Major, minor, diminished, augmented, sevenths, etc...
Which chords do I really need to know? [Intermediate Beginner Lesson]
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It can be very confusing to the average beginner guitarist, to understand which chords to add to one's vocabulary and which chords are secondary? It's actually not all that complicated. I will attempt to break down the chords you need to add to your list, and the chords that are not as important.
Intermediate Beginner Lesson
As much as music is about creativity and expression, basic music theory is mostly about math, formulas, patterns and application. If you suck at math, you can still play your instrument without needing to know basic music theory. However, knowing even a little theory can be helpful. There are things you should know about where your chords come from, why chords are named what they are named, and where to use them.
Cowboy chords.
Otherwise known as "open string" chords, Cowboy chords are named as such, because of their simplicity and ease to play…like when the cowboys would play their songs as they roamed the prairies. Open string chords are somewhat self-explanatory. These types of chords utilize the open strings on your guitar as part of the chord. They are the easiest chords to play on the guitar because they require minimal exertion or effort to play. Most of these chords exist between the open strings and the 3rd and 4th frets.
Here is a list of some of those chords. If you've been playing guitar for a while, you might even recognize some of the names of these chords:
C (major), C7, Cadd9, D (major), Dm (minor), D7, Dm7, Dsus (suspended), DM7 (Major 7), E (major), Em, E7, Em7, G, G7, A, Am, A7 and Am7.
You may have noticed, I left out any of the "F" and "B" chords. That is because F chords are considered "barre" chords and do not use open strings. Same with B chords. There are no open strings in B chords.
Why are some chords just a letter and other chords have big "M's" or little "m's" or numbers or other symbols next to them?
It is universally understood in music that when you see (for example) any of the chords, "C" or any of the other eleven chords, by themselves without anything else after the chord, they are generally understood as being "major" chords. Here is a list of Major chords:
C, (C#) Db, D, (D#) Eb, E, F, F# (Gb), G, (G#) Ab, A, (A#) Bb, B.
Notice, some of the chords have two names. These are called "Enharmonic". We will use the chords that are not in parenthesis: C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, F#, G, Ab, A, Bb and B.
The other enharmonic notes/chords are just as valid, but require a basic understanding of "keys". For this lesson, we will keep it simple and easy to understand for everybody.
Adding symbols to your chords.
"M" means Major
"m" means minor
"°" means diminished
"+" means augmented
"sus" means suspended 4th
"sus 2" means suspended 2nd.
"7" means adding the dominant 7th note to your major chord. This is widely considered a type of "blues" chord.
"M7" means adding the major 7th note to your major chord. This is widely used in "jazz" chords.
"m7" means adding the dominant 7th to your minor chord. Also commonly used in jazz chords.
"°7" means you add a "flatted dominant 7th" to your diminished triad. This chord confuses a lot of people because of the structure and name of the chord. Believe it or not, it is used a lot in music as a transitional progression chord. For example: CM7, C#°7, Dm7, G7. (see example below).
"6's and 9's" means adding the 6th or the 9th note to your major or minor triad.
Many years ago, I calculated that there are roughly 60-80 chords that utilize the open strings on the guitar. However, most of them are not cowboy chords.
Okay, so...I just want to play the guitar. Which chords do I really, really need to know?
Here is the list of chords you need to know to play thousands of songs:
C, C6, C7, Cadd9, CM7, Cm
D, D6, D7, Dsus, D7sus, DM7, Dm, Dm7, D9
E, E7, Em, Em7
F, F7, FM7, Fadd9, F6
G, G7, G6, GM7, Gm
A, A7, Am, Am7, AM7, A7sus, Asus2
Bb (B flat)
B, B7, Bm
Those are most of the chords you will need to know to truly be able to play thousands of songs.
Which chords sound good together?
Okay, now we're getting into some basic theory. I spoke of "keys" earlier. Maybe you've heard of a song being in a specific "key"? For example, The song "Take it easy" from the Eagles, is in the key of G (major). That means that most of the chords in the song, exist in a group or "family" of chords called a "key". The chords in the key of G (major) are as follows: G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em and F#°. Notice, there are seven chords in the key of G (major). Those seven chords are merely triads, meaning that there are only three different notes required to play each of those chords.
What is a triad?
A triad is a chord that has three different notes in it. For example, to make a G (major) chord, you will need the following three notes: G, B and D. Usually, you would have the G as the lowest note of your chord, but the B and the D are interchangeable in other chord shapes. A C (major) chord requires the notes: C, E and G. Again, the C would generally be the lowest note of the chord while E and G are interchangeable.
Here is a list of the triad notes in the key of G (major):
G = G, B and D
Am = A, C and E
Bm = B, D and F#
C = C, E and G
D = D, F# and A
Em = E, G and B
F#° = F#, A and C
Each of the (12) keys in music has its own set (or family) of seven notes that determine which key it is. The key of G (major) requires G, A, B, C, D, E and F# to make up the key of G (major). Each one of the triad chords listed above are made up of these seven notes. If you study the list, you will see a pattern of notes for each chord.
Roman Numerals?
Each one of those chords also gets a "Roman numeral" placement. “G” is the root note/chord in the key, so it gets the Roman numeral "I". “Am” gets a lower-case Roman numeral "ii".” Bm” is "iii", “C” is "IV", “D” is "V", “Em” is "vi" and “F#” is "vii°".
Chord progressions in music will use the common structures to build or create songs. One of the most common progressions in music is the "I, vi, IV, V" progression. In the key of G (major), this progression of chords would look like this: G, Em, C, D. Another common progression is the "I, vi, ii, V" or "G, Em, Am, D".
Adding 7's
In the key of G (major) we can add a fourth note to the triad and make a new or "extended" chord. Here are chord names with "7th's" added to the triads listed above:
GM7 = G, B, D and F#
Am7 = A, C, E and G
Bm7 = B, D, F# and A
CM7 = C, E, G and B
D7 = D, F#, A and C
Em7 = E, G, B and D
F#°7 = F#, A, C and Eb (notice, Eb is NOT in the key of G major. That is because in order to build a °7th chord, you need to have a flatted dominant seventh note added to the triad. If we used the E instead of the Eb, you would have what's called a "half-diminished" seventh, which is more commonly known as a "m7b5". This chord is widely used in jazz.
I hope that helps you and gives you a better idea of the commonly used open string chords you can add to your vocabulary of chords.