4/19/13

Chord Theory Guitar Chords World

Guitar Chords World

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Chord Theory
The notes that make up a chord can be related to the major scale of that chords root note eg. for a D chord the D major scale. The basic major triad chords (eg. A, Bb, B, C etc.) are made up of the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes from their respective major scales. In other types of chords notes are either adjusted slightly, as in minor (m) chords where the 3rd is flattened by a half-step (commonly referred to as a b3,) or extra notes are added as in major 7 (maj7) chords where the 7th note of the major scale is added to the basic triad. Sometimes both these things happen at the same time, for instance in a 7 chord the 7th is added to the chord but flattened at the same time, so it is called a b7 within the chord. In the first table below you can see chord formulas relating to the major scale for various types of chords. The examples use C as the root note but you can use the second table, showing all the major scales, to work out the notes used in chords of other keys. This is a relatively basic way of thinking about how chords are constructed. It doesnt explain everything but hopefully it will help you on your way to a better understanding of how scales and chords relate to each other. T ype of Chord Major Minor 7th Minor 7th Major 7th Minor 7th Flat 5th Suspended 4th Diminished Augmented 6th Minor 6th 6th Add 9th 9th Minor 9th Major 9th Chord Symbol in C C Cm C7 Cm7 Cmaj7 Cm7b5 (or C) Csus4 Cdim (or Co) Caug (or C+) C6 Cm6 C6add9 C9 Cm9 Cmaj9 Notes in Chord CEG C Eb G C E G Bb C Eb G Bb CEGB C Eb Gb Bb CDG C Eb Gb C E G# CEGA C Eb G A CEGD C E G Bb D C Eb G Bb D CEGBD Chord Formula 135 1 b3 5 1 3 5 b7 1 b3 5 b7 1357 1 b3 b5 b7 145 1 b3 b5 1 3 #5 1356 1 b3 5 6 1359 1 3 5 b7 9 1 b3 5 b7 9 13579

Chord Archive
A A# Bb B C C# Db D D# Eb E F F# Gb G G# Ab

Scale note numbers A major scale

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1 A

2 B

3 C#

4 D

5 E

6 F#

7 G#
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Chord Theory Guitar Chords World

Bb major scale B major scale C major scale Db major scale D major scale Eb major scale E major scale F major scale Gb major scale G major scale Ab major scale

Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab

C C# D Eb E F F# G Ab A Bb

D D# E F F# G G# A Bb B C

Eb E F Gb G Ab A Bb Cb C Db

F F# G Ab A Bb B C Db D Eb

G G# A Bb B C C# D Eb E F

A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G

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