Quote (bob(Cs2) @ Aug 3 2011 08:27am)
Man i'd love to know all of these chords and WHY they are the chords they are etc
Ideally, I want to know more chords so I can blues jam
Chords are incredibly easy to deduce assuming you have an understanding of how keys work. Notably, you need to understand that if you play a C major scale and an F major scale, they follow the same pattern (TTSTTTS) just starting on different notes. Chords work the same way: An F major chord and a C major chord are constructed out of the same pattern, they are just starting on different notes.
All diatonic (diatonic means that each note letter appears only once; by this logic a diatonic chord can have no more than seven notes) chords can be derived from a scale. This is a sort of arduous process but it makes understanding chords easier. A triad, the most basic kind of chord, consists of three notes (hence the name
triad). The major triad is probably the most well-known sound in music; it consists of a root, a major third, and a perfect fifth. You can drive this from the major scale pretty easily by taking the root, third and fifth of any major scale. I'll do it from C and Ab, just as proof of concept.
Code
C D E F G A B
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
C major chord - C E G
Ab Bb C Db Eb F G
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Ab major chord - Ab C Eb
If you already knew this, that's good; if you don't get it, don't worry about it yet but it's important information to know.
You may have observed that a major chord consists of two notes a major third apart then two notes a minor third apart. This is another way of deriving a chord that some people find faster.
Given that information, here's a list of common diatonic chords, how they would appear in C major, and what scale degrees they would consist of. I also tabbed out how you can play the chord (if it were in C) in root position; you can move these fingerings around the neck to play it with different roots.
I didn't include slash chords as slash chords are just chords made out of either two chords or one chord and a colour tone.
You should also note that sus and sus4 mean the same thing, but sus and sus2 do not.
Major - C E G - 1 3 5 (x35553)
Minor - C Eb G - 1 b3 5 (x35543)
Sus - C F G - 1 4 5 (x35563)
Sus2 - C D G - 1 2 ５ (x35533)
Dim - C Eb Gb - 1 b3 b5 (x3454x)
Aug - C E G# - 1 3 #5 (x36553)
6 - C E G A - 1 3 5 6 (x35555)
Mi6 - C Eb G A - 1 b3 5 6 (x35545)
7 - C E G Bb - 1 3 5 b7 (x35353 or x3231x; it is important to know both of these voicings)
Ma7 - C E G B - 1 3 5 7 (x35453)
Mi7 - C Eb G Bb - 1 b3 5 b7 (x35343)
MiMa7 - C Eb G B - 1 b3 5 7 (x35443)
*Mi7b5 - C Eb Gb Bb - 1 b3 b5 b7 (x3434x)
Dim7 - C Eb Gb Bbb - 1 b3 b5 bb7 (x3424x)
7#5 - C E G# Bb - 1 3 #5 b7 (x3635x)
7sus - C F G Bb - 1 4 5 b7 (x35343)
*This is also called a half-diminished chord or a split chord.
There are other possible 7 chords - like Mi7#5 - but these are rare.
To invert a chord, simply use the same notes but put a different note on the bottom. G major 7 can appear in either root position or three inversions.
Root - G (B D F#)
First Inversion B (D F# G)
Second Inversion D (F# G B )
Third Inversion F# (G B D)
The other notes are in brackets because the inversion is determined only by the bass note; the other notes can occur in any order after that, even multiple times, as happens often in guitar (a barred C major chord on the fifth string contains the notes, in order, C G C E G -- very redundant).
You may also notice over time that some of these chords are redundant. For example, a Csus is the same as an inverted Fsus2. A GMi6 is the same as an inverted EbMi7b5, and in the same vein, a G6 is the same as an inverted Emi7. They are distinguished only by their root and their purpose in the scale. The construction of certain chords also produces some interesting foibles; for example, there are only four possible harmonically distinct augmented chords due to the fact that augmented chords consist of a series of major thirds. There is also only three possible harmonically distinct dim7 chords because dim7 chords consist of a series of minor thirds. There are an infinite number of chromatically distinct chords for every type, but there are only three differently pitched dim7 chords.
Any time a chord is affixed with a number larger than 7, it is referred to as a chord with an extension. Extensions must be non-redundant, reducing the only possible extensions to 9, 11, and 13. Extensions are easy and they ignore scale precedent, so you just do what they say. A Cmaj9 is a cmaj7 with a 9 attached -- C E G B D. An F9#11 is an F7 with a 9 and a #11 added to it -- F A C Eb G B. There are some weird notation rules that I will try to summarize.
If there is just a number, you play every note in the series up to that number with no alterations (play them as they would appear in the scale). If it says addX, then you play the written chord plus that note. This is easier to see than it is to explain, so I'll demonstrate.
EMi7b5Add11 - E G Bb D A
EMi11b5 - E G Bb D F# A
There are some strange conventions to chord notation that will make reading them less frustrating. Major chords almost never have natural 11s, so if you see a CMa13, you should assume that means you should play a #11, not a nat11, unless it specifies nat11. That rule applies to dominant chords as well but not minor or dim/split chords. This rule is similar to the rule that dictates that minor 6 chords actually have major 6ths, not minor 6ths -- this is because minor chords are almost never played with minor 6ths (a minor chord with a minor 6th would be an inverted maj7 chord and would sound like one). Also, sus chords are not notated as expected; "sus" always comes at the end of the chord. D7sus is correct, Dsus7 is not. You should also note that "add" is commonly omitted when it follows a non-natural extension: A7b13 is the same as A7addb13, and DbMaj7#11 is the same as DbMaj7Add#11.
This is the kind of thing that you really have to practice to be able to do, especially if you want to be able to do it with any speed.
EDIT: I also missed alt. Alt means you play a dominant chord with no fifth, either a b9 or a #9, and a b13. A variant of this is the KS chord, where you play an alt chord with both a b9 and a #9.
ONE FINAL EDIT: You mentioned blues, so I'll give you a blues to play containing a good variety of chords. This is known as a Byrd blues or a New York Blues.
FMaj7 | EMi7b5 A7#9 | Dmi7 G7 | Cmi7 F7
BbMaj7 | BbMi7 Eb7b9 | AMi7 D7 | AbMi7 Db7
GMi7 | C7 | AMi7 D7 | GMi7 C7b9 |
I kept the extensions simple but I could certainly make them more complicated if you wanted them to be. Even if you don't like how this sounds (your critique of jazz in the other thread probably means you won't) this is a really great excercise for learning a whole bunch of chords at once.
This post was edited by Me2NiK on Aug 4 2011 02:49am