Learn the fundamentals of guitar chords and you’ll lay the groundwork for creating songs on your own.
Chords fall into two broad categories, major and minor. You can extend either by adding seventh, ninth or thirteenth notes to a triad.
Scales
First step to understanding chords is learning how to match them up with scales – not always easy but with practice you should become adept.
Typically, the 1st scale degree and root of a chord are identical; however, there may be exceptions.
Sus4 chords (no relation to Slash) can add tension and drama to a progression.
Triads
Triads are three note chords that form the basis for many four and five note chords, comprising of a root note with two additional notes that can stand alone or be combined to make larger chords.
Triadic quality is determined by the intervals between third and fifth tones; therefore, some chord names include +, – or aug as part of their name.
Step one is to become familiar with all of the basic triad shapes on the guitar neck. Once this step is completed, you can begin moving them around and creating different chords.
Fifths
Chords are built using intervals and consist of one note plus multiple additional ones, theoretically all the notes of a diatonic scale; in practice however it’s common to omit some higher-numbered notes.
No3 or Omit3 often signifies an omitted third interval; its use in chord names usually signals sharps while its presence indicates flats.
Sevenths
As you start learning guitar chords, it’s best to start off by mastering major and minor chords before branching out into other types such as sevenths.
Seventh chords are four note chords that contain an interval of seven notes above their roots, such as major or minor sevenths. They may be major, minor, or dominant chords. Most seventh chords will consist of four notes including root, third, fifth, and flattened seventh. To create a full, rich sound these sevenths typically contain root third fifth and flattened seventh; other voicings can be added or modified; these extended chords.
Nineths
Woodwind instruments can only play one note at a time, preventing them from creating chords like we can. We tend to add notes in doubled versions in order to ensure there are enough notes in a chord and this often leads to dissonant moments and tension-filled compositions.
Sus chords, which do not contain a third note, work well when played immediately before or after another parallel major or minor chord. A sus2 chord has the third replaced or suspended with an inversion of its 2nd tone and should be stacked 1-2-5 for optimal results.
Elevenths
When a dominant chord does not include the seventh note, it is referred to as an eleventh chord; if however the seventh note is included it becomes known as a minor eleventh chord.
As the number seven does not typically appear in chord names due to being alphabetic interval, to save writing and ink on music sheets, minor seventh chords can be abbreviated as “m7”.
Beginning players may find this method of chord naming to be complex and tricky to master; therefore, practicing these voicings will be necessary to become familiar with them.
Slashes
Herbie Hancock’s Dolphin Dance is an example of this. Typically, chord progressions in songs require bass players to play specific notes; such is the case here.
Slash chords (not related to Slash from Guns N Roses) share the same root note, while their second letter specifies which bass note should be played.
C/G means to play a C major triad with G in the bass. You can also apply this system for altered chords – but more about that later!