How to Use Scales to Build Chords

In order to recognise how chords can be changed you first need to have a little knowledge of scales. This might seem a little strange to some but I will keep it as simple as I can.

The pattern of notes below is called the natural major scale. This is also the same pattern of notes for the Ionian mode. Don’t worry if this doesn’t sound familiar to you, as I’m not going to mention anything in this lesson that requires you to have read another lesson to understand if possible. Just remember that this is the pattern of notes for both Ionian and Natural major, so all that matters is which you decide to call it.

E||------------------|------------------||----------------------------------|
B||------------------|------------------||----------------------------------|
G||------------------|------6----8---9--||--9---8---6-----------------------|
D||-----------6---7--|--9---------------||------------9--7---6--------------|
A||---7---9----------|------------------||----------------------9---7-------|
E||------------------|------------------||----------------------------------|

Now the reason that I’ve put the scale up will become apparent soon. The whole theory of how to build a chord is actually based on scales using the root note of the chord you want to get. At risk of sounding like the hippie that I am, think of the root and the scales the same way you think of the roots and branches of a tree; one grows from the other to create a new whole. All the chords I’m going to use as examples are going to have E as a root so that it’s easy to perceive the difference between them.

If I play just a basic full power chord shape you’ll probably find that it sounds neither happy nor sad on its own. I’ll explain how this is accomplished, but first you’ll need to understand the funny terms musicians have for different notes in a scale. The note that a scale starts and finishes on is called the root; please note that this isn’t simply the note that’s lowest, but it’s the note the scale begins on, and if you go higher or lower eventually you’ll come across that same note in a different octaves. For example, the root note of the scale above is E, and appears more than once as it reaches the next octave.

Now you may also have come across terms like 7^ths and 5^ths; simply put, it’s referring to the notes in a scale. The third note up in a scale from the root is called a 3^rd, and the fifth note up from the root is called a 5^th, and so on. Remember to treat the root note like a 1^st though; don’t skip it and then start counting up. There are also different kinds of 5^ths and 3^rds and so on, so it is also a good idea to become familiar with the different types of them and how to recognise what’s being referred to.

E||------------------|------------------||----------------------------------|
B||------------------|-9----------------||-------------------9--------------|
G||-9----------------|-9----------------||-9-----------------7--------------|
D||-9----------------|-9----------------||-6-----------------9--------------|
A||-7----------------|-7----------------||-7-----------------7--------------|
E||------------------|------------------||----------------------------------|

The chord on the far left of the tab bar above is and E power chord. The second chord along is and E major chord. How do I know it’s a major chord? Because it contains a major third; the root notes and a regular 5^th don’t affect the overtones of a scale or chord that much, but a 3^rd is one of the notes that determines the ‘feel’ of a scale. A major third, which appears in the major scale lends a happy or warm sound to a scale or chord in general. It is four frets higher than the root (this can also be described as being two full tones or four semitones higher), but remember that is occurs on other strings as well, as I mentioned earlier. Here the major third has simply been added along with all the other notes. In the third chord from the left the major third has also been added, but this time in place of one of the other notes. This can be described as an E major third chord. It really doesn’t matter which you play as long as you like the chord you’re playing and it fits the music you’re playing. The final chord on the tab bar above still has the added major third but not in place of any other note; it also has the second root note replaced by another note. Looking back at the major scale we can see that it’s the seventh note in that scale, so that note is a 7^th. This means that we can describe this chord as an E major 7^th.

One thing that may confuse some people is that most music simply writes a major chord (if only the letter are being used above a stave) as only the root note. For example and E major chord might be written simply as E. Remember that when it comes to reading music, and if you see a small m it usually means a minor chord, for example Em means E minor.

Now you should have an understanding of how chords can be modified using the major scale, but is that it? No. You see you can use any scale to modify a chord, and even use one scale that a song is based on to modify more than one chord. The whole idea behind it is that there’s no ‘wrong’ way to change a chord, but every change in a chord will have an effect on the sound of that chord, and sometimes it’s desirable and sometimes it isn’t. The scales and this theory are here to show you how to get a certain result; if you use the theory to get a happy sounding chord, it may not sound right in something that’s got a very sad feel like “gloomy Sunday” by Billie Holiday or “to live is to die” by Metallica, just as a very sad chord probably wouldn’t fit in well in “don’t stop believing” by Journey. However, believe it or not, there are quite sad sounding chords in “don’t stop believing” and some happy chords in dark songs like Metallica’s “one”. It’s all about where they’re placed in the song to get a certain effect on the music as a whole. I’ll now show you how different types of 3^rds and 7^ths are referred to and used.

E||------------------|------------------||----------------------------------|
B||------------------|-8----------------||-------------------8--------------|
G||-9----------------|-9----------------||-9-----------------7--------------|
D||-9----------------|-9----------------||-5-----------------9--------------|
A||-7----------------|-7----------------||-7-----------------7--------------|
E||------------------|------------------||----------------------------------|

These chords are almost identical to the chords earlier, but all the 3^rds have been changed from major thirds to minor thirds. Quite often happy sounding chords and sad chords are used in conjunction with each other almost like a kind of psychology: if you’ve been depressed before then it feels better when you’re happy again, and if you’ve been in a strong relationship for a while and then it falls apart it hurts far more than if it was a short relationship. This can be compared to music, as often there are sad sounding chords in happy songs and visa versa as a sort of deliberate comparison.

Apart from that the only other thing that you should become comfortable with is how the notes in the scales and chords are referred to when they’re moved about. If a 7^th is being used but it’s a fret higher than usual then this is usually referred to as a major 7^th. The major scale at the beginning of this lesson has a major seventh in it. When a note is moved higher than it usually is its usually referred to as a ‘raised’ or ‘sharp’ note; lowered note are usually referred to as ‘flat’. For example Here are some chords, now see if you can tell the difference between them and the power chord shown to the left. