The sevenths

Here are the "seventh" versions of the open chords we've already looked at. There are two types of sevenths.

Major 7th

Major Seventh. These chords have an extra note, namely the seventh note of the scale, added to the (1), (3) and (5). So they become (1)-(3)-(5)-(7) in make-up. They have a new quality, often described as "pretty" (they remind me of the sixties). Compare them to the simple versions and see where they've changed.

(You can add a major seventh note to a minor chord, which gives them the strange name "minor major seventh", but they come up rarely and you won't need to worry about them for a while.)

(dominant) 7th

Seventh chords, without the word "major" in front, are sometimes referred to as dominant seventh. The note added is one fret lower in pitch than the Major Sevenths, a note not actually in the scale. Since the note is one semitone lower in pitch than the natural 7, it's called the "flat 7". These chords have a new quality, an unresolved quality that seems to demand changing to a new chord, and indeed are used to lead to a new chord. Here are the Dom 7th versions of the open chords, both major and minor.

Compare them to the originals and view them as alterations.

Sus4

Suspended fourths also have an unresolved sound to them. They seem to not want to hang around, and demand resolution. The (3) of the chord is actually replaced by a (4), which you will remember is only one fret away, so these chords aren't really "extended" so much as "altered". Because the (3), which determines the major / minor quality is gone, there is only one version of sus4 chords. Here they are for A, E and D. The C and G versions will be a little hard to finger at this stage.

Now let's look at what makes the guitar such a wonderful instrument. Barre chords