*cyberfret.com: college of guitar wisdom - Home click here*
*Classic Internet Guitar Lessons*
These lessons have been floating around the web for years and were not
written by the cyberfret staff. Therefore they are offered AS IS with no
warranty, no money back guarantee, no technical support, no ads, and no
pretty background (just plain gray and text, the way it was back in the
old days, *AND WE LIKED IT*) The author of the material is at the top of
each lesson. This is part of the history of guitar lessons on the
Internet...
Title: More Chord Construction Using the Major Scale
Level: Intermediate
Style: Music Theory Application
Instructor: Dave Good
In my last lesson, we looked at harmonizing the major scale and the
chords that occur. This time, I want to talk about other types of
chords that are found in the major scale and give chord spellings for
some of the more unusual chords that are not found in everyday rock.
Let's work with the key of C Major again, for simplicity. Remember the
naturally occurring triads in the major scale:
Major : 1st, 4th, 5th scale degrees
Minor : 2nd, 3rd, 6th degrees
Diminished : 7th degree
These are what we will begin with in this lesson.
The most common Extended chord is the Dominant Seventh (7). These
chords are referred to as Extended because they are an "extension" of
the basic triads (logical, eh?). Now, to create a dominant seventh
chord, take each triad and add a minor seventh to it, counting up from
the root as always. So, for a C Dominant Seventh (C7), the chord
spelling would look like this:
C-E-G-Bb
Please note that the Dominant Seventh is NOT found naturally in the major
scale-as you can see, the C7 chord contains a Bb, whereas the scale
contains a B natural. This leads me to the next version of the Seventh
chord, the Major Seventh. As the name implies, to form this chord, you
take the basic triad and add a Major Seventh to it. For a C Major Seventh,
you will end up with:
C-E-G-B
Notice that this chord does indeed fit the C Major scale, therefore this is
the chord that will occur when you harmonize the scale in diatonic sevenths.
However, this is only true for the first and fourth scale degree triads!
For the Minor triads, you will end up with the last type of seventh chord,
called (of course) the Minor Seventh. This one is formed by adding
(what else?) a Minor Seventh to the basic triad. For an A Minor Seventh,
which is the 6th degree of the C Major Scale, you will have:
A-C-E-G
Again, notice that the seventh of the chord fits nicely into the C Major
scale. Also note that a chord with this chord spelling will only be
called a Minor Seventh IF AND ONLY IF the basic triad is a MINOR triad.
If the basic triad is major, then you will have a Dominant Seventh.
So, if you keep in mind that the notes of the chord must fit into
the scale you are working with, then you have an easy method of checking
your work as you build these chords.
So to recap the Seventh chords:
Dominant 7th (Major triad)/
Minor 7th (Minor triad): root, major third, perfect fifth, minor seventh.
Major 7th : root, major third, perfect fifth, major 7th.
O.K., so now that you are all experts at creating chords from the chord
spelling, I will give you a list of some common and uncommon chords
found throughout all types of music. Some you may never use, some you
may love to death, but if you are truly interested in mastering chord
theory, then have no hesitation about building these chords in all
different positions on the guitar neck. As in the last lesson, take
the chord spelling, and (this is very important) while working with the
MAJOR scale built on the root note, modify the notes as indicated on
the chart.
For example:
Chord Chord
Name Spelling
^ ^
D Sus4 (D suspended fourth) : 1, 4, 5
So, take the D Major Scale : D E F# G A B C# D
The chord spelling for this chord type is root, perfect fourth, perfect fifth.
This gives you : D (root) G (perfect fourth) A (perfect fifth)
Now take these notes, find all their occurences on the fretboard, and
play whatever groupings of them that you find comfotable and/or like
the quality of sound.
Also note that the type of chord that the following are named after
will depend on the basic triad, e.g. D Maj 11, D Min 11, etc. And,
(yes, another warning!) keep the following in mind:
The Ninth (9) is the same as the 2nd scale degree an octave
up. The Eleventh (11) is the same as the 4th degree an octave
up. The Thirteenth (13) is the same as the 6th degree an
octave up.
