Introduction

Once you know how to name triads (please see Triads and Naming Triads), you need only a few more rules to be able to name all of the most common chords.

This skill is necessary for those studying music theory. It's also very useful at a "practical" level for composers, arrangers, and performers (especially people playing chords, like pianists and guitarists), who need to be able to talk to each other about the chords that they are reading, writing, and playing.

Chord manuals, fingering charts, chord diagrams, and notes written out on a staff are all very useful, especially if the composer wants a very particular sound on a chord. But all you really need to know are the name of the chord, your major scales and minor scales, and a few rules, and you can figure out the notes in any chord for yourself.

Chord Symbols

Some instrumentalists, such as guitarists and pianists, are sometimes expected to be able to play a named chord, or an accompaniment based on that chord, without seeing the notes written out in common notation. In such cases, a chord symbol above the staff tells the performer what chord should be used as accompaniment to the music until the next symbol appears.

Figure 1: A chord symbol above the staff is sometimes the only indication of which notes should be used in the accompaniment. Chord symbols also may be used even when an accompaniment is written out, so that performers can read either the chord symbol or the notated music, as they prefer.

Chord Symbols

There is widespread agreement on how to name chords, but there are several different systems for writing chord symbols. Unfortunately, this can be a little confusing, particularly when different systems use the same symbol to refer to different chords. If you're not certain what chord is wanted, you can get useful clues both from the notes in the music and from the other chord symbols used. (For example, if the "minus" chord symbol is used, check to see if you can spot any chords that are clearly labelled as either minor or diminished.)

Figure 2: There is unfortunately a wide variation in the use of chord symbols. In particular, notice that some symbols, such as the "minus" sign and the triangle, can refer to different chords, depending on the assumptions of the person who wrote the symbol.

Examples of Chord Symbol Variety

Seventh Chords

If you take a basic triad and add a note that is a seventh above the root, you have a seventh chord. There are several different types of seventh chords, distinguished by both the type of triad and the type of seventh used. Here are the most common.

Figure 3

Common Seventh Chords

Listen to the differences between the C seventh, C major seventh, C minor seventh, C diminished seventh, and C half-diminished seventh.

Exercise 1

Write the following seventh chords. If you need staff paper, you can print this PDF file

1. G minor seventh
2. E (dominant) seventh
3. B flat major seventh
4. D diminished seventh
5. F (dominant) seventh
6. F sharp minor seventh
7. G major seventh
8. B half-diminished seventh

Solution

Figure 4

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Exercise 2

Write a Ddim7, Fdim7, G#dim7, and Bdim7. Look closely at the chords you have written and see if you can notice something surprising about them. (Hint: try rewriting the chords enharmonically so that all the notes are either natural or (single) flat.

Solution

Figure 5

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Added Notes, Suspensions, and Extensions

The seventh is not the only note you can add to a basic triad to get a new chord. You can continue to extend the chord by adding to the stack of thirds, or you can add any note you want. The most common additions and extensions add notes that are in the scale named by the chord.

Figure 6: To find out what to call a note added to a chord, count the notes of the scale named by the chord.

Extending and Adding Notes to Chords

The first, third, and fifth (1, 3, and 5) notes of the scale are part of the basic triad. So are any other notes in other octaves that have the same name as 1, 3, or 5. In a C major chord, for example, that would be any C naturals, E naturals, and G naturals. If you want to add a note with a different name, just list its number (its scale degree) after the name of the chord.

Figure 7: Labelling a number as "sus" (suspended) implies that it replaces the chord tone immediately below it. Labelling it "add" implies that only that note is added. In many other situations, the performer is left to decide how to play the chord most effectively. Chord tones may or may not be left out. In an extended chord, all or some of the notes in the "stack of thirds" below the named note may also be added.

Adding to and Extending Chords

Many of the higher added notes are considered extensions of the "stack of thirds" begun in the triad. In other words, a C13 can include (it's sometimes the performer's decision which notes will actually be played) the seventh, ninth, and eleventh as well as the thirteenth. Such a chord can be dominant, major, or minor; the performer must take care to play the correct third and seventh. If a chord symbol says to "add13", on the other hand, this usually means that only the thirteenth is added.

Figure 8: Take care to use the correct third and seventh - dominant, major, or minor - with extended chords. If the higher note is labelled "add", don't include the chord extensions that aren't named.

A Variety of Ninth Chords

Figure 9: Low-number added notes and high-number added notes are treated differently. So even though they both add an F, a C4 suspension will sound quite different from a C11 extended chord.

Bass Notes

The bass line of a piece of music is very important, and the composer/arranger often will want to specify what note should be the lowest-sounding in the chord. At the end of the chord name will be a slash followed by a note name, for example C/E. The note following the slash should be the bass note.

Figure 10: The note following the slash is the bass note of the chord. It can be a note that is already in the chord - making the chord a first or second inversion - or it can be an added note, following the same basic rules as other added notes (including using it to replace other notes in the chord).

Naming the Bass Note

The note named as the bass note can be a note normally found in the chord - for example, C/E or C/G - or it can be an added note - for example C/B or C/A. If the bass note is not named, it is best to use the tonic as the primary bass note.

Exercise 3

Name the chords. (Hint: Look for suspensions, added notes, extensions, and basses that are not the root. Try to identify the main triad or root first.)

Figure 11

Solution

Figure 12

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Altering Notes and Chords

If a note in the chord is not in the major or minor scale of the root of the chord, it is an altered note and makes the chord an altered chord. The alteration - for example "flat five" or "sharp nine" - is listed in the chord symbol. Any number of alterations can be listed, making some chord symbols quite long. Alterations are not the same as accidentals. Remember, a chord symbol always names notes in the scale of the chord root, ignoring the key signature of the piece that the chord is in, so the alterations are from the scale of the chord, not from the key of the piece.

Figure 13: There is some variation in the chord symbols for altered chords. Plus/minus or sharp/flat symbols may appear before or after the note number. When sharps and flats are used, remember that the alteration is always from the scale of the chord root, not from the key signature.

Altered Chords

Exercise 5

On a treble clef staff, write the chords named. You can print this PDF file if you need staff paper for this exercise.

1. D (dominant) seventh with a flat nine
2. A minor seventh with a flat five
3. G minor with a sharp seven
4. B flat (dominant) seventh with a sharp nine
5. F nine sharp eleven

Solution

Notice that a half-diminished seventh can be (and sometimes is) written as it is here, as a minor seventh with flat five.

Figure 14

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