A single chord like A major is capable of many different voicings.

Contrasted A chords

Major Chords Major chords are the most important in songwriting; everything else revolves around them. They are the most flexible in conveying the widest range of moods. By setting and arrangement of how they are played, a huge variety of emotions can be expressed. Compared to minor chords, major chords are often said to sound positive, upbeat or happy. Even so, it is possible to express sadness with them.

Minor Chords Minor chords sound sad, unhappy or melancholic. A song written entirely in minor chords will accentuate this. A comic song, though, might deliberately mismatch the theme of the lyric with the harmony imagine a tragic lyric set to a series of major chords at a quick tempo, or a happy lyric set entirely in a minor key at a slow tempo. In most chord progressions, minor chords are combined with majors. This causes a subtle alternation of mood and tone that can be aesthetically and emotionally stimulating.

Dominant Seventh Chords The triad of C major (chord I) is made by putting together the notes C, E and G (1-3-5). The dominant seventh chord is formed by adding the note one tone (one full step) below the root: C major C E G becomes C E G Bb. It is called the "dominant" seventh because in traditional harmony the fifth note of the scale (the dominant) is the only one on which a dominant seventh chord will occur if you build a chord upon it. In the key of C, for example, G is the dominant; G dominant seventh is G B D F. Notice that the fourth note of the chord, F, is one full step below the root, G. In the blues, however, a dominant seventh chord can occur on chord I or chord IV as well as chord V, and in popular music the seventh note of the scale is often flattened. The chords of A7, B7, C7, D7, E7 and G7 can be played in first position as open-string shapes. The dominant seventh chord has a hard, bluesy sound. Use it to toughen up a chord sequence, as it does in songs such as 'Caught By The Fuzz', 'When I Get Home', 'Baby's In Black' and 'Hard Day's Night'. It is also used to establish a new key there is more about this in section ten on key-changing.
Dominant seventh

Major Seventh Chords This chord is formed by adding the note one semitone (half-step) below the root. C major C E G becomes C E G B. In traditional harmony, it occurs on chords I and IV. Another way of thinking of a major seventh is to think of it as major and minor triads superimposed (C E G = C major; E G B = E minor). In contrast to the dominant seventh, the major seventh has a romantic quality. For this reason, it is excellent for expressing gentle, intimate emotions, which is why it is often used in ballads, soul, pop and MOR. The major seventh is central to the work of composers such as Burt Bacharach. It works better at medium to slow tempos because at speed the nuance of the chord is easily lost. At quicker tempos it can be heard in Latin-influenced material. There is a string of five major seventh chords in the bridge of Aztec Cameras 'Oblivious'. It is not so common in hard and heavy rock, punk, etc, though Jimmy Page has used them occasionally, as in 'Carouselambra' and 'Ten Years Gone' where all the chords in the A D G C bridge sequence are major sevenths. He also used an Amaj7 Em7 change to devastating effect on the bridge of The Firm's 'Fortune Hunter'. The major seventh is a delightful chord to climax a crescendo, as in 'Tears Of A Clown', where the hook is D B Em Cmaj7.

Minor Seventh Chords Adding the note that is one tone (full step) below the root of a minor chord produces a minor seventh. C minor C Eb G becomes C Eb G Bb. In traditional harmony it occurs on the I, IV and V chords if these are derived from the natural minor scale, and on chords II, III and VI of a major scale. Another way of looking at a minor seventh is to think of it as a major triad superimposed on a minor triad (C Eb G = C minor; Eb G Bb = Eb major), the opposite of the major seventh. The minor seventh is a diluted version of the minor chord. It has a sad quality but is not as sad as the straight minor. Use it where you feel the minor would be too depressing, and for combining with majors. A song written entirely in minor sevenths would be less depressing than one written entirely in minors. Minor sevenths combine nicely with major sevenths a well-known trick in soul music. Try an ascending I II III IV sequence like C Dm Em F and then play it like this: Cmaj7 Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7.

The Minor/Major Seventh Chord This chord is formed by adding the note that is one semitone (half-step) below the root of a minor chord. C minor C Eb G becomes C Eb G B. This is a tense chord with a strange sound that is not exactly sad or happy more like threatening. In pop songs, it is usually found only as a passing chord between the minor and the minor seventh: try Cm Cm/maj7 Cm7. On the guitar, this is most easily done from Am, Dm or Em. Minor/major sevenths tend to crop up in soundtrack music for horror and thriller films. John Barry used them in the soundtracks of the 1960s James Bond films. You will find one in the coda of 'That Means A Lot'.

Suspended Fourth Chords Having dealt with the sevenths, we move to several chord types that inhabit a strange musical ''neutral zone". We'll begin with the suspended fourth, which is formed by replacing the third with the fourth of the scale. C major C E G becomes C F G. Since the only difference between C major and C minor is the third (E or Eb), if it is removed you cannot tell whether the chord is major or minor. The suspended fourth is therefore neither major nor minor, but neutral. Csus4 can occur in the keys of C major or C minor This is a very tense chord. The fourth wants to resolve by dropping back either a semitone (half-step) to a major chord or a tone (full step) to a minor chord. Therefore you should use it when you wish to build momentary tension. Pop songs tend to use sus4s at transition points to build excitement for example, from the end of a verse into a chorus, or at the end of a chorus into a repeat of the chorus. They are popular in rock music because of their tension.

'Two Hearts Are Better Than One', 'She's The One', 'Jean Genie', 'Pinball Wizard' and 'Can't Keep It In' all feature prominent sus4s.

Suspended Second Chords Brother of the sus4, the sus2 is formed by replacing the third with the second of the scale. C major C E G becomes C D G. Like the suspended fourth, the suspended second is neither major nor minor. It is not quite as tense as the sus4, having more ambiguity and space. It is good for atmospheric songs, especially if you want to convey emptiness, and the sus2 works well with (or as a substitute for) minor chords The sus2 combines nicely with the sus4, as a finger is added, taken off, etc. John Lennon used this on 'Happy Christmas (War Is Over)' and you'll also find it in 'Needles and Pins', 'So Sad About Us', 'I Need You', 'I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better', 'Summer Of 69' and 'Brass in Pocket'.

Fifth Chords This type of chord is related to the sus2 and sus4 because, once again, the third has been removed. C5 is C G. A C5 chord could be played in C major or C minor. You can solo over it using a number of different scales and there won't be a clash -possibly The Clash, but not a clash. This harmonic neutrality makes it suitable for hard rock. Open any book of rock transcriptions and you'll see loads of these. They come in two basic forms. There's the "power chord" fifth (C G), possibly with the root doubled an octave higher (C G C), usually played on the bottom three strings of the guitar with any quantity of distortion. This is for aggressive music, be it punk, grunge, hard rock or HM. No matter how different their politics, lyrics or haircuts, Green Day, Nirvana, Queen, Guns 'N Roses and Metallica are all united in using fifths. For this type, there are open-string shapes for A5, C5, D5, E5 and G5. In the other form of this chord, the two notes are doubled or tripled across the strings. Hence the G5 favoured by Noel Gallagher, which goes from bottom to top G D G D G (A-string muted), and Pete Townshend's A5 (A E AE A) from the A-string up. With a stark, bold tone, this type of chord sounds good strummed in moody and aggressive acoustic stuff. The fifth chord will toughen up a progression. You can sing a minor or major melody over the same fifth chord itmakes no difference. On a recording with multiple guitar tracks, it combines nicely with full major or minor chords.

Dominant Seventh Suspended Fourth This is quite a popular chord, an amalgam of a dominant seven and a sus4. In C this would C F G Bb. This chord is neither major nor minor. It can resolve either to C7 or Cm7, depending on whether the F drops to E or Eb. The presence of the seventh makes this chord not as tense as the straight sus4.

Major Sixth Chords The major sixth is formed by adding the sixth note of the scale to the major chord. C major C E G becomes C E G A. It is a slight dilution of the major chord, just as the minor seventh is a dilution of the minor chord. In fact, C E G A are the same notes that make up Am7 (A C E G). In many guitar chordbooks and sheet music, you will find chords shown as major sixths that are really inverted minor chords. It is essential for the major sixth that all four notes be sounded. In most pop contexts a major sixth will lend a mildly "jazzy" sound, and it is heard in Latin American music. The verse of 'No Reply' has two major sixths, giving it a slightly Latin quality. It is associated with The Beatles, who sang a major sixth in the last chord of 'She Loves You'. Roxy Music's 'Love Is The Drug' is one of a number of songs that alluded to this by ending on a similar major sixth.

Minor Sixth Chords The minor sixth has two forms. This is because there are several different minor scales. It is formed by adding the sixth note of the natural minor scale or Aeolian mode (A B C D E F G) to the minor chord, and it also occurs on the harmonic minor scale (A B C D E F G#). A minor A C E becomes A C E F the same notes as Fmaj7 (F A C E) but in a different order. This minor sixth is mildy dissonant because of the minor second between the fifth and sixth notes of the scale. Most guitar shapes will not place these notes next to each other, so the dissonance will be muted. Nevertheless, the dissonance acts as an intensifier of the minor chord. Use this minor sixth when you want to make a minor more tense and unsettling. It is rare in pop music, though there is a fleeting one just before the chorus of 'Run To You' by Bryan Adams.

