only two notes, the root note and the 5th interval. This is called a dyad or, more simply, “two intervals”. 5 chords are used a lot in music because of their simplicity and the fact that they are neither minor nor major, so they will fit in any song. A 5 chord is normally written like this “C5″ and is normally referred to as a “power chord”.

A -5 chord, however, is different than a power chord and is a standard triad. This is just another way of writing that the 5th interval has to be lowered a half step. So you would have: Perfect 1st, Major 3rd, and b5.

Slash Chords.

A slash chord, generally speaking, is a chord with the root note of another chord. For example, a C/F chord has all the normal notes of a C chord: C, D, G, and now the root note of an F chord. So it is: F, C, D ,G.

In-case it wasn’t obvious the “/” between the two chords is where it gets the name “Slash Chords” : ).

Other Notation.

What I am going to talk about now is just a general overview of other note and interval notation you may, and probably will, come across when reading chords.

“#” and “b”.

In the music world, there are two symbols that are used very often. # and b. The # symbol simply means that you raise the given variable a half step, and the b means you lower it half a step. For instance, if a chord is written Gmaj7#5, you would have the intervals: Perfect 1st, Major 3rd, #5th, and Major 7th. Notice that the interval effect, is the one directly after the symbol. Now I know you could just simply called the #5th a Minor 6th, but this is not practical. Mainly because you may be using that 6th interval, and also it would change the chord name. So it is generally good to just follow the instructions of the chord’s name.

Note: It is possible to have more than one of these symbols in the same chord, (e.g. Gmaj7bb6).

That’s about it.

There are plenty of combination of chords that I have not got to mention but these are all just added or deducted intervals and notes. Just remember that you are not limited when it comes to chords and can created just about any combination of intervals and variables that you wish. No chord is limited to just one of the variables. I have seen lots of chords like “Dsus2sus4″ and Gmaj7(b5, #9). So use your imagination and creativity and you will be able to come up with some really cool chords.

Note: Parentheses are just a way of grouping multiple variables; much like an algebraic equation.

-Dylan

Welcome to Guitar Lesson: Chords (part 2).

In my last lesson I talked about chords and using intervals to define the chords name and type. This lesson will be a continuation of the previous lesson and we will start to talk about slightly more complex chords.

In the first lesson we talked about Major and Minor chords and 7ths. Now I’d like to talk about the rest of the numbers and some other types.

9 Chords.

9th chords are a little easier to define because, like the 7th chords where you would just add a 7 to a major or minor triad, you add a 9 to a 7th chord. For example if you wanted Major 9 chord you would have: Perfect 1st, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, Major 7th, 9.

The 9 is never classified as major or minor because the 1st, 3rd, and 5th interval decide whether the chord is major or minor. This means that you add the 9th interval of either the major or minor scale. However, some 9 chords can be written like this: Gminor9# or Gmajor9b. Stating that the 9 is flattened (lowered a half step) or sharped (raised a half step). Also remember that the 9th interval is also the same as the second interval, since the scale repeats itself after 7 intervals.So you could also write the chord as: Perfect 1st, 2nd, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, Major 7th.

Note: If the 7th interval of a 9, 11, or 13 chord is minor, the chord is simply called a 9, 11 or 13; not major or minor. (e.g. G11, C13 A9)

11 Chords.

For 11th chords you do the same thing that you did for 9 chords and just add an 11th (4th) interval to a 9 chord. So for Gmajor11, you would have: Perfect 1st, 2nd (9th), Major 3rd, 4th (11th), Perfect 5th, Major 7th. 11 is neither minor nor major because it is the same interval as the Perfect 4th and the Perfect 4th can not be major or minor, but you can have a flattened or sharped 11, though it would still have 9 in the name and be called a “Gmajor9#11″.

Note: If the 7th interval of a 9, 11, or 13 chord is minor, the chord is simply called a 9, 11 or 13; not major or minor. (e.g. G11, C13 A9)

13 Chords.

13 chords can be rather complicated. Since a 13th chord technically consist of seven notes and the guitar only has six strings, it would be impossible to play a full 13th chord on a guitar. That is why a note–usually the 3rd, 5th, or 11th–is left out when playing this chord. For example, a Gmajor13 has the intervals: Perfect 1st, 2nd (9th), Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, 6th (13th), Major 7th. Notice that the 4th (11th) interval was left out. Basically, it follows the same rules as adding on a 13th to a triad with a 7th and a 9th, much like the 11th chord.

Note: If the 7th interval of an 9, 11, or 13 chord is minor, the chord is simply called a 9, 11, or 13; not major or minor. (e.g. G11, C13, A9)

Sus Chords.

Sus is short for suspended and applies to the 3rd interval in a triad. There are two types of sus chords: sus2 and sus4. For a sus2 you simply lower the 3rd a whole step, making it a 2nd. So the intervals used would be: Perfect 1st, 2nd, Perfect 5th. For a sus4 chord you raise the 3rd a half step making it a 4th. The intervals would be: Perfect 1st, 4th, Perfect 5th.

Note: A sus chord is neither minor nor major.

Augmented and Diminished Chords.

