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Disclaimer - Chord symbols and music
theory in general is a subject that can
bring us mild mannered guitarist to fits of
rage. For that exact reason, before we
start, I feel I must explain a few certain
points. The notation of chord symbols varies
slightly from player to player depending on
what circles he runs in and where he
studied. My opinions are the direct result
of my experiences as a studio and session
player in LA and also based on my
educational experience. Music theory is not
written in stone and your ear is the final
judge of what is right and wrong, there is
nothing musically illegal. Music theory is
simply a guideline for what the ear
generally accepts in respect to certain
genres, and as these genres evolve so will
chord symbols and music theory in general. I
personally believe that harmonic theory
should be studied and understood so that the
very same guidelines can be questioned and
manipulated to ones liking. I don't think
any two musicians can 100% agree on this
subject so it is important to do some more
research on your own and keep an open mind.
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Chord Symbols
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The goal of the chord symbol - The
goal of the chord symbol is to simply tell
the guy playing the chords exactly what you
want him to play, what he is allowed to
include in the chord and what he is not.
When dealing with certain genres such as
Jazz, a lot of liberties can be taken with
the voicings. Not so with other genres such
as Pop and Rock, a C chord written in a rock
chart generally means play a C chord, while
the same C chord written in a Jazz tune can
be enhanced with a 9th, #11th, 13th or
various other extensions or combinations of
extensions without much second thought. A
good working knowledge of music theory plus
some experience is essential in making these
decisions. The melody line will also give
you clues on what to include or exclude in
chord voicings. |
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Writing chord symbols - You don't
want to confuse the guy comping either.
You'll realize this the first time you
have to read a chart in a dark, smoky bar
or on some stage where the lighting is
less than adequate (which is the majority
of the time). Chord symbols should be
direct and to the point. The last chord
symbol I want to read is one that I have
to think about for more than a
millisecond, they should be easy to read.
I'll give you one example of a chord
symbol that comes up from time to time and
makes me crazy: CM7. The reason I
dislike it is because I have to look twice
at it to make sure whether it is major or
minor. Especially when written by hand,
CM7 and Cm7 can look a lot
alike. The other chord symbols that get
used a lot are the simple minus mark to
denote a minor chord and triangle meaning
major. These are widely accepted and they
don't bother me but I prefer the simple,
easy to read symbols: Cmaj7 and
Cmin7 (or C-7). Sometimes the
symbols maj7 and min7, get
replaced with the shorter versions:
ma7 and mi7. These are okay too
but maj7 and min7 seem the
best choices to me, It's hard to confuse
them on a gig.
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The Real Book - The "Real Book" is
the Jazz fake book that I and most musicians
my age (guys in their 30s) learned Jazz
standards from. Being the learning guide for
so many musicians, the chord symbols used in
the "Real Book" have become the standard in
a way. The one I learned most of the Jazz
standards from is the 5th edition. I took a
look through the other editions and noticed
that they all use slightly different
notation standards, for example the 2nd
edition notates Cmaj7 as Cmaj7
but notates Cmin7 as Cmi7. The
5th edition of the "Real Book" generally
uses the following standards to notate chord
symbols: |
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Chord Family |
Chord Symbols |
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minor |
C-, C-6, C-7, C-9, C-add9, C-11, C-13,
C-(maj7), etc.. |
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major |
Cmaj, C6, Cmaj7, Cmaj9, Cadd9, Cmaj7#11,
Cmaj13, etc.. |
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dominant |
C7, C7sus, C9, C7#11, C13, C7b9,
C7(b9,#5), etc.. |
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The"Real Book" is a great source for
learning all the standards. I wouldn't be
here today without having discovered it 20
years ago. There are new "Real Books"
available these days. The "New Real Book" is
one example of a great one. It may even be
better than the old "Real Book" because
while the original one was an underground
bootleg which paid no publishing rights to
the composers, the "New Real Book" does.
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A Brief History of Chord
Symbols
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How long have they been around? -
Chord symbols have a image of being
relatively new and are mostly associated
with Jazz and other forms of popular music
but they have probably been around for as
long as chords themselves. They certainly
aren't associated with classical music.
Chord symbols leave a lot up to the player
playing the chords. A symbol like Cmaj7
means you play a Cmaj7 chord but the
voicing is left up to the guy who plays it,
a form of harmonic improvisation. Classical
music doesn't have the image of allowing
much improvisation so chord symbols wouldn't
seem to have a place in the genre but my
college theory teacher taught me something
very interesting about Bach and his peers.
He said that back in those days sometimes
composers would sometimes write charts
similar to the one below. What chords would
you play? |
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The Roman numerals are simple enough to
understand, they just refer to the diatonic
chords, "I" being the first chord in the key
of C: C major. The next chord, the "IV"chord
is referring to the fourth chord in C major,
an F major chord. "V" the fifth chord in the
key of, a G major chord. The numerals 6 and
4 following the Roman numeral IV refer to
the inversion of the chord. Look at the
example below, our second chord in the above
progression. If we take the 5th of the F
chord, a C note in this example, and place
it in the bass, and check the intervals from
the bass, we will find that the root F is
located a 4th above the bass and the 3rd,
the A note, is located a 6th above the bass.
Therefore the chord symbol simply implies a
F chord with the 5th, a C, in the bass. The
numerals 6 and 4 simply refer to the
intervals from the bass note. We would
notate it as a F/C slash chord these
days, an F chord in second inversion (5th in
the bass): |
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Let's take a look at the next chord in the
progression, the V6 chord. That's right, a G
chord in first inversion (3rd in the bass): |
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I won't go into this system of notation
any farther. It's a lost art and you'll
never use it unless you enroll yourself in
a University that caters to classical
music. I just wanted to demonstrate that
there have been plenty of ways to notate
chords throughout history. Let's get into
modern day harmony and chord symbols,
starting with triads.
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Triads
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Three note chords - These chord
symbols are the easiest to read and write.
Nothing too confusing here. To notate a C
major triad, a simple C will work
fine. For a C minor chord: min as in
Cmin. A diminished chord generally
gets written as dim while an
augmented triad gets notated as aug.
Check the triads and their intervals below: |
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Learning triad forms - Learning all
the triad shapes is important no matter
what style of music you play. Don't settle
for only the standard voicings, learn
every shape. When you get done with the
major shapes, figure out the minor,
diminished and augmented ones too:
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Points to remember about triads: |
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Triads, especially the major triad, are used
often in slash chords. A slash chord is
simply a chord over a specific bass note.
For example, a C/E slash chord would
mean a C triad played over an E bass note.
Some common slash chords: C/E, C/G,
C/Bb, C/D. |
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Sometimes the diminished triad gets notated
with a small circle as in Co and the
augmented triad with a plus mark as in C+. |
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Sus Chords
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Sus chords - When the 3rd is omitted
and replaced by a 4th the triad gets called
a sus or sus4 chord as in
Csus or Csus4. Sometimes rather
than the 4th replacing the 3rd, the 2nd
replaces it. This chord gets called a
sus2 chord. Sus refers to either
a suspension of the 4th above the 3rd or of
the 2nd below the 3rd of the chord. |
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These are the most common 5th string root
voicings for the sus4 and sus2
chords used in a fairly common chord
progression: |
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Points to remember about sus chords: |
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Sus indicates that something has
happened to the 3rd. It has either been
replaced by the 4th or the 2nd (although
these days the 3rd sometimes gets included
in the voicing). |
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The chord symbol sus without a 4 or 2
after it is referring to the 4th and not the
2nd. You don't need to write sus4 at
all, just plain sus will do. If you
mean sus2, you have to write it that
way. Remember: sus by itself means
sus4. |
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The sus2 chord is a great replacement
for a plain old major chord. While the
suspended 4th in the sus4 chord tends
to beg for resolution, the suspended 2nd in
the sus2 chord, being a whole step below the
3rd, does not. The lack of the 3rd kind of
neuters the chord giving it an interesting,
ambiguous, slightly modern quality. |
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Since the symbol sus is indicating
that one of the 3rds neighbors has replaced
it, there can be no other suspensions other
than the 4th and 2nd. There is no such chord
as a sus5, sus6 or sus7 chord. |
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7th Chords
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Four note chords - 7th chords are
also easy read and write, especially if they
have no alterations. Cmaj7, Cmin7,
C7, Cdim7, Cmin(maj7)
and C7sus are all standard 7th
chords. If the 5th is altered in the chord,
you have to write it that way in the chord
symbol: Cmaj7#5, Cmin7b5, C7#5
or C7b5. Below are the theoretical
voicings, you can place the chord tones in
any order or octave that you want: |
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Don't be deceived - 7th chords seem
simple by nature, after all, there are only
four notes, but if you use your head a
little and rearrange the four notes you'll
be surprised with what you can come up with.
