HOME         BIO          CONTACT          ONLINE  GUITAR  LESSONS            CHORD/SCALE GENERATOR          LINKS          SITEMAP

New Jersey Guitar Lessons

duo_merged_209.gif (21784 bytes)

 

FREE TRIAL GUITAR LESSON. Absolutely No Obligation! Call 973-785-0896

 

 

             

                       ONLINE GUITAR LESSONS                          

Chord Construction

 

How are guitar chords built? What makes a chord minor or major? If                                                      you're not sure about this, then read on ... Some background                                                                 theory makes a tremendous help when learning how to play guitar chords.

Let's get started with the C major scale :

C Major Scale C    D    E    F    G    A   B
  1    2    3    4    5    6    7


Triads (chords that are built with 3 notes) and seventh chords                                                              (chords that are built with 4 notes) are based on thirds.

There are 2 kinds of thirds (or 3rds) :

minor third interval of 3 half notes symbol : b3
major third interval of 4 half notes symbol : 3


Let's start by stacking 2 thirds on the 1 (first note) of the C major scale

C    E    G
1    3   5

The result is a C major triad or C.  From C to E is a major third and from E to G a minor third: every  major chord has this structure. The thing to remember here is what we call the chord formula for major chords: 1-3-5
Another thing to remember : another name for the 1 of a chord is the root.

Let's do the same for the 2 of the C major scale :

D    F    A
1    b3   5


The result is a D minor triad or Dm.  From D to F is a minor third and from F to A is a                        major third : every minor chord has this structure.
Again the thing to remember is the chord formula for minor chords : 1-b3-5

Now we're going to skip a few notes and stack thirds on the 7 of the C major scale:

B    D    F
1    b3   b5


The result now is a B diminished triad or Bdim.  From B to D is a minor third and                                   from D to F is also a minor third : every diminished triad chord has this structure.
So the chord formula of diminished chords is : 1-b3-b5



I'll summarize and complete the other notes of the C major scale :

  Notes Formula Chord Name Symbol
1 C    E    G 1     3    5 C major C
2 D    F    A 1   b3    5 D minor Dm or D- or Dmin
3 E    G    B 1   b3    5 E minor Em or E- or Emin
4 F    A    C 1     3    5 F major F
5 G    B    D 1     3    5 G major G
6 A    C    E 1   b3    5 A minor Am or A- or Amin
7 B    D    F 1   b3  b5 B diminished Bdim or B°

 

Augmented triads are probably the least common in rock and pop, but they definitely do                    happen occasionally, and they are used fairly regularly in jazz and classical music.

An augmented triad is built with a root (I) and a 3rd (III), just like a major triad.                          However,   the 5th is sharped in this case (#V). Therefore an augmented triad is                       comprised of  I - III - #V.  In the key of C, this would give us C - E - G#.

C augmented triad = C - E - G#

___________________________________________________________________________

The construction of seventh chords follows the same principle as constructing triads :                stacking 3rds on top of each other. Triads were made by stacking 2 thirds on top of                             the root. Seventh chords are constructed by stacking 3 thirds on top of the root.

Let's stack 3 thirds on the 1 of the C major scale :

C    E    G    B
1    3    5    7


The result is a C major 7 chord or Cmaj7.  From C to E is a major third, from E to G is a                    minor third and from G to B is a major third : every major 7 chord has this structure.
So the chord formula for major 7 chords is : 1-3-5-7

Let's do the same for the 2nd note of the C major scale :

D    F    A    C
1    b3   5    b7


The result is a D minor 7 chord or Dmin7.  From D to F is a minor third, from F to A is a major third and from A to C is a minor third : every minor 7 chord has this structure. So the chord formula for minor 7 chords is : 1-b3-5-b7

Now let's skip some notes and stack 3 thirds on top of the 5th note of the C major scale :

G    B    D    F
1    3    5    b7


The result is a G dominant 7 chord or G7.  From G to B is a major third, from B to D is a minor third and from D to F is a minor third : every dominant 7 chord has this structure. The chord formula for dominant 7 chords is : 1-3-5-b7

We'll skip some more notes and stack 3 thirds on top of the 7th note of the C major scale :

B    D     F     A
1    b3   b5    b7


The result is a B half diminished chord or Bm7b5.  From B to D is a minor third, from D to F is a minor third and from F to A is a major third : every half diminished 7 chord has this structure.
The chord formula for half diminished 7 chords is : 1-b3-b5-b7



I'll summarize and complete the other notes of the C major scale :

  Notes Formula Chord Name Symbol
1 C    E    G    B 1     3    5     7 C major 7 Cmaj7
2 D    F    A    C 1   b3    5   b7 D minor 7 Dm7 or D-7 or Dmin7
3 E    G    B    D 1   b3    5   b7 E minor 7 Em7 or E-7 or Emin7
4 F    A    C    E 1     3    5     7 F major 7 Fmaj7
5 G    B    D    F 1     3    5   b7 G dominant G7
6 A    C    E    G 1   b3    5   b7 A minor 7 Am7 or A-7 or Amin7
7 B    D    F    A 1   b3  b5   b7 B half diminished Bm7b5 or Bmin7b5

 

Diminished Seventh chords

A diminished seventh chord begins with a diminished triad and you add a "double-flat" seventh, which is really the same thing as the sixth (this is another one of those things in music that you     just have to accept as truth without really questioning why). The diminished seventh chord has an interesting structure and can perform very versatile functions within a chord progression.

Cdim7 = C - Eb - Gb - Bbb (A) (I - bIII - bV - bbVII)

The interesting thing about the diminished seventh chord is that it is a "symmetrical chord." Notice that each interval in the chord is a minor third, or three half steps. Because of this, you could say that any of the notes of the chord could be considered the root note--or, to put it another way, a Cdim7 is the same as an Ebdim7, which is the same as a Gbdim7, which is the same as an Adim7. Strange, huh? Check it out:

Cdim7 = C Eb Gb A
Adim7 = A C Eb Gb
Ebdim7 = Eb Gb A C
Gbdim7 = Gb A C Eb

 

Augmented Dominant Seventh chords

An augmented seventh chord is just like a regular dominant seventh chord, except that the fifth is raised (a.k.a. sharped, a.k.a. augmented):

C7aug = C - E - G# - Bb

 

Augmented Major Seventh chords

An augmented major seventh chord is just like a regular major seventh chord, except that the        fifth is raised (a.k.a. sharped, a.k.a. augmented):

Cmaj7+5 = C - E - G# - B

 

Minor/Major Seventh chords

A minor/major seventh chord begins with a minor triad, but unlike the minor seventh chord, it adds a natural seventh degree to the chord:

Cm(maj7) = C - Eb - G - B

 

CALL 973-785-0896

tom@newjerseyguitarlessons.com