Minor Sharp Sixth Chords The other type of minor sixth chord is formed by adding the sixth of the melodic minor scale (A B C D E F# G#) or the Dorian mode (A B C D E F# G) to the minor chord. A minor A C E becomes A C E F#. This chord is quite close to D7 (D F# A C) and a second inversion D7 (A D A C F#) where the open A string is deliberately strummed will sound similar. The minor sharp sixth has an angular quality because of the dissonant augmented 4th between C and F#, as is found in the dominant seventh, but it is not as depressive as the minor sixth. It is slightly easier to find shapes for the minor sharp sixth than the minor sixth. It is not a common chord, though around the time of the 'White Album' Lennon became fond of it, as can be heard in the verses of 'Happiness Is A Warm Gun'. It is effective to use this chord when a song features a change from the minor form of chord IV to I. In C major, this would be Fm (F Ab C) to C; try Fm#6 (F Ab C D) instead of Fm. Try playing Am G C and then Am#6 G C and notice the change in feeling.

Augmented Chords To complete Part 1 of the Chord Dictionary, we'll look at two chord types that have occasional uses. The augmented chord is a major triad where the top note (the fifth) is sharpened: C E G becomes C E G#. In traditional harmony, it does not occur on the major scale but is found on the harmonic minor scale as chord III (C E G# in A harmonic minor). This chord is tense sounding and never played for more than a beat or so. It is usually found as a passing chord between a major and a minor or a major and a major sixth. Try changing from D to D+ to Bm, or D to D+ to D6. Chuck Berry famously put an augmented chord at the start of the classic song 'No Particular Place To Go' to imitate a car horn. You can catch the augmented strutting its funky stuff in 'All My Loving' (ch: VI bVI+ I in E), 'Ask Me Why' (ch: IV V I I+) and 'From Me To You' (end of bridge). It is an essential part of the riff in 'Kashmir' recently given a down-market re-fit and renamed the good ship 'Come With Me' by Puff Daddy. There are augmented chords in 'It Won't Be Long', 'Michelle', 'Fixing A Hole', 'I'm Happy Just To Dance With You', 'Mamma Mia' and 'Just Like Starting Over'. An E+ kicks off 'Oh Darling', and the chorus of 'Hey Bulldog' has the hypnotic climbing sequence Bm Bm+ Bm6 Bm7, followed by the same sequence starting from Em. Notice that an augmented chord is made up of two intervals of two tones (full steps) each. If you try to add another one, you come full circle: in C, the note two tones above G# is . . .C. Therefore, the augmented chord cannot be added to by the method which increases the complexity of other chords. Diminished/Diminished Seventh Chords The diminished triad (C Eb Gb) is almost never used on its own. Instead, another note one-and-a-half tones above is added to create a diminished seventh: C Eb Gb Bbb (B double-flat = A in pitch). In sound, this is close to a dominant seventh chord. If we change C Eb Gb Bbb enharmonically (using alternate names for the same notes) to C Eb F# A, the Eb has to drop only one semitone (half-step) to D to make a D7 chord. That's why this chord has a highly ambiguous quality. As with the augmented chord, you don't want to stay on a diminished seventh for long. It is the musical equivalent of one of those strange particles in sub-atomic physics the sort that are in six different places and/or six different times at once. The diminished seventh is a mutant offspring of the minor chord, whose main employment is as a doorway between different keys. Each note in a diminished seventh can be regarded as the root, so each shape has multiple names. Bizarre, isn't it? I guess you won't be surprised if I tell you that the number of hit singles with diminished sevenths is pretty small. It sometimes turns up in Meatloaf numbers, to assist that air of faded grandeur. David Bowie put several in the chorus of 'Quicksand', thus causing a generation of guitar tyros to gnash their teeth because they could not figure out what the hell was going on. But it is popular in jazz. You have been warned. . . .
Dimished seventh

Chords in a Major Key The chords that combine well in C major are C Dm Em F G and Am. The seventh chord, B diminished, can be ignored as it is rarely used. We can get an acceptable substitute by flattening the seventh note and turning it into a major chord. In C major, this would mean flattening B to Bb.

Chords in a Minor Key The chords formed from the harmonic minor scale are: minor, diminished, augmented, minor, major, major, diminished. In songwriting this is almost never used. In this example, the G# would turn chord V into a major, but the other chords would remain as they were in A natural minor.