Lesson 1

Lesson 1 Topic: Chord Structures

Instructions
This lesson deals with how chords are made up, what they're called, and why they're called it.
For ease of use I'll mosty use the key of C. Applicable tones shown in scales are bold faced. The tabs shown are for typical guitar fingerings to the chords, not all ways to play a certain chord may be shown.

Symbols used:
b= flat
#= sharp
5= fifth
no symbol= major
m= minor
maj7= major 7th
m7= min 7th
7= dominant 7th
maj9= major ninth
9= ninth
maj11= major eleventh
11th= eleventh
maj13= major thirteenth
m9= minor ninth
m11= minor eleventhth
m13= minor thirteenth
13th= thirteenth
add= added
sus= suspended
+= Augmented
°= diminished
ø= half diminished (min7 b5)

Part I: 5th Chords (aka power chords)

Fifth chords are the simplest to play and consist only of the root, the fifth, and the ocatave (optional) of the scale.

Scale:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII

           OR

C D E F G A B C


Tab:
 C5           C5
|-----|      |------|
|-----|      |------|
|-(5)-|  OR  |------|
|--5--|      |-(10)-|
|--3--|      |--10--|
|-----|      |--8---|

Part II: Triads

Triads are the most commonly used chords. They consist of again, the root and fifth, but also a major or minor third. The major third of a C chord is E. Lowering this note 1/2 step (1 fret) makes it a minor.

Scale:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII

           OR

C D E/Eb F G A B C


Tab:
 C            C             C (barre)
|--0--|      |--3--|      |--8--|
|--1--|      |--5--|      |--8--|
|--0--|  OR  |--5--|  OR  |--9--|
|--2--|      |--5--|      |--10-|
|--3--|      |--3--|      |--10-|
|-----|      |-----|      |--8--|

 Cm           Cm  (barre)
|--3--|      |--8--|
|--4--|      |--8--|
|--5--|  OR  |--8--|
|--5--|      |--10-|
|--3--|      |--10-|
|-----|      |--8--|

Part III: 7th chords

7th chords are used to add life to a simple triad. There are three main types of 7th chords: the major 7, minor 7, and dominant 7. A major 7 chord is simply a major triad with the 7th note of the scale added to it (B in this case). Similarily, a minor 7 chord, is just a minor triad with a lowered seventh note (Bb in this case). A dominant 7 is kind of a combination of the two. It is a major triad with a lowered 7 (Bb).

Scale:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII

           OR

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


Tab:
 Cmaj7        C             Cmaj7 (barre)
|--0--|      |--3--|      |--8--|
|--0--|      |--5--|      |--8--|
|--0--|  OR  |--4--|  OR  |--9--|
|--2--|      |--5--|      |--9--|
|--3--|      |--3--|      |--10-|
|-----|      |-----|      |--8--|

 Cm7          Cm7  (barre)
|--3--|      |--8--|
|--4--|      |--8--|
|--3--|  OR  |--8--|
|--5--|      |--8--|
|--3--|      |--10-|
|-----|      |--8--|

 C7           C7           C7 (barre)
|--0--|      |--3--|      |--8--|
|--1--|      |--5--|      |--8--|
|--3--|  OR  |--3--|  OR  |--9--|
|--2--|      |--5--|      |--8--|
|--3--|      |--3--|      |--10-|
|-----|      |-----|      |--8--|

Part IV: 2nd, 4th, 6th suspended and added chords and 6th chords

Confusing sus and add chords is one of the most common mistakes I see on the internet. A sus chord takes either the 2nd, 4th or 6th note of the scale and substitutes it with a regular chord tone like the 3rd, 5th or 7th. Add chords are similar but instead of replacing the chord tone, the 2nd, 4th or 6th is added to it. When a chord is just shown as sus or add, it is said to be a sus or add 4. All other tones need a number after the chord (i.e. Csus2). Sometimes a chord is just show as C2 or, more commonly, C6. This implies that the chord is a sus chord. When two or more of the tones are added to the chord, the symbol is shown like this: C2sus4.

