How many guitar chords?
al...@rev.net
possible finger positions, some are unperformable, some are duplicates, and
some play the same note more than once. How many does that leave? How many
are useful? How many have names?
-- Ear O'Corn <http://www.rev.net/people/aloe/music>
Howard Wright
Some of these questions don't have exact answers, but anyway, here are a few
answers:
Just because a chord uses the same note more than once doesn't mean you should
disregard that chord.
Example:
play the chord 0799xx then play 079900
They have the same notes (the B and E at the top are just duplicated in the
2nd shape), but to my ears at least, they sound very different.
Chords with doubled notes have an extra ringing/chorus type effect that can be
very nice.
On to the "how many" questions. If you can play a chord on the guitar, it has
a name, so the answer to the last question is "all of them".
As to "how many guitar chords are there" ...
How many chord *types* are there? If you start a list, and try to include
everything, it gets pretty long. Lets give it a go (in the key of A):
A, Am, Aaug, Adim, A6, Am6, A6/9, Am6/9, Amaj7, Am7, A7, A5, Amaj9, Am9, A9,
Asus4, Amaj11, Am11, A11, A7sus4, Amaj13, Am13, A13, A9sus4, Aadd2, Amadd2,
A7#9, Asus2, Aadd4, Amadd4, A7-9, A7sus2, A7add4, A7-5, Asus4add2, Aadd#4.
Amadd#4, Am7-5, A9-5, Amaj7-5, A9+5, Ammaj7, Amaj7+5 ....
err did I miss many out? (apart from lots more jazz type chords like A11-5,
A13+9 etc etc)) Oh yeah, all those slash chords! Like A/C#, A/E, A/G, A/D etc
etc
oh, and Am/C, Am/E, Am/C#, Am/D etc etc
In fact, for each chord type listed above there are 11 variations of it, each
with a different bass note! Let's just include slash type variations for some
of the most common chords (A, Am, A7, Am7, Amaj7). That gives us about 100
chord types. There are 12 keys (C C# D D# etc), so if we count chords in all
keys that gives us 100*12 = 1200 chords.
Are we done yet? Oh no. For each chord,there are many different ways of
playing it. For Em7, there are over 100 ways of playing it on a guitar!
For most chords there are at *least* 10 different shapes for it (huge
underestimate).
So this gives 12 000 different chords.
So the short answer to "how many chords" is lots - around 12 000, but if you
really count every possible chord type, you would easily get into hundreds of
thousands.
Howard
Gopher Abott
an infinite number of combinations based on how many notes are played and
their formation. This is a question that cannot be answered. How mayn of
these chords are playable can narrow it down. Then you can throw in
semi-tones. It just keeps going. Infinite amount.
--
Gopher
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Marina/1002/
Howard Wright <how...@souzoukakia.netscapeonline.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3986BAB0...@souzoukakia.netscapeonline.co.uk...
SingleAct
>All a chord is is a set of 3 or more notes. So in essence this can result in
>an infinite number of combinations...
<snip>
yep-all very true-and if you play a given chord fingering but make a
mistake by, say having your 4th finger on the wrong fret-well, that's
just another chord, LOL! Might have to do a little back to basics
theory to figure out WHAT the name is, but it is a legitimate chord
;-))
--
SingleAct's Lyrics And Music Links
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/3225/
al...@rev.net
<Capt...@DIESPAMmail.com> wrote:
>All a chord is is a set of 3 or more notes.
How many notes in a power chord?
>So in essence this can result in
>an infinite number of combinations based on how many notes are played and
>their formation. This is a question that cannot be answered. How mayn of
>these chords are playable can narrow it down. Then you can throw in
>semi-tones. It just keeps going. Infinite amount.
How can the number be infinite? The number of strings and frets is finite.
The number of fingers is also finite.
Steve Moore
>On Tue, 1 Aug 2000 16:47:49 -0400, "Gopher Abott"
><Capt...@DIESPAMmail.com> wrote:
>
>>All a chord is is a set of 3 or more notes.
>
>How many notes in a power chord?
A power chordusually has two notes (root & fifth) although you can
stick the octave on too without making too much difference. But an
actual chord is defined as three or more notes played together. A
power chord should probably be called a power diad or something... but
that sounds gay...
>>So in essence this can result in
>>an infinite number of combinations based on how many notes are played and
>>their formation. This is a question that cannot be answered. How mayn of
>>these chords are playable can narrow it down. Then you can throw in
>>semi-tones. It just keeps going. Infinite amount.
>
>How can the number be infinite? The number of strings and frets is finite.
>The number of fingers is also finite.
Well, if you limit it to four fingers, 24 frets and no quarter-tones
or anything, there's bound to be a finite number of chords... and of
course, out of that number, a shiteload of them would be unplayable.
But if you throw in things like quarter-tones and suchlike, then you
could theoretically could get an infinite number of chords. And they
would all sound just great, I'm sure...
Steve.
+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+
www.supersteve.co.uk
mike anderson
e shape, C shape and G shape, D shape barre), Minor chords (open, a shape, e
shape, D shape barre)
also knowing the seventh chords in open, E, A, C, and D would be helpful.
There are a multitude of othre chords, but from my guessing, you won't need to
worry abou those now, probably even some of the positions I mentioned might be
a bit much.
Basically, major and minor and seventh chords are some of the most basic chords
used in songs today.
---
still this ceaseless murmuring???
Gopher Abott
imporant. Especially if you want to play rock stuff.
--
Gopher
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Marina/1002/
mike anderson <mike...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000802173940...@ng-fh1.aol.com...
Szilagyi Peter
6 posibble strings max 24 possible frets
independent from each other
so in theory 2^6*24^6=122230590464
of course you can't do 23th on E6 and 3th on G at the same time
so it's really theoretical, but there's even more cause the name of a few
sounds together is not evident like Am7/C consists of the same notes like
a C6 chord. Anyway if you want an answer that makes sense, you may take a
look at the theory of the way of constructing them. I know two ways
building thirds, and alterating them, and their functions, and the other,
building fourths, like, I think, that's the way of the blues chords, and
there may be other constructing ideas, but I don' know them, like Eastern
music.
Peter Szilagyi
Ps. Excuse me if I made some mistakes using English, it's not my mother
tongue
Benny Ramone
>On Tue, 1 Aug 2000 16:47:49 -0400, "Gopher Abott"
><Capt...@DIESPAMmail.com> wrote:
>
>>All a chord is is a set of 3 or more notes.
>
>How many notes in a power chord?
>
3 notes: the root, and the 5
benny
"Beat on the brat, beat on the brat, beat on the brat with a baseball bat"
-The Ramones, Beat On The Brat
remove "SPAMME" to email
Benny Ramone
scribbled this hard to read mess
>imporant. Especially if you want to play rock stuff.
>
don't forget the capo!
ben
Mark Haase
> How many guitar chords are there? It appears that out of thousands of
> possible finger positions, some are unperformable, some are duplicates, and
> some play the same note more than once. How many does that leave? How many
> are useful? How many have names?
I'd guess hundreds, if not thousands. There are alternate tunings, movable
shapes, and places to find chord triads all over the neck. So you might be
playing the same chord, but in a different place or with notes from a
different octave, which I would call a different chord.
+===-=--=---=--=-===+===-=--=---=--=-===+
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http://machelp.ath.cx
+===-=--=---=--=-===+===-=--=---=--=-===+
al...@rev.net
<hala...@kempelen.iit.bme.hu> wrote:
>6 posibble strings max 24 possible frets
>independent from each other
>so in theory 2^6*24^6=122230590464
If a standard guitar has 24 frets (does it?), then we add the open string
and the silent string, we get 26 options per string. If we multiply the 26
options for the first string by those for the second, etc., that gives us
26^6=308,915,776 combinations. I don't know where the other 121,921,674,688
combinations are supposed to come from.
Then I assume we have to subtract chords that are duplicates in that they
respectively employ the same note on two different strings, then add chords
that are triplicates in that they respectively employ the same note on
three different strings, then subtract chords that are quadruplicates in
that they respectively employ the same note on four different strings, then
add chords that are quintuplicates in that they respectively employ the
same note on five different strings, then subtract chords that are
sextuplicates in that they respectively employ the same note on six
different strings.
>of course you can't do 23th on E6 and 3th on G at the same time
>so it's really theoretical,
Then it is necessary to subtract the remaining chords that require a
superhuman finger span.
>but there's even more cause the name of a few
>sounds together is not evident like Am7/C consists of the same notes like
>a C6 chord.
Those homophones would not have been duplicated on the list. We started
from fret positions, not names. So each configuration would only appear
once.