Chord Queries

-  /  (eg A/B)

-  sus9  (eg A sus9)

-  add9 (eg D add9)

-  sus2

-  add2

I know I could simply read the tabs and play them, but I'd like to know how each term alters the original chord- just so I could work it out perhaps for another chord without looking up the tab.

Thankyou!
     Jacqui

(sorry about this being over two posts... I pressed a key and suddenly it just posted.... I didn't even know u could do that! :-/)

If you go to the site shown in my sig, there are tables that show you a whole pile of chord constructions

- 7    (eg Dmaj7)

Actually- you need to be a bit careful with this one.

A 7th chord uses a note that is a whole tone down from the root:

Example: G7 - G, B, D and F

A Major 7th chord uses a note that is a semitone down from the root:

Example: Gmaj7 - G, B, D, F#

Best,

A :-)

Apart from what Alan said about the 7ths:

Scales

Chords

Extended Chords

 Sus and Add chords

There is a few things here I'm a little confused about.
I'll use D as my example.

Dmaj, D, Dmin    ..........  are these all different?

I knew maj and min were different of course.... but is D alone something else completely different?
I apologise for this tediousness.... I'm not a beginner to piano theory, but I've just started guitar and am finding that the theory elements are quite different.

hence a question for Alan:
I understand that there would be an C# in the Dmaj7....  but why would the D7 not have one also?  don't both Dmaj and min have an C# as a leading note?
hence the question about D alone being completely different.

But I am beginning to understand how each chord alteration works. Thanks heaps for all the information.

Jacqui :)

Hi, Jacqui,

You need to apply the logic of the construction of a "7th" chord to your question - remember, the 7th is the note a tone down from the root which makes it a C natural in D7

We can go further:

Dmaj7 is the 7th of the Tonic in the key of D

D7 is the 7th of the Dominant in the key of G

When you get into Minor keys - I would use a major chord of "A" (A, C# and E) to play the leading note in Dm. The "use the 3rd of the Dominant" principle holds true.

Dmaj and D are the same thing - all chords are Major unless otherwise stated. The little "m" is used to signify a minor chord. A -m7 chord is a minor chord with a 7th played one tone down from the root.

The nice thing about it all is that if your score says play a chord of Dm, then it's always going to be "that" chord - fingered exactly the same way irrespective of key.

Let me know if it's still foggy.

A :-)

Hi Jacqui

Usually when you see a chord with just a letter, "D" for example, the assumption is that it's a major chord. Unless you see an "m" or "min," you can pretty much figure it's a major chord.

You'll find a lot of the answers you're looking for in our basic theory lessons (found on the "Theory" page!). Give these a read and see if they help:

Theory Without Tears
https://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=3

Building Additions (and Suspensions)
https://www.guitarnoise.com/article.php?id=35

Peace

recently ive been teaching some friends about theory and i really dont know why but they think that a note by itself is something else..

i dont know where people think this, i didnt, and they did, one of those things i dont understand

i know the question has been answered but ill just have a go anyway

1)  All chords come from scales

2)  Basic triad is 1 3 5 of that scale

3) you can have extended triads, all the names you can work out if you know the scale

C D E F G A B C

Cmaj = C E G (1,3,5)

Csus4, suspend the 3rd with 4th (looks)

Csus4 = C F G

Caug, augment the fifth by a semitone (raise)

Caug = C E G#

***********

ALL you need to know is what the names mean like suspended, augmented, diminished, and extended types and inversions, what to do with them.

and you will know all chords if you have the scale infront of you.

Okay, it's beginning to make sense now. There's just one thing about the 7th thats really bugging me.

What I've got is that a maj7 is where the 7th is played a tone down from the tonic, whereas a normal 7 lowers the 7th by a semitone, and a min7 lowers the third and 7th of the chord by a semitone.

What I keep getting stuck on is why the 7th note of a maj 7 is a whole tone down from the tonic. Using Dmaj as my example again.... isn't the 7th note of Dmaj a C#?
Or with 7th chords is it just a totally different system?

I understand about sus, add and aug etc now because the notes of the chord seem to be built from the scale, and it's a matter of simply choosing which degrees of the scale to use.

If someone could clear up about the 7th, I think I'll have it all downpacked.

Thankyou Dohdge for those articles, they're really helping aswell.

Wait a minute... where did I get that a maj7 is a tone down from the tonic? Please ignore the previous post, I don't know what I was going on about.

I think my question is what is the difference between a 7th and a major 7th?

Gmaj7:   G, B, D, F#

G7:         G, B, D, F

Gmin7     G, Bb, D, F#  (I think)

I'm guessing that G7 means to play the 7th note as is, without playing it sharp of flat. But to be honest, I'm prob completely wrong :-/

there are two types of seventh intervals
there's m7 (7th step of a minor scale) and Maj7 (7th step of a major scale)

CMaj7...(C  E  G  B)  <-Major seventh chord ( 1 3 5 7 )
Cmi7.....(C Eb G Bb) <-minor seventh chord ( 1 b3 5 b7 )
C7........(C  E  G Bb) <-Dominant seventh chord (1 3 5 b7 )

mi7th chord...= mi triad plus mi7th
Maj7th..........= Maj triad plus  Maj7th
Dom 7...........= Maj triad plus mi7th

Gmaj7:   G, B, D, F#

G7:    G, B, D, F

Gmin7     G, Bb, D, F#  (I think)

Gmaj7: G B D F#

G7:     G B D F

Gm7:  G Bb D F

Sevenths can be confusing, but if you get them down you'll be well prepared for 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths.

Look back at Helgi's example of numbering scale tones.  They all come from the major scale of the 'root', which names the chord (so the root of G7 is a G, and you use a G major scale to figure out the chord fomula, even though G7 is usually used in the key of C major)

In G, the scale is: G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G

There seventh chord fomulas are:

Major 7th: 1-3-5-7, so G-B-D-F# is Gmaj7
Dominant 7th (or just 7): 1-3-5-b7, so G-B-D-F
Minor 7th: 1-b3-5-b7, G-Bb-D-F
Minor/Major 7th: 1-b3-5-7, G-Bb-D-F#
Diminished 7th: 1-b3-b5-bb7, G-Bb-Db-Fb (same as E)
Half diminished 7th, or m7b5: 1-b3-5-b7, G-Bb-D-F
Augmented 7th: 1-3-#5-7, G-B-D#-F#

Tom

NOW I get it! :) Thankyou Derp and Noatboat for clearing that up... it's a strange system to me- seeing as piano is my main instrument which involves mainly cadences- but I'm starting to get the jist of guitar now and it's chord structurising ... thankyou to all that replied.

Jacqui :)