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