Building Cords (part one) Lesson by flyinglibra51
Since talking about scales, it seems that building chords from those
chords should follow.
Ever wonder what those extra letters and numbers mean?
Tired of looking up a new chord to see how it's played?
Well you can look at a chord such as Cadd9 or Gsus4 etc. and know right
away what you are suppose to do. It isn't a mystery, but a set of rules
and a little math.
We build major chords from their major scale by stacking 3rd's.
C D E F G A B C D E F G A B
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Above are degrees of the C major scale. A 3rd would be the E note.
A 3rd above it is the G note but we will also call it a 5th because
not only is it a 3rd above E, but also because it is a 5th above the root C.
Another 3rd above G note is B note and should we want a 7th
chord, it would be this note added to our triad of C major or CM7.
This would be a good time to mention that you should learn the notes on
the first 12 frets of your guitar. It really isn't hard and a little
practice, you would be amazed how it will help you. A big reason
to do this is you will be able to find an octave above a partcular
note you may want to use in a chord.
Above in the degrees of the C major scale we see it repeat. This is because the second C is one octave higher than the first one and so on.
Knowing where to find that octave note is a big help!!
example; C on the 6th string is at the 8th fret, go over two strings to
the 4th string and up two frets, you have another C which is one octave
higher. This little formula works up the neck from F thru D to the 12th
fret. Also works if you move over to the 5th string at A and go up to G.
At the 4th string it is the same except you move up three frets instead
of two. With a little practice you will find an octave in no time.
Now for those little extra notations on a chord and what they mean.
The Major scale produces chords, some major and some minor, and one will
be Diminished. You will add chord tones and extensions to the Triads
by using other degrees of the scale. This can be the 2nd's, 4th's,
6th's, 7th's, 9th's, 11th's, 13th's. These extensions will give your
chords more depth and color.
There is a process for naming these chords you make from the scale.
When you go beyond triad based chords by adding degrees, other than
1,3,5, you get tones that are the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 7th.
Sometimes the chord tone extends beyond to the next octave. In this case
the chord tones are called extensions. They are numbered to reflect
their position in the scale degrees. example, 2 becomes 9, 4 becomes 11
and 6 becomes 13. C D E F G A B C D E F G A B
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
In theory only the 1,3, 5 and 7 are counted the same. Only 2,4,and 6 get renumbered once, transpose them higher and they still retain their
number, 2,4, and 6.
When you see an extension such as Gmaj13, then the 7th and any other
extensions included before the one in the name, for example,
Gmajor; 1-3-5 G-B-D
Gmaj7 1-3-5-7 G-B-D-F#
Gmajor9 1-3-5-7-9 G-B-D-F#-A
Gmajor11 1-3-5-7-9-11 G-B-D-F#-A-C
Gmajor13 1-3-5-7-9-11-13 G-B-D-F#-A-C-E
But it isn't always exactly this way. If an extension is added to a
triad, but the 7th and other extensions aren't included, the Term add
is used. example
G 1,3,5 G-B-D
Gadd9 1-3-5-9 G-B-D-A
Gadd11 1-3-5-11 G-B-D-C
Gadd13 1-3-5-13 G-B-D-E
Now the Suspended chords or Sus.
Because of the promimity to the 3rd, 2 and 4 often replace the 3rd.
When this happens, the chord becomes suspended and it's abbreviation
becomes sus in the name. example
G 1-3-5 G-B-D
Gsus2 1-2-5 G-A-D
Gsus4 1-4-5 G-C-D
the lack of a 3rd creates an open or unresolved sound.
If a 2 or a 4 is added, but the 3rd remains, the term is changed to
add. example
Gadd2 1-2-3-5 G-A-B-D
Gadd4 1-3-4-5 G-B-C-D
But remember, 2nds, and 9ths are the same, so are 4ths and 11ths.
So you may see these chords written as;
Gadd9 1-3-5-9 G-B-D-A
Gadd11 1-3-5-11 G-B-D-C
You maybe wondering how you would play some of these chords. Some are
physically impossible. So a lot of the times some of the notes are left
out, but you should always leave the 3rd and 7th in your chord, and the extension the chord is named after. example
Gmajor13 might be played 1-3-7-13 or 1-7-3-13, or any such combination.
Next time I'll talk about adding 7ths and Dominant 7ths.
flyinglibra51
God Bless Glen Travis Campbell
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