As always:
b=flattened note bb=double flat #=sharpened note X=double sharp
maj=Major m=minor +=augmented *=diminished
So, here we go with the chord spellings:
Sus 4th (Suspended Fourth)= 1, 4, 5.
Sus 2nd (Suspended Second)= 1, 2, 5.
7 Sus 4th (Seventh suspended Fourth)= 1, 4, 5, b7.
6 (Sixth)= 1, 3, 5, 6.
m6 (minor Sixth)= 1, b3, 5, 6.
9 (Ninth)=1, 3, 5, b7, 9.
m9 (minor Ninth)=1, b3, 5, b7, 9.
maj 9 (major Ninth)=1, 3, 5, 7, 9.
6/9 (Sixth added Ninth)=1, 3, 5, 6, 9.
7+9 (Seventh augmented Ninth)=1, 3, 5, b7, #9.
7-9 (Seventh flat Ninth / also called Seventh minor Ninth)
=1, 3, 5, b7, b9.
aug (Augmented)=1, 3, #5.
7+5 (Seventh augmented Fifth)=1, 3, #5, b7.
dim (Diminished)=1, b3, b5, bb7.
-5 (diminished Fifth)=1, 3, b5.
7-5 (Seventh diminished Fifth)=1, 3, b5, b7.
9-5 (Ninth diminished Fifth)=1, 3, b5, b7, 9.
11 (Eleventh)=1, 3, 5, b7, 9, 11.
m 11 (minor Eleventh)=1, b3, 5, b7, 9, 11.
maj 11 (major Eleventh)=1, 3, 5, 7, 9, #11.
13 (Thirteenth)=1, 3, 5, b7, 9, 11 (optional), 13.
m13 (minor Thirteenth)=1, b3, 5, b7, 9, 11 (optional), 13.
maj13 (major Thirteenth)=1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 (optional), 13.
Notice that in the 13th chord, the 11th is an optional interval.
Also notice that in some of the chords there may be more than six notes, the
limit of the guitar. In these cases, it is permissible to remove notes, with
the 9th and the 5th being the notes most often removed from the 11th chord, and
the 11th and the 9th being removed from the 13th chord.
Well, that should do it for this lesson. I hope you come away from this
with an improved knowledge of chords and their relationship to notes,scales,
and each other. As always, if there are any questions, please feel free
to contact me through E-Mail.
Dave Good
blj@tiamat.umd.umich.edu
blj@cw-f1.umd.umich.edu
******************************************************************************
* *
* "Cleared my feet of mud, followed the empty *
* Zebra ride to the Cirkus *
* Past a painted cage, spoke to the paybox *
* Glove which wrote on my toungue- *
* Pushed me down a slide to the arena, *
* Megaphonium fanfare. *
* In his cloak of words strode the ringmaster *
* Bid me join the parade.........." *
* *
* -King Crimson, "Cirkus" *
******************************************************************************
==============================================================================
FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
7 Right and Left Hand Technique Technique B Tim Fullerton
8 Right hand Left hand technique Technique B Tim Fullerton
9 How Chords work Theory B Tim Fullerton
10 Development of Chords from Sca Chord theory B Dennis O'Neill 10
11 Right and Left hand techniques theory (etc.) b Tim Fullerton
12 Modes Theory I Dave Good
13 Octaves Theory B Bill Quinn
==============================================================================
Guitar Lesson a Week Maintainers
Editor: Norm Carpenter Distributor: Kevin Elphinstone
Lesson Submissions To: guitar-lessons-editor@vast.unsw.edu.au
Mailing List Subscriptions To: guitar-lessons-request@vast.unsw.edu.au
Lessons Archived At: ftp.vast.unsw.edu.au[149.171.224.9]:/pub/guitar-lessons
*back to the Classic Internet Guitar Lesson Index click here*