Guitar Chord Building

[Margorie Gomoran]

Triads are 3 note chords. They can be major, minor, diminished, augmented, or suspended chords. Although triads are exactly 3 notes, you can play major, minor, diminished, augmented and suspended chords with more notes by simply doubling some of the notes. All the CAGED chord forms that most beginners learn use double notes.

These are 4 note chords that have a seventh degree, which is a note that is usually a major or minor seventh interval above the root. The most common seventh chords are major 7, minor 7, and dominant 7.

Extended chords are simply chords that contain a ninth, eleventh, or thirteenth. These are considered the extended notes. You should notice that they could also be considered the 2, 4, or 6. For example, in the key of C, the 2nd and 9th are both D. The 4th and 11th are both F. The 6th and 13th are both A.

You might be wondering why we even bother to use the names 9, 11, 13, when 2, 4, and 6 are the same notes. There are a few reasons. The easiest reason is that 9, 11, and 13 are used when you extend seventh chords. The highest degree of a seventh chord is the 7th, they are extended with higher numbered notes.

Chords can be formed using interval formulas, which I will give in a later section. These can be given as the interval from the root or relative to the previous note. If you need to refresh your knowledge of intervals, I recommend reading my lesson on intervals.

Sometimes intervals are specified relative to the previous note because chords are (usually) stacked in thirds. For C major 7, the formula would be major third, minor third, major third. The notes are C (the root), E (a major third up from C), G (a minor third up from E), and B (a major third up from G).

Observe the alphabetic distance between the notes. C to E is a major third. It is a third because it spans 3 alphabetic note names C-D-E. It is major because C and E are 2 full steps apart in pitch. E to G is a minor third because it spans 3 alphabetic note names, E-F-G, but E and G are only 1-1/2 steps apart. Knowing this will help you identify the pitches of the chord.

Most triads contain a root, third, and fifth. The suspended chords replace the third with either the 2 or the 4. These chords are named using the 2 and 4 because they are replacing the third rather than extending the chord. I will cover this in greater depth when we discuss extended chord formulas.

You may notice a pattern here. Seventh chords build upon triads. I listed the most common seventh chord formulas below. Take a minute to observe the triad to seventh chord relationship. For example, Major 7 and Dominant 7 add a seventh to the major triad. Later in this lesson, I will give you some simple rules to help you learn several chord patterns.

Below are some common extended chords. Their usefulness varies by style. Jazz musicians often start with the seventh chords, and add the extended chords over time. Blues musicians often learn the dominant 9 chord right away. Meanwhile, Rock and Pop styles use them occasionally, but you can go a long time without learning them.

You will notice that the dominant 13 chord has 7 notes when the guitar only has 6 strings. Some notes will be omitted when you play this chord by yourself, but another band member may play the notes that you omit.

In standard tuning, playing chords like a pianist is impractical, so guitarists usually play different voicings. In guitar terms, voicings are different grips for the same chord. In more precise terms, a voicing determines the order of the notes along with which notes are doubled.

Chord voicings that change the order of the notes are often called inversions. For example, your base triad is R-3-5. The first inversion of this chord orders the notes as 3-5-R. The second inversion would order the notes as 5-R-3. This lesson will not teach you several inversions of chords, but it is good to know. You can derive several chord grips by trying to find all the combinations. I will explore this in a future lesson, but I will give you some practical advice on forming chords with easier grips in the next couple of sections..

The great grip problem exists because we use standard tuning, which means that our guitar is tuned in perfect fourths except between the 2nd and 3rd string where the interval is a major third. You learned earlier that chords are built in thirds (or that they skipped notes). When you want to play a third on the next string, you need to move to a lower fret almost every time. As you add thirds, the grip becomes harder and harder. For example, R to 3 spans 2 frets. When you add the 5th, the chord spans 4 frets. When you add the flatted seventh, the chord spans 6 frets. It is hard to stretch your fingers across 6 frets.

The key to constructing great chords is to alternate between notes that move you up and down the fretboard. So far, we know that thirds move us backward, but what moves us forward? It is simply a higher interval, and the next chord tone after the third is the fifth. The diagram below shows the root note and the notes on the next higher string. Notice how the thirds move you back but the fifth moves you forward.

The dividing line between moving backwards and forward is what I call the 45 divide. I named it that way because of how it helps you find notes from a chord formula. The note on the same fret as the root note but on adjacent higher string is a perfect fourth. The note on the same fret as the root note but on the adjacent lower string is a perfect fifth (for chord formula purposes). Since it is a fourth one way and a fifth the other, I call it the 45 divide.

Notice how the following chords all start with the root note, then the 5th, repeat the root, then play the third. This is a very common pattern in guitar chords. I label this form R-5-R-3-(5)-(R). Optional notes are shown in parentheses.

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.

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 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.

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.

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 2017, though that will probably be late Summer.

Hey pat happy 2019! 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. Having taken up guitar at a relatively later age, I want to know the theory / formula behind Chord formations instead of only copying and practicing them. This article has really help me understand it. Looking forward to learn more from you..

Some years ago I made a concerted effort to bring up this weaker area of my playing. I have since put a lot of time and effort into building my knowledge of guitar chords and understanding guitar chord theory.

And thankfully, doing so has had a profound effect on my guitar playing. I now feel much more comfortable and confident playing a range of guitar chords all over the fretboard. But one additional and significant benefit, is that my lead guitar playing has also improved.

It will help you to create more sophisticated solos. It will also allow you to play alongside the track you are accompanying, rather than on top of it. And this will make your solos sound more melodic and effective.

Finally, if you have any ambitions for writing your own music, I would strongly recommend learning the basics of guitar chord theory. It will help you to construct interesting and impactful chord progressions that will represent the type of music you are trying to create.

As such, here I will be covering the basics. This will give you the fundamentals of guitar chord theory you need to become more comfortable with chords and how they are constructed. Over time you can build on this to take your guitar chord theory knowledge to the next level.

As such, the information outlined here is largely theoretical, rather than practical. Yet once you understand this information, it will make learning different chords and using them in your playing much easier.

So whether you are looking to improve your rhythm guitar skills, write your own music, or develop as a musician more generally, I hope you find the information included here useful. Here are the basics of guitar chord theory:

If we take the example above, you can see that C is the first note of the scale, and D is the second. As a result, E is then the third note that you encounter. Similarly, when you are trying to find the next note a third up from E, you count in the same way.

If you find the above confusing, then you can also think about skipping out or jumping over alternative notes in the scale. In other words, you play the note of C, miss D, play E, miss F, play G, and so on.

And this is because of intervals. As noted above, a triad is formed by taking 3 notes, all of which are a third apart. Yet this triad can sound totally different, depending on the intervals between the notes.

As you can see, there are 2 frets separating many of the notes in the scale, and only 1 fret separating others. This is very important when you begin to create triads from different notes of the scale.

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