Both the chords below are simple Cmaj7
chords but the voicings are exquisite: |
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Voicing: 3,5,7,1
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Voicing: 5,7,1,3
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Coming up with your own voicings - As
there are four notes in a 7th chord, you can
technically make twenty-four different
voicings (at least according to my
mathematical skills). Use the chart below to
come up with your own voicings. I tried
every one myself and I'm pleased to inform
you that they can technically all be played
although some sound better than others. You
can skip strings, use open strings, play the
notes in any octave, and double notes if you
want. When you get done with the maj7
voicings, go on to all the other 7th chords.
Try playing the following voicings left to
right, Ex: 1357 - 3571 - 5713 - 7135.
Now why do you think I would want you to do
that? |
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Voicings
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1 3 5 7
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3 5 7 1
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5 7 1 3
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7 1 3 5
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1 3 7 5
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3 5 1 7
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5 7 3 1
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7 1 5 3
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1 5 3 7
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3 7 5 1
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5 1 7 3
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7 3 1 5
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1 5 7 3
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3 7 1 5
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5 1 3 7
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7 3 5 1
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1 7 3 5
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3 1 5 7
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5 3 7 1
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7 5 1 3
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1 7 5 3
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3 1 7 5
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5 3 1 7
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7 5 3 1
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What You Can Leave Out
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Decisions - Unlike the piano, the
guitar is limited by the amount of notes you
can include in a chord. In every chord there
are important notes as well as notes that
can be left out without anyone missing them.
If you are playing solo guitar, or as a duet
with a vocalist, the root is important to
leave in the chord but if you are playing
with a bassist, especially in a jazz
setting, it can be left out. Sometimes
bassists will actually get angry with you if
you include the bass notes in the voicings.
He is likely to say; "leave the bass notes
to me, buddy." I personally make a habit of
not playing roots. The next note of least
importance is the natural 5th. Since the
natural 5th is present in major, minor and
dominant chords, it does not determine the
harmonic quality of the chord. If the 5th is
lowered or raised, its best to include it in
the chord voicing but otherwise it doesn't
count for much. The two most important notes
are the 3rd and 7th. These two notes
determine everything. That's right, roots
are roots and 5ths are 5ths but 3rds and
7ths are what make a chord what it is,
minor, major or dominant. Check out the ii -
V - i chord progression below, I voiced the
chords using only 3rds and 7ths. It is
important to play these voicings with
someone playing the bass notes. If you can't
find a bass player, just include the roots
yourself: |
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My first experience in a Jazz ensemble: |
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When I first started playing Jazz, I thought
you had to include everything in the chord
voicing. The guys in the ensemble told me to
quit playing such big, bulky, square chords
and play some light airy voicings. The
bassist told me; "for starters, leave out
the notes on your 6th and 5th strings, I'll
take care of those." He then added; "Play
from the 3rds up." I learned from that
experience that a few strategically placed
chord tones work better than six note
voicings especially in a large jazz ensemble
like a big band. When it comes to voicing
your chords, it may help if you just think:
3rd, 7th and the upper extension that is
designated in the chord symbol (such as the
9th, 11th or 13th). |
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6th chords
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6th chords - Back when Jazz first got
its start, 6th chords used to be more
popular than 7th chords. Both the 6
and min6 chord contain the major 6th
in the chord. You can just think of a 6th
chord as a triad (minor or major) with the
major 6th added into the chord. Compared to
the min6 chord the major version is
definitely easy on the ears. Since 6th
chords don't contain 7ths, the major 6th
chord can replace either a major or dominant
chord. The chord symbols are pretty much
strait ahead, C6 and Cmin6: |
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Although the 6 and min6 chords
can generally replace their maj7 and
min7chord counterparts, the min6
chord sometimes gets used this way: |
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Points to remember about 6th chords: |
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Although the major 6th chord can easily
replace any major chord, it is important to
remember that the min6 chord,
containing a major 6th interval can only
replace a ii chord. You may want to think of
the min6 chord as a "dorian" family