Possible substitutions (for sus chords):
2nd: root, 3rd
4th: 3rd, 5th
6th: 5th, 7th

Scale:
(Example of a Csus)
I II III IV V VI VII VIII

           OR

C D E F G A B C

(Example of a Cadd)
I II III IV V VI VII VIII

           OR

C D E F G A B C

(Example of a C6)
I II III IV V VI VII VIII

           OR

C D E F G A B C

Tab:
 Cadd2    Cadd(4)  Cadd6    Csus2    Csus(4)  Csus6 (C6) Cm6
|--0--|  |--1--|  |--3--|  |--3--|  |--3--|  |--0--|    |--5--|
|--2--|  |--1--|  |--1--|  |--3--|  |--6--|  |--1--|    |--4--|
|--0--|  |--0--|  |--2--|  |--5--|  |--5--|  |--2--|    |--0--|
|--2--|  |--2--|  |--2--|  |--5--|  |--5--|  |--2--|    |--5--|
|--3--|  |--3--|  |--3--|  |--3--|  |--3--|  |--3--|    |--3--|
|-----|  |-----|  |-----|  |-----|  |-----|  |-----|    |-----|

Part V: 9th, 11th, 13th chords

Another common mistake is confusing whether a chord is a sus2 or a nine. 9ths, 11ths and 13ths are the same tonally as 2nds, 4ths, and 6ths, respectively, but when a chord is labeled as a 9, 11, or 13, it is implied that there is a 7th in the chord as well. So a chord of this type consists of a root, 3rd, 5th and a 7th plus a 2nd, 4th or 6th. The 9, 11, 13 tones can be sus or add chords, using the substitutions below, but are not specified as sus or add chords in the symbol. Instead they are shown as being major 7, minor 7 or dominant 7. When the 7th in the chord is a major 7 the chord is called maj9. When the 7th is a minor 7 the chord is called m9. When the chord is a dominant 7 the chord is just called a 9. As above, when two or more of the tones are added to a chord, the symbol is shown like this: C9sus13.

Possible substitutions:
9th: root, 3rd
11th: 3rd, 5th
13th: 5th, 7th

Scale:
(Example of a C9)
I II III IV V VI VII VIII

           OR

C D E F G A Bb C

(Example of a Cmaj9)
I II III IV V VI VII VIII

           OR

C D E F G A B C

(Example of a Cm9)
I II III IV V VI VII VIII

           OR

C D Eb F G A Bb C


 Tab:
 Cmaj9    Cmaj11   Cmaj13
|--0--|  |--1--|  |--0--|
|--2--|  |--0--|  |--0--|
|--4--|  |--0--|  |--2--|
|--2--|  |--2--|  |--2--|
|--3--|  |--3--|  |--3--|
|-----|  |-----|  |-----|

 Cm9(/Eb) Cm11     Cm13
|--3--|  |--3--|  |--5--|
|--3--|  |--4--|  |--4--|
|--3--|  |--3--|  |--3--|
|--5--|  |--3--|  |--5--|
|--6--|  |--3--|  |--3--|
|-----|  |-----|  |-----|

 C9       C11      C13
|--0--|  |--1--|  |--5--|
|--3--|  |--1--|  |--5--|
|--3--|  |--3--|  |--3--|
|--2--|  |--2--|  |--5--|
|--3--|  |--3--|  |--3--|
|-----|  |-----|  |-----|

Part VI: Augmented, Half-Diminished, and Diminished chords

An augmented chord is a simple triad with a raised (#) 5, shown as Caug. or C+. When a 7th is added to that mix it becomes a Caug.7 or C+7. A half-diminished chord consists of a root, lowered (b) 3rd, lowered (b) 5th, and a lowered (b) 7. Because of this that, this chord can be called either Cm7b5 or Cø (half diminished). A diminished chord is the same as a half diminished except that it has a double lowered (bb) 7 and is shown as Cdim. or C°. With diminished chords, any of the four chord tones can be considered the root of the chord. The name of the chord is determined by what note would sound best on bass in the progression.

Scale:
(Example of a C+)
I II III IV V VI VII VIII

           OR

C D E F G# A B C

(Example of a Cø)
I II III IV V VI VII VIII

           OR

C D Eb F Gb A Bb C

(Example of a C°)
I II III IV V VI VII VIII

           OR

C D Eb F Gb A Bbb C

 Tab:
   C+     C+7      Cø       C°
|--0--|  |--4--|  |--3--|  |--2--|
|--1--|  |--5--|  |--4--|  |--1--|
|--1--|  |--3--|  |--3--|  |--2--|
|--2--|  |--6--|  |--4--|  |--1--|
|--3--|  |--3--|  |--3--|  |-----|
|-----|  |-----|  |-----|  |-----|

Part VII : Roots

The root of any chord is the first note of the scale (C, in this case). This note is usually played by the bass and as the root of the chord played on guitar. Sometimes, though, the bass and guitar play a different chord tone and when this occurs, the chord is shown like this: C/G.

Scale:
I II III IV V VI VII VIII

           OR

C D E F G A B C


Tab:
 C/G
|--0--|
|--1--|
|--0--|
|--2--|
|--3--|
|--3--|

That is all for now, please don't hesitate to e-mail me with any questions.

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