How to figure out any chord on the guitar.
The road map to chord structures. Part One - Triads. [Intermediate Lesson]
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One of the most intimidating aspects of learning how to play the guitar, is the memorization of notes and chords. It has been mathematically calculated that there may be well over twenty-thousand chord structures available on the guitar. How many do you know? How many do you need to know? Why are chords called what they're called? There's got to be a reason.
Intermediate Lesson
I discovered the following information several years ago while I was studying a few music theory books applied to the guitar. I had known for many years that the guitar has several layers to it. What I had previously thought to be complicated, turned out to be a "light bulb" moment. The layers are actually multidimensional and moveable. You just gotta know how to use them.
Layer 1
The first layer is the fret board itself. Somewhere amongst all of those strings and frets, exists 120 to 144 notes, depending on the type neck on the guitar. Most acoustic guitars have around 20 frets while extended fret boards on many eclectic guitars can reach as many as 24 frets. That's a lot of notes to memorize.
Layer 2
The second layer has to do with shapes of chords and scales. Most beginners learn a handful of the basic "open string" or "cowboy" chords that include simple major and minor chords with maybe a few 7th chords thrown in. Also, most beginners have little interest in why a chord is called what it is called. They memorize the name with the shape and add it to their chord vocabulary, not really knowing why each chord is named differently.
Beginner scales are usually learned using the open strings and the first three frets. Advanced beginners often learn the minor pentatonic scales as a way to learn improvisation while playing a common twelve bar blues song in A minor or E minor. Learning the shapes of these scales also helps as a way to promote finger stretching exercises to strengthen the fingers and hands.
Layer 3
The third layer is the mysterious, almost illusive layer where all of the structures for chords and scales exist. This is also where music theory is applied in relation to structures patterns, formulas and applications. This is where the names of chords and scales come from. This is where you can figure out scales and melodies through modes and extended jazz chords. This is the layer on the fret board that usually remains a sort of mystery to most beginner and intermediate guitarists. But, that can change if you are willing to do a little studying and practicing.
To figure out chord names, we need to know some music theory.
Triads
What is a triad? A triad is a group of three different notes played together. There are six different triads used in most music: Major, minor, augmented, diminished, suspended, and suspended 2nd. Each triad requires a "root" note, a major or a minor 3rd and a diminished, perfect or augmented 5th.
Everyone knows the "C" chord. We say "C" instead of "C major" because it is universally understood that a letter in music, by itself without anything after it (except for "#" sharp or "b" flat), automatically means that the chord is a Major triad. The "C" chord requires three notes to make the chord: C, E and G. How do we know this? Well, we need to understand the requirements to make each of the six triad chords.
First, let's establish the notes in the C major scale. I will use "Roman numerals" to indicate the designated position each note has in the scale.
C (I), D (II), E (III), F (IV), G (V), A (VI), B (VII)
Major Triad = I - III - V
So, the notes are C, E, and G
Since we know that there are 12 notes in music, along with the seven notes in the major scale above, we also have five minor (or flatted) notes. These notes are in "lower case" Roman numerals to signify the minor (flatted) position. We will use the notes from the C major scale to show these notes.
Db (ii), Eb (iii) Gb (v) G# (#V) Bb (vii).
Minor Triad = I - iii - V
So, the notes are C, Eb, and G
Augmented Triad = I - III - #V
So, the notes are C, E, and G#
Diminished Triad = I - iii - v
So, the notes are C, Eb, and Gb
Suspended Triad = I - IV - V
So, the notes are C, F, and G
Suspended 2nd = I - II - V
So, the notes are C, D, and G
Okay, so where are these notes on the fret board and how do you find them?
C (major)
In this illustration, we can see the three notes (C, E and G) needed to make a C major chord. They are arranged in a shape that is easy for most beginners. There are two C's, two E's and one G in this shape.
This illustration shows the Roman numeral placements for each note in the C major triad chord. C = I, E = III and G = V.
C minor
Here we see the shape for the C minor (Cm) chord. The notes needed to make the C minor chord are the same as the C major chord except for the E. It is lowered one half-step to Eb. This is the minor third note needed to make the minor chord.
Next, we have the Roman numeral placements for each note in the C minor triad chord. C = I, Eb = iii and G = V.
C augmented
Here we have the C augmented (C+) chord. Augmented chords are "transitionary", meaning an augmented chord needs to be in context with the progression for it to make sense. One of the most common progressions in this case would be "C" to "C+" to "C6" resolving to a "C7" before moving to the F chord.
Here are the Roman numeral placements for the C augmented chord.
C diminished
Now we have the strange-sounding C diminished (C°) chord. Why is it strange? For the same reason the augmented chord sounds strange. The diminished chord also needs to be in context in the progression for it to make sense. An example would be "C" to "C°" to "Dm".
Here are the Roman numeral placements for the C diminished chord.
Now, onto the suspended chords.
What does it mean to have a suspended chord? As we established earlier, there are two types of suspended chords: "suspended" and "suspended 2nd". The "suspended" chord is sometimes referred to as the suspended 4th chord. This is incorrect. In basic music theory, this misnomer would be a redundancy. "Suspended" in this chord, automatically means the 4th note of the key replaces the 3rd note in the key. The 4th note is suspended over the 3rd.
C suspended
Here we have the C suspended (C sus) chord. The notes needed are the same as the major chord, except that the 3rd gets raised from the major 3rd to the perfect 4th. The notes are C, F, and G.
You can see the Roman numerals in this diagram showing where each of the placements fall into this common shape.
C suspended 2nd
And now we have the C suspended 2nd (Csus2) chord. The notes needed are the same as the major chord, except that the 3rd gets lowered from the major 3rd to the major 2nd. The notes are C, D, and G.
You can see the Roman numerals in this diagram showing where each of the placements fall into this shape.
So, in each of these above examples, you can see the six types of “Triads” available in the key of “C”. When trying to find these six triads in other keys, the shapes will change, but the formulas stay the same.
Remember the following nomenclatures in music:
“C” means C major triad.
“Cm” means C minor triad.
“C+” means C augmented triad.
“C°” means C diminished triad.
“Csus” means C suspended triad.
“Csus2” means C suspended 2nd triad.