chord. |
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6th chords can also be thought of as
inverted 7th chords: C6 (C E G A) =
Amin7 (A C E G) , Cmin6 (C Eb
G A) = Amin7b5 (A C Eb G). |
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9th chords
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5 note chords - 9th chords are quite
common for all major, minor and dominant
chords. The major and minor 9th chords are
usually notated as maj9 and min9,
while the dominant 9th chord, when the 9th
is unaltered, is notated as with just a 9 as
in C9. The 9sus chord is also
quite common, it can also be thought of and
played as a slash chord: Bb/C or
Gmin7/C: |
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Some standard 5th string voicings: |
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voicing: 1,3,7,9
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voicing: 1,b3,b7,9
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voicing: 1,3,b7,9,5
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voicing: 1,b7,9,4
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Points to remember about 9th chords: |
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To be called a 9th chord, the voicing must
contain a 7th. |
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Some other 9th chords that you may want to
think about are the min9(maj7) chord
from the melodic minor scale and the
min9b5 chord from the locrian #2
mode of the melodic minor scale. See if you
can construct them yourself. |
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There have been some adventurous musicians
from time to time who lower the 9ths in
major and minor chords. Although not
standard practice, if you chose to do so,
notate these chords the same way you would
when notating altered dominant chords:
Cmaj7b9, Cmin7b9. |
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Altered dominant chords
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Altered dominant chords - Besides the
natural 9th, the dominant 9th chord often
contains an altered (raised or lowered) 9th.
When the 9th is altered in the chord, it is
notated as a 7th chord plus the altered
extension: C7#9, C7b9. When
both the 9ths and 5ths are altered, the
alterations must be included in the chord
symbol, often in parentheses: C7(#5, #9),
C7(b9,b5), C7(#9,b5),
C7(b9,#5). It is quite common to notate
the altered dominant chord with just the
word alt. This is done when you want
the guy playing the chords to simply make
his own decisions on how to alter the 5ths
and 9ths, Ex: C alt. Here are a few
of altered dominant chords (the first chord
contains a natural 5th so it could be argued
that technically it is not an altered
dominant chord): |
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A few standard 5th string root altered chord
voicings: |
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voicing: 1,3,b7,b9
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voicing: 1,3,b7,b9,#5
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voicing: 1,3,b7,#9,b5
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Points to remember about altered dominant
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Altered dominant chords are derived from the
altered mode of the melodic minor scale.
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It is not unusual for (altered) dominant
chords to contain both the #9 and b9 as in
C7(b9,#9). |
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It is not uncommon for the raised 5th to
be notated as a b13th as in C7(b13).
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add9 chords
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Add9 chords - Just like 9th chords,
but the 7th is excluded from the voicing.
Having no 7th, the major version of the
add9 chord works for both major and
dominant chords. The minor add9 chord is
characteristically dark sounding. They are
notated: add9 and min add9: |
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These are the common sixth string root
voicings, you'll have to stretch a little: |
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voicing: 1,5,9,3,5,1
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voicing: 1,5,9,b3,5,1
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Points to remember about add9 chords: |
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To be called an add9 chord, the
voicing can not contain a 7th. |
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You are not likely to run across any other
"add" chords besides the add9 chord.
The reason is because the "add" means that
there is no 7th in the chord and without a
7th a 13th chord would simply become a 6
or min6 chord. The min add11
chord is questionable I guess but I
personally have never run across it myself
in a chart, probably because the absence of
the min7th doesn't make much harmonic
difference and for that reason, not
important enough to notate it as such. It's
safe to assume that the only"add" chord you
are going to run into is the add9. |
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The "Real Book" sometimes notates the
add9 chord with just a 9 in
parenthesis: (9). Don't get
confused between a dominant 9th chord
as in C9 and an add9
chord as in C(9). I
personally don't like the (9) chord
symbol, it causes a second of unneeded
contemplation.
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69 chords
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69 chords : Like the add9 chords,
these chords also contain no 7th. Along with
the 9th, the major 6th is also included in
the voicing. They are notated: 69 and
min69: |
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These are the common sixth string root
voicings for both minor and major 69 chords: |
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voicing: 1,6,9,5,1
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voicing: 1,6,b3,5,9
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