Introduction to Chord




Learning Guitar Chord is not as difficult as you might think. Most musicians run away when they hear the word "music theory". But at the end they have to start again to deal with it as it is the top foundation of music. The more you focus on it, the short way you will achieve the goal. Believe me my friend, if you are new with music lesson and you wish to learn it now, join me and I'll show you through out the whole lesson for free. Otherwise, although you have learnt some theory or even already practiced with instruments, you will also learn something value throught my sites as I have used my best efforts to prepare these easy guitar contents for beginner, intermediate and as well as advance learners.

What’s Chord?
Chord is a combination of three or more notes played at the same time. It provides harmony that supports and makes the song more attractive. In music sheet chords are usually placed above Musical staff and indicated by symbols.

Example: The Cm is the shortcut of C minor. Cm = C minor

 




Chord Building
In theory, there are 12 notes in music and each can be played at different "octaves", but in fact there are only 12 named notes.
Here are the 12 notes
C   C#   D   D#   E   F   F#   G   G#   A   A#   B (then start over at the next octave)
or
C   Db   D   Eb   E   F   Gb   G   Ab   A   Bb   B
Note: C# means C"sharp" and Db means D"flat", so C# = Db, D# = Eb, Gb = F#, Ab = G# and Bb = A#.

Building Chord from Major Scale
Here we are going to use 7 notes from the 12 to build the chord from major scale. I’ll show you the Key of C first as there are no sharps or flats and it's easy for you to catch. 





As you can see, the interval between C and D is 2 half steps (one whole step), one whole step between D and E and one half step between E and F.

Now you’ve learn how the major scale is built. So how chords are built?
Basically, chords are built from the combination of notes in relation to the major scale. That’s why you have to understand the major scale.

Example: major chords are built by formulating from major scale using 1st, 3rd and 5th notes. Cmajor = C, E, G

In the sheet below, we are going to build all the major scales for the rest keys as what we did with the key of C above, so you don’t have to burn your time to surf anymore. 


Scale

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Chord Constructed

Maj

Min

Min

Maj

Maj

Min

Dim

CMajor

C

D

E

F

G

A

B

D Major

D

E

F#

G

A

B

C#

E Major

E

F#

G#

A

B

C#

D#

F Major

F

G

A

Bb

C

D

E

G Major

G

A

B

C

D

E

F#

A Major

A

B

C#

D

E

F#

G#

B Major

B

C#

D#

E

F#

G#

A#

Cb Major

Cb

Db

Eb

Fb

Gb

Ab

Bb

Db Major

Db

Eb

F

Gb

Ab

Bb

C

Eb Major

Eb

F

G

Ab

Bb

C

D

Gb Major

Gb

Ab

Bb

Cb

Db

Eb

F

Ab Major

Ab

Bb

C

Db

Eb

F

G

Bb Major

Bb

C

D

Eb

F

G

A

C# Major

C#

D#

E#

F#

G#

A#

B#

F# Major

F#

G#

A#

B

C#

D#

E#


Have you found the Chord Constructed in the second row? Normally, major, minor and diminished chords are used as prioritized chords to build the Chord Family and as well as songwriting. So what does Chord Family mean? Why do we have to learn it? 

Chord Families
See more later...


Chord Type and Formula

There are many Chord Types used in music. Each chord was built from the chord formula by referring to the major scale. Basically they are indicated by the Suffix (m, 7, sus, M7…). You can find the chord type with the formula and example in the key of C within the spreadsheet below:
Suffix
Chord Type
Formula
Example
No Suffix
major
1-3-5
C, E, G
m, min
minor
1-b3-5
C, Eb, G
+, aug, (#5)
augmented
1-3-#5
C, E, G#
Sus4, sus
suspended fourth
1-4-5
C, F, G
(add9)
added ninth
1-3-5-9
C, E, G, D
m(add9)
minor added ninth
1-b3-5-9
C, Eb, G, D
5, (no3)
 fifth (a.k.a "power chord")
1-5
C, G
 6
sixth
1-3-5-6
C, E, G, A
 M6, -6
 minor sixth
1-b3-5-6
C, E, b, G, A
 6/9
 minor sixth, added ninth
1-3-5-6-9
C, E, G, A, D
 M6/9
 minor sixth, added ninth
1-b3-5-6-9
C, Eb, G, A, D
 7, dom7
 seventh
1-3-5-b7
C, E, G, Bb
 dim7, dim
 diminished seventh
1-b3-b5-bb7
C, Eb, Gb, Bbb
 7sus4, 7sus
 seventh, suspended fourth
1-3-5-b7
C, F, G, Bb
 maj7, M7
 major seventh
1-3-5-7
C, E, G, B
 M7, min7, -7
 minor seventh
1-b3-5-b7
C, Eb, G, Bb
 m(maj7), m(+7)
 minor, major seventh
1-b3-5-7
C, Eb, G, B
 maj7(b5), maj7(-5)
 major seventh, flat fifth
1-3-b5-7
C, E, Gb, B
 M7(b5), maj7(5)
 minor seventh, flat fifth
1-b3-b5-7
C, Eb, Gb, Bb
 +7, 7(#5)
 seventh, sharp fifth
1-3-#5-b7
C, E, G#, Bb
 7(b5), 7(-5)
 seventh, flat fifth
1-3-b5-b7
C, E, Gb, Bb
 7(b9), 7(-9)
 seventh, flat ninth
1-3-5-b7-b9
C, E, G, Bb, Db
 7(#9), 7#9
 seventh, sharp ninth
1-3- 5-b7-#9
C, E, G, Bb, D#
 +7(b9)
 seventh, sharp fifth, flat ninth
1-3-#5-b7-9
C, E, G#, Bb,Db
 9
 ninth
1-3-5-b7- 9
C, E, G, Bb, D
 maj9, M9
 major ninth
1-3-5-7-9
C, E, G, B, D
 M9, min9
 minor ninth
1-b3-5-b7-9
C, Eb, G, Bb, D
 11
 eleventh
1-3-5-b7-9-11
C, E, G, Bb, F
 M11, min11
 minor eleventh
1-b3-5-b7-9-11
C, Eb, G, Bb, D, F
 13
 thirteenth
1-3-5-7-9-11-13
C, E, G, Bb, D, F, A




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