Lesson 4

Introduction to Chords
Chords are an imperative part of any song. Chords make it easy to find appropriate harmonies for singers, allow jazz musicians to improvise effectively, and add notes for bassists to fool around with. In this section, you will be taught the basics of chord formation; it will be up to you to put this information to good use through practice and experience.

Chord Formation
Usually, all the notes of a chord are sounded at the same time. This is what you hear when your favorite rock band is playing those powerful downstrokes. However, it is very common the the accompaniment (especially in the bass part of piano music) is comprised of the notes of a chord played one or two at a time. This is referred to as a Broken Chord. Circle picking on the guitar takes advantage of this style.

All chords are based on the Root Position. The root chord in any key is composed of the first, third, and fifth tones of the scale in that order. For example, the root position of a C chord would be C E G. For the key of F it would be F A C. However, chords do not have to always be played in their root positions. Whenever the root chord is played out of order, it is said to be an Inversion. The First Inversion of a chord is accomplished by putting the bottom tone on the top. For example, the C chord would now be played with E as the lowest tone, then G, and then a C one Octave higher than it was played in the root position. Similarly, a F chord's first inversion would be played A C F. The Second Inversion of any chord can be found by taking the bottom tone in the first inversion and putting that on the top. So, a C chord in root position would be C E G; it's first inversion would be E G C; and it's second inversion would be G C E. Following this pattern you can see why there is no such thing as a third inversion; it would be the same as the root chord, but an octave higher.

But, you are probably asking yourself, what about chords in minor keys? Good question! Any Major Chord can be instantly changed into a Minor Chord by simply lowering the third one half-step. Therefore, (presto change-o!) a C minor chord would be C Eb G. What about an F minor chord? Minor chords are often symbolized with a negative sign following a letter (i.e. C minor could also be written C-).

Now, there are also augmented and diminished chords. An Augmented, or sharp 5, Chord consists of a major chord with the fifth raised a half-step. For example, a C augmented chord would be played with a C E G#. Augmented chords are often signified with a plus sign (C+). Diminished, or minor flat 5, Chords are made when both the third and fifth are lowered one half-step. A C diminished chord would be C Eb Gb. Diminished chords sound very anxious, like when a cartoon villian enters a room. Minor, diminished, and augmented chords are inverted the same way as major chords are, just make sure not to forget about the flats and sharps.

Uses of Chords

One of the great things about chords is that many different ones can be played within a piece that only has one key signature. Take "Earth Angel," for instance: it is in the key of G, yet the chords G, E-, C, and D are all played in it. How can this be? First, let's look at a G scale: G A B C D E F# G. Now, what notes are in a G chord? G B D. What About the E- chord? E G B. C chord? C E G. And the D chord? D F# A. As you can see, the notes that comprise all the chords are still part of the G scale. This is not always true, but most of the time it is. Now, let's look at this Chord Progression again, as it is a very popular one: the key of G, and the chords G, E-, C, and D. This progression makes very good sense because in the key of G, G C and D are all Primary Chords. The primary chords of any key are found by using the chords first, fourth, and fifth degree of that key. They are usually symbolized by their corresponding Roman numeral (capital letters for major chords and lower-case letters for minor chords), and the fifth is usually a Seventh Chord. Every primary chord follows the same scale as the key they are played in.

Here are all the chords in the key of G (the primary chords are underlined):
I G
ii A-
iii B-
IV C
V(7) D
vi E-
vii F#-

What are the primary chords for the key of C? F#?

Not all chords are comprised of only three notes. Many notes have the root that determines its name, a third to determined whether it is a major or a minor chord, a fifth to complete the primary tones, and another note to add some zest. This fourth note is very often a seventh. To form a seventh chord, the root is dropped one whole step and then added to the top of the chord. Sometimes, the fifth is then dropped in an effort to make the chord easier to play (this is the case with most V7 chords in popular progressions such as that above). So, a C7 chord would be comprised of C E (G) Bb. It is usully played Bb C E or E Bb C for convience. Rock 'n' roll and blues music usually take advantage of the tension a seventh adds to a chord. Jazz often uses major sevenths.

There are several other chords related to a major seventh chord*:
C

7 C major seventh C E G B
C-

7 C minor major seventh C Eb G B
C

7b5 C major seventh flat five C E Gb B
C-

7b5   C minor major seventh flat five   C Eb Gb B
C-7   C minor seventh   C Eb G B
C-7b5   C minor seventh flat five   C Eb Gb Bb
Cdim7   C diminished seventh**   C Eb F# A

* These are only the chords based on a root C chord, but the same pattern can be followed to Transpose these chords into any key.

** A diminished seventh chord is made up of minor thirds on top of each other. There are really only 3 different groups of diminished sevenths:
C Eb F# A
C# E G Bb
D F Ab B

Okay, so what is the difference between a seventh chord and a major seventh chord? And, how is it possible to have a minor major seventh? A seventh chord, as you will recall adds a note one full step below the root. That is, it adds a note that is not in the major scale of that key. This is what causes the tension you hear when one is played. A major seventh, on the other hand, adds the seventh of the major scale to the chord. In other words, all the notes of a C major seventh chord can be found in the C major scale (C E G B). This cannot be said of a C Dominant Seventh because a Bb is not found in a C major scale. Therefore, the "minor" in the examples above was in reference to the third of the chord while the "major" was referring to the seventh. If "minor" is in no way stated, than it can be inferred that the chord is a major chord.

Cave