Chord Composition
Dean Cutinelli here from the Colorado School of Music. Remember we are just a call away to start your private music lessons. We offer guitar lessons, piano lessons, drum lessons, Violin lessons, vocal lessons as well orchestral instruments. Let get into our discussion on chords.
Today I’m going to cover just a few of the chord definitions and rules. To get started I will be using a minor 7th chord to begin. Your definition of a minor 7th chord is R-b3rd-5th-b7th. If you play an A minor 7th chord your note are A-C-E-G. The 3rd and 7th are what are altered or moved from play a major 7th chord.(Defined as R-3rd-5th-7th) One of my favorite chords is a Minor 11th chord. The minor 11th chord is defined as R-b3rd-5th-7th+11th. An example of this chord would A minor 11th: A-C-E-G+D. A couple of things to keep in mind is that an 11th is the same as a 4th and that your least important note in most chords is the 5th. With that said some times in order to get all the extensions in your hand especial on guitar you can drop the 5th of the chord.(Unless its a minor7th b5 chord or a chord altering the 5th) As guitar players we only really have 4 fingers to work with and sometime big extension chords can be tricky to voice. The rule of an minor chord with the number 7 or higher should always have the R-b3-5th-b7th+ the extension.
Next let’s look at a Major 7th chord. Your standard definition for a Major 7th chord is R-3rd-5th-7th. If we have a C major 7th chord it would be C-E-G-B. I love the sound of a Major 9th chord. The major 7th rule follows the same concept of any chord that is 7th or higher should have in it R-3rd-5th-7th+what ever your extension is. A C Major 9th chord would be spelled C-E-G-B-D.(Yes the 9 is the same as 2.) In chord definitions the 2 is saved for suspended chords. Some times I see the chords notated incorrectly with the numbers being mixed up on 2nd or 9th or 4th or 11th’s. Just remember that 2 and 4 should be used after suspended chords. Also remember that a 2nd=9th 4th=11th and 6th=13th for your higher extensions. It will save you time counting up to find your extension.
The last type of chord I will be discussing today is the dominant 7th chord. You definition for the dominant chord is R-3rd-5th-b7th. If you play a C7 chord or any chord with the note X plus just the number of 7 or higher it is a dominant chord. C7 would be C-E-G-Bb. The dominant chords are a lot of fun as you have the major 3rd interval from the a major chord with the combination of the minor 7th interval gives this chord the unique sound that it has. My favorite dominant chords are the 9th’s and 13th’s. The dominant 9th chord is a great substitution for your dominant 7th chord especial in a funk setting. The dominant 13th chord is really colorful and with the right application very hip! Here are the definitions for these two great chords. C9=C-E-G-Bb+D. C13=C-E-G-Bb+A
I hope this helps a little bit on how to build chords and the rules behind the chords. If you’re looking to expand your chord knowledge come on in and try an introductory lesson from one of our great instructors or myself. We offer guitar lessons, piano lessons, drum lessons, violin lessons and vocal lessons as wells as some orchestral instruments.
Thank you for reading!
