Chords are combinations of two or more notes played simultaneously on guitar. Chords can be divided into major and minor categories for further classification.
A chord takes its name from its root note. Most chords contain three notes; those featuring more than one root note are known as extended chords.
These chords are built upon musical intervals, triads, and other concepts covered in music theory classes.
Triads
Chords are groups of three or more notes joined together into chords; their construction involves using notes in a scale to compose them; typically beginning with triads which only contain three notes.
Triads are essential building blocks of chords, consisting of the root, third and fifth note in any scale. Triads are easy to create and are the foundational structures of all major, minor and extended chords.
Addition of sevenths adds another level of difficulty when creating extended chords, opening up a whole new world that may prove quite challenging to master.
One variation on this theme is to use sus2 or sus4 chords, in which a fourth or major second replaces the third of a triad to add tension or suspense to a chord, making for an interesting change of pace and texture in performance. These work especially well before or after parallel major or minor chords.
Sevenths
Sevenths can add depth and sophistication to chord progressions, from Bacharach & David’s “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” to intellectual jazz pieces.
They can be created by adding a seventh interval to one of the four basic triads and can either be major or minor depending on which voicing option is chosen. A major seventh is frequently found in many styles of music and gives an intimate warmth to its progression.
Dominant sevenths are popularly used in blues music to convey feelings of frustration and dissatisfaction, often leading up to the tonic chord of an established key. Other sevenths such as fully diminished are more active and can often move between keys without being completely stable in their progression; these chords may also serve as passing chords.
Extended chords
Chords featuring extra notes tend to be found in musical genres that allow for improvisation, such as jazz and funk. The extra tones add depth and complexity, creating tension within the chord itself.
Extended chords may include notes in the ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth scale degrees – known as tension notes or chord tones – in addition to their root, third, fifth, and seventh scale degrees. These extra notes are known as tension notes.
Extended chords differ significantly from their dominant cousins in both construction and notation; often written as Cmaj9 or C13 for example.
Note that notes in an extended chord should be separated by an octave to avoid dissonance when playing these chords, and also sometimes drop certain tones such as ninth or thirteenth for easier fretting; this technique is known as chord voicing.
Chord progressions
Chord progressions are essential in creating the structure of any song, and are used across most genres of music. A common chord progression seen in popular songs like “Let It Be” by The Beatles or “No Woman No Cry” by Bob Marley is I – IV – V progression.
Before beginning to learn to read a chord diagram, it is vital that one can recognize its structure. Chord diagrams are typically drawn horizontally with lines representing strings and circles or O’s representing frets.
Notice some chord shapes are doubled? This indicates two of each note within a chord – which occurs because guitar chords contain multiple-timbral notes unlike woodwind and brass instruments which can only play one note at once.
Step one in learning this skill is practicing basic chords and then trying out your favorite song’s chord progressions – this will enable you to transition smoothly between chords without missing a beat!
Guitar chords are made up of three separate notes combined together and can sound quite differently depending on their intervals, which makes understanding basic guitar chord theory essential.
An example would be comparing two major triads from different scales; their sounds will differ greatly due to different intervals.
Major Triad
Major triad chords consist of three notes; many guitarists learn them early on in their repertoire as a starting point for expanding their chord vocabulary.
Major chords are created by stacking thirds from a root note, creating an inimitable sound and making this type of chord one of the cornerstones for other types.
A major triad is easy to construct: just take the root note of a scale (the root note) and count up four 1/2 steps, giving you your second note (major 3rd). From there you add another half step left and get your third note (major 7th).
Most basic triad shapes are in “closed position.” This means they can be moved up and down the neck while still retaining their basic major or minor qualities, providing an effective way to develop your ear while making sure that these chords don’t become overly thick when played in real songs.
Minor Triad
Triad chords are widely employed in songs to add harmonic tension and produce more dramatic or melancholic sounds, often through arpeggios – playing notes one at a time instead of all at once.
By studying minor triads, you will establish an excellent base from which to expand into other triad shapes and chord qualities. Practice these triads across all 12 keys by transposing as needed until you develop an intuitive grasp on their tonality and can perform them accurately and with confidence in any key.
To create a minor triad, take the root notes of any major scale (here C) and lower its third fret by one fret, giving it its characteristic flat or minor note tone. This method of creating emotional sounding music makes learning chords from favorite songs much simpler – all your white note triads may sound slightly different due to intervals such as half tones and half steps; yet they will all share similar structures.
Suspended Triad
Suspended chords, also known as non-triadic chords, do not contain a third and cannot be major or minor chords; however, their fourth can still be altered based on what chords exist within. Suspended chords are common in contemporary music genres like rock and jazz and are especially often utilized during solo performances.
Tom Petty’s song Free Fallin’ features guitar players using an Fsus4/Fsus2 progression that creates forward motion within the song, while jazz musicians add seventh or ninth notes to further embellish these chords for even more complex sounds.
As you explore suspended chords, they create tension that needs to be released. Therefore, it is wise not to use suspended chords as the final chord in a progression since this will sound incomplete until resolved with another triad or non-suspended chord.
Seventh Triad
As their name implies, seventh chords add a seventh note to the top of a triad. Because of its dissonant qualities, seventh chords can feel discordant and unstable, often necessitating downward resolution by adding fifths (or fourths in some instances).
There are more seventh chord qualities than triads that can be created when altering scale degrees, though most are rarely heard in Western music.
The dominant seventh chord is one of the most frequently used types of seventh chords, constructed on top of a major triad and featuring an added seventh to create more dramatic sounds. Practice playing and identifying seventh chords to gain proficiency quickly identifying their root, quality and inversion – this will enable you to improvise and write chords with confidence as well as develop speed and accuracy when switching from and between chords.