An eclectic use of chords will add variety and complexity to your progressions, since fretboards allow for multiple ways to finger a chord.
Each has its own personality. To start off, we’ll explore basic shapes before moving onto exploring some voicings that add bass notes to our chords.
Major Triad
The Major Triad chord is constructed by stacking its root, major third and perfect fifth notes of any scale together to form an unbroken chain of notes spanning root to fifth of any scale. It is one of the primary patterns to learn when studying chords; and can even be generated from other shapes on a fretboard.
Each major triad can be inverted to create different sounds in your chord progressions and highlight both inner and outer notes of a given triad.
Add the ninth note to this pattern for a seventh chord and suspending chord by flattening string 3’s third shape – this will help add texture without losing that classic bar chord sound! This method also lets you build suspended chords. This technique provides extra texture without diluting its punchy sound!
Minor Triad
Triad chords are essential building blocks of guitar playing for any serious guitarist, making them easy and comfortable to learn first. Triads also form the base for other types of chords.
This week we are exploring minor triads. These chords contain all of the same notes as major triads but feature minor third and perfect fifth intervals between their outer notes for added complexity – notated on chord charts as Cm, C-, or.
Triads can be played quickly or slowly and in any order that suits you best, making them ideal for arpeggios and riffs.
Major Seventh
Major 7th chords combine a major triad with the major seventh note (one half step below the octave) from any scale to create a more romantic sound than Dominant 7 Chords; these chords can often be found in slow songs like ballads.
There are various methods for expanding major seventh patterns, including adding ninth, eleventh or thirteenth notes to a basic drop 2 maj7 pattern and creating either a maj9 chord, maj7add13 chord or maj7ninth chord – each variation can be played at any position on the fretboard.
Minor Sixth
The minor sixth chord is a diatonic chord found across many musical genres and styles, creating tension within melodies to elicit melancholy or longing emotions. Stride pianists frequently utilize this chord to fill any gaps in their descending runs using chords with minor sixth intervals as filler chords.
As with the major 6th chord, minor 6ths are constructed using the triad chords in its key. Their key difference lies in their functionality: A minor 6th serves as the tonic role while F major 7th chords act subdominantly.
Suspended Triad
These chords differ from open and closed triads in that specific chord tones are moved up an octave or doubled, creating a simpler and streamlined voicing.
Suspended chords rely on subtracting the third from their usual trio of roots, third and fifth notes to create harmonic ambiguity that can be exploited musically for tension and anticipation.
Below you’ll find two easy and effective methods of exploring this chord type. Invest some time to imprint these shapes into your visual, aural and muscle memory.
Diminished Triad
Diminished chords can add an exciting and captivating element to any chord progression, adding extra tension and intrigue. While they retain all of the darkness and tonal depth associated with minor chords, diminished chords add an unifying jazziness that sets it apart.
Dim7 (or Cdim7 on guitar) is the most frequently encountered diminished chord, created by stacking another diminished triad on top of your basic one and often written as Am7b5 in chord charts. This yields a diminished chord featuring double flattened sevenths.
Slash Chord
Slash chords are simple regular chords with an additional bass note that differs from its root note. They are usually notated by placing their chord name on the left and adding a slash before notating its bass note on the right.
This week we’ll look at various chord progressions in multiple keys and explore various slash shapes on the fingerboard. Our aim is to build up a library of these slash shapes and incorporate them into our playing. Also keep in mind that they can also create bass movement between chords – useful when shifting between major to minor or vice versa.