What makes up chords

There are 9 common chord qualities that you should be aware of. You may have heard of a few of these, while others may be foreign. Each section will contain an explanation of the mood of a chord, instruction on how to build it, an audio clip of how it sounds, and an image of the chord on a piano roll.

As you can see, we start counting the half steps from the note above the last one. Minor chords follow the same pattern as major chords except the middle note is down a half step.

Although they seem almost identical, the difference is significant. Listen to the audio clip below, which will play a C Major chord followed by a C Minor chord. Listen for how the tone of the chords differ. One way to remember the different chord formulas is to memorize the intervals between the notes in the chord. For a minor chord, you start with the root, move up 3 semitones to the minor third, then move up another 4 semitones 7 semitones from the root to the the perfect fifth.

Thus, the formula for a minor chord is: Similarly, we can represent the formula for building a major chord as If this clears things up, it can be a handy tool. Major seventh chords are considered to be thoughtful, soft. Another way to think about major seventh chords is they are a major triad i. The C Major Seventh chord has a distinct character and tone.

Minor seventh chords are considered to be moody, or contemplative. If major chords are happy, and minor chords are sad, then minor seventh chords are somewhere in between these two. Another way to think about minor seventh chords is they are a minor triad with a minor 7th on top. Dominant seventh chords are considered to be strong and restless. Another way to think about major seventh chords is they are a major seventh chord with the top note lowered by one semitone.

Notice how the dominant seventh chord sounds comparatively energetic and restless. The C and G form both play with the root, 3rd, 5th, then repeat the root. They use the same pattern: R R - 3 - R. Once again, optional notes are in parentheses. Like the The C and G Form share the same interval pattern. They simply start on a different string. We can easily modify these chords to form seventh chords! Usually, this is done by modifying doubled notes or the fifth, which is sometimes omitted.

Extended chords are usually formed by modifying a doubled note or one that we consciously omit. Below are examples of a dominant 9 and a dominant 13 chord. We try to modify doubled notes first, but often we have to make a compromise. Usually it is using the following rules. You will notice that the following rules apply to almost all guitar chords when switching from a lower pitched string to a higher pitched string.

Everything you learned in this lesson was intended to give you intuition and simplify the many rules. Regardless, it is still a lot of information. Here are some practicing recommendations. I recommend using the rule. In a given week or 7-day span , practice 3 exercises at least 3 days. Continue practicing until you truly learn the chords.

As you modify chords, listen for the differences in the chord sounds. Also, look at the differences in the grips. The goal is to learn the notes you are playing. Ironically, learning chord construction helped me improvise better. I was able to understand the notes that I was playing. It helped me link melody to harmony effectively. It truly broke a rut for me, and it can do the same for you. I am planning several new lessons that expand on this lesson. My Drop-2 chords lesson is a good follow-up lesson because it covers several combinations of chords.

This was a huge lesson. If you read this far, you must be a future guitar hero, but I want to thank you for reading it. I truly hope it helps you improve.

If you liked this lesson, please consider buying the PDF version to support content like this. Alternatively, the biggest thanks I can get is for you to like my facebook page and leave a post with what you liked about it.

As always, feel free to contact me with your questions, concerns, etc. I am here to help! Thank you for the kind words. I am glad that you found it useful, and I hope to continue to provide insights for readers like you. Looking at the diagrams posted below, I think there is only a one fret difference between the root and the third on the next string up.

From that, I think the other fret values may be off. Let me know if I am wrong please. Great article regardless! Thank you for your comment and kind words. The diagram is correct. For C7, C is on the 8th fret of the 6th string and E the 3rd is on the 7th fret of the 5th string.

If it were a minor 3rd, that would be a different story. Pat Great mate.. Thank you for your kind words. I can totally relate to being stuck in a rut and I know practising this can finally win me some overdue progress. Thank you for taking the time to plan and write this. The interval chart on its own is a valuable resource. I have never seen this taught this way before and it simplifies so many things that usually start to fog up in my poor brain.

This is one of the best lessons I've read and I was glued after the first sentence. Stay tuned for more free and updated lessons plus my upcoming book, The Secrets of Learning the Fretboard , that should finally be released this month! Good site. Shall check it again later. One Q. I am still after a few years wondering why the 4th string is tuned one click lower.

With standard tuning, it is tuned in perfect fourths except for between the 2nd and 3rd string which is a minor 3rd. I do not know the true reason for it, but I have always assumed that it was to make chord grips easier.

What a stunning article, thanks. As I start to move into more and more jazz based gigs … from many years of playing the blues, I am having to go back to the theory again. This was a real breath of fresh air! Ray, I am so glad you enjoyed this lesson. I spent a lot of time to make this lesson useful for even experienced guitarists!

Hi Patrick. The muddy water just got a bit clearer. Thank you. Long way to go though. Andy in London. Andy, Thank you for your kind words.

The Secrets of Learning the Fretboard is an e-Book, which is available to people all over the world. I plan to print copies in , though that will probably be late Summer. You have explained that in a very simple and positive way that I can understand and teach others. Thanks you so much.

If you move from a higher string to an adjacent lower string, the interval descends by a perfect fifth. Thank you for your kind words and great question. I will clarify the intention of that comment. Intervals are numbered by how many notes they span in name. If you are playing a C chord, F is the perfect fourth of C. If you are playing an F chord, C is the perfect fifth of F. My comments were in reference to chord formulas.

Intervals have direction in that ascending a perfect fifth from C is a G, but descending a perfect fifth from C is an F. However ascending from C to F is still a perfect fourth. Chord formulas assume an ascending interval. So when you play a C chord, the F is considered the fourth. Thank you so much for giving such a detailed explaination to Learn chords formation…. Truly, very nice article. The audio should upload asap. I visited many learning sites but this one really organized perfectly.

Thank you guys who are working behind this site. Thanks and God bless you. Hey pat happy ! Your guitar knowledge is phenomenal and takes us mortals a step closer to experiencing freedom from repetitive chords and memorization and ultimately to a more fun playing experience.

Thank you, Patrick. I am Chinmay from India. This article has really help me understand it. Looking forward to learn more from you.. But the truth is, many fail to put the right amount of time and effort into the basics but not you right? Devoting even a small amount of energy towards a few basic music theory concepts will pay off in massive ways for your songwriting. But what are the most important music theory concepts every musician should know? One of the most vital skills is building chords… Chord-building is a music theory staple with the power to transform how you hear, understand and write music.

Even if you already know how to build chords, a quick refresher will always help to sharpen your skills. To get the most out of this tutorial, play along with your instrument of choice. Chords are two or more harmonic notes played at the same time. Most basic chords are built using three notes.

Chords are built on their root note the starting note. The rest of the notes in a chord are determined by the chord quality. To better understand how chords work in your music, think of your song like a building.

Your chords are the foundation. Chords can be played by anything from a guitar to a brass quintet. Building chords and chord progressions is simple once you understand the basics. But to build chords, you need to know what intervals are first…. Intervals are the note-to-note relationships we hear in music. Chords are simply varying combinations of intervals. To understand intervals in chords, you need to plug in a specific number of semitones. Semitones are the distance between one note and the one directly above it.

On the guitar, a semitone is represented by one fret.