INTRODUCTION
This set of lessons will help you understand how chords are named and show you how to construct a wide range of chord types, based on a set of simple formulae.
Triads (Major, minor, diminished & augmented)
Seventh chords
Extended chords (9th, 11th & 13th)
Added note, suspended, slash and power chords
Before you start:
To follow this method you should first know:
1. How to name any note on the guitar, by counting up from the nut, fret by fret if necessary.
2. What
Tones and semitones (British system) or
whole steps and half steps (American system) are. (A semitone or
half step equals a distance of one fret. A tone or
whole step equals two frets).
3. How to make any
major scale. To make a major scale you start on any given note and go up in pitch by tones and semitones (or whole steps and half steps) in this strict order:
TTSTTTS (
T = tone S = semitone)
or
WWHWWWH (
W = whole step H = half step)
So a scale such as
G major will be
G(T)
A(T)
B(S)
C(T)
D(T)
E(T)
F#(S)
G
G(W)
A(W)
B(H)
C(W)
D(W)
E(W)
F#(H)
G
Here are the ‘
natural’
major scales for reference:
A major = ABC#DEF#G#A
B major = BC#D#EF#G#A#B
C major = CDEFGABC
D major = DEF#GABC#D
E major = EF#G#ABC#D#E
F major = FGABbCDEF
G major = GABCDEF#G
If you need a scale starting on a
flat (b) or
sharp(#) note, you can simply take the nearest natural scale and modify EVERY NOTE equally. For example to make
Ab major from
A major, flat every note. Natural notes will become flat and sharp notes will become natural, as follows:
A major = ABC#DEF#G#A
Ab major = AbBbCDbEbFGAb
DEFINITION OF A CHORD
Chords are notes sounded together. According to the most common definition, a chord has at least three differently named notes. The individual notes of the chord are called
chord members, and the chord’s name tells us something about which notes the chord consists of.
The chord’s name
Chords are named in two main parts. The first part is a note name, and the second part contains information about the type of chord it is, and about the notes that it contains.
For example, the chord named
A flat major seventh has two main parts to its name. The first part is the note name
A flat (Ab) and the second part is
major seventh (maj7)
Part 1 – Ab. This corresponds to the main note in the chord and is called the
root of the chord. It’s the note that the chord has been built upon.
Part 2 – major seventh. This is the chord
type. In combination with the root, this part tells us something about the notes required to produce this particular chord. The name itself is derived from
degrees of the
major scale.
The chord formula
Although the chord’s name gives some information about its make-up, we can find the exact notes by referring to a ‘
formula’ associated with every chord type. This consists of numbers that correspond to the major scale. For example, the formula for a
major chord is
1 3 5. That simply means that a chord such as
C major will consist of the
first, third and
fifth notes of the
C major scale.
Every chord type has its formula, and you need to memorise the formula for each chord type. That’s not as difficult as it sounds, as the chord’s name will usually remind you what the formula is for any particular chord.