This is where it gets rather confusing, so please bare with me. Though it is not possible to have a Minor or Major, Perfect interval; it is possible to have an augmented or diminished one. By definition, an Augmented or Diminished chord is a chord that contains an augmented or diminished interval; but generally, it is in reference to the 5th interval. For example, an Augmented chord has a raised fifth. So the intervals would be: Perfect 1st, Major 3rd, and a Sharped 5th.

If you were to lower or raise the Major 3rd of a Augmented chord, it would invert the chord into a different key. For example, if you had the notes (with intervals): G (Perfect 1st), B (Major 3rd), D# (Augmented 5th) and were to lower the Major third to a minor third, you would have the notes that make up a D# major triad: D# (Perfect 1st), G (Major 3rd), A# (Perfect 5th). With Diminished, however, you can raise the 3rd and have a Minor or Major Diminished chord.

Note: Any interval can be augmented or diminished. The 5th interval is normally the more popular one.

I did not name every type of chord that there is available but hopefully this will help some people. This is all very confusing, I’m sure, so if you have any questions or suggestions, please comment me. I will be doing one more lesson here on even more complex chords.

-Dylan

So you have finally decided to learn guitar? Well, at first it may seem hard and complicated and you might not understand everything fully. That is why I have decided to write these lessons; in hopes that you will be able to understand everything a little better.

In this lesson we will be taking a closer look at chords.

What is a chord?

Since this lesson is aimed at teaching beginning guitar players, I will try and keep away from the complicated definitions. In a nutshell, a chord is a set of three notes or more that are played simultaneously.

There are a large variety of chord types, and while I’m not going to name them all, I will name some of the more common ones. Here are a few: major, minor, augmented, diminished, suspended 6, 7, 9, and 11 (e.g. G#Minor11)

How do you know what a chord is?

In chord construction we use intervals. Intervals define the distance between two notes and describe the type of chord you are using based on the notes of that chord’s scale.

Here is how it works:

With intervals you have (starting from the first to last note): Perfect 1st, Minor or Major 2nd, Minor or Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Tritone, Perfect 5th, Minor or Major 6th, Minor or Major 7th and the Octave (or 8th note).

The Perfect 1st is the root (starting) note of the scale and is perfect because, since it is the first note which defines what scale you are using, it can not be minor or major.

The 2nd interval of a scale can be minor or major. If it is minor, it will be a half step away from the root note, and a whole step if it is major. This interval is also used to define 9nth chords.

The 3rd interval is one of the more common ones and is used in the majority of simple chords. This can be minor or major as well and will be 1 1/2 whole steps away, from the root, if minor and 2 whole steps away, from the root, if major.

The Perfect 4th is 2 1/2 whole steps away from the root note and can not be minor or major, though it can be augmented or diminished, which is technically doing the same thing by increasing or decreasing it’s distance from the root note. Though as you can see, a diminished 4th could simply be called a major 3rd and an augmented 4th could also be called a Tritone. All this has to do with naming chords and creating name simplicity. Most of your guitar strings are tuned to 4ths, and since the 4th is 2 1/2 whole steps (5 half steps), you tune your guitar using the fifth fret. This is also used to define 11th chords.

The Tritone gets it’s name because it is 3 whole steps away from the root note. It can not be minor or major but can also be called an augmented 4th or diminished 5th, depending on the complexity of the chord.

The Perfect 5th is also one of the most common intervals in chords and is 3 1/2 whole steps away from the root note. It is used in just about every chord. This note has very similar pitch to the octave interval.

The 6th interval of the scale can be minor or major. If it is minor it will be 4 whole steps above the root note and if it is major it will be 4 1/2 whole steps away. This interval also defines 13th chords.

The 7th interval is another very common interval and is used in 7th chords. It can be minor or major. A major 7th is 5 whole steps above from the root note and a minor 7th is 5 1/2 whole steps above.

The Octave or 8th interval is 6 whole steps above the root note and is exactly the same note only of a different pitch. This note is can not be minor or major.

For now I will just explain a few chords and how they work.

A major chord has three intervals: Perfect 1st, Major 3rd, and Perfect 5th. This is called a triad and is the basic chord definition. To make a minor chord all you do is lower the Major 3rd to a Minor. So you have: Perfect 1st, Minor 3rd, and Perfect 5th.

A major 7th chord has four intervals: Perfect 1st, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, and Major 7th. To make it a minor 7th, you do the same thing you would for the standard chord by lowering the 3rd and you would lower the 7th. So you would have: Perfect 1st, Minor 3rd, Perfect 5th, and Minor 7th.

There is another type of 7th chord called a Dominant 7th Chord and these intervals are: Perfect 1st, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, and Minor 7th. This chord however is still considered a Major chord because of the Major 3rd.

Let’s take a look at the notes of a Major G scale (naming the intervals):

G(P1)–A(Maj2)–B(Maj3)–C(P4)–D(P5)–E(Maj6)–F#(Maj7)–G(Octave)

Basically, once you get to the 7th interval, the scale repeats itself.

Now, let’s take a look at the notes of a G Major chord:

G-B-D-G-B-G

Although there are 6 strings being played, there are still only 3 different notes in total. This is called a triad.

As we can see the notes that are used are G(Perfect 1st)–B(Major 3rd)–D(Perfect 5th).

So by definition this is a G Major chord.

Hopefully this helped you all. If there is any confusion just let me know in a comment.

I will explain more chords and more complex chords in my next lesson here.

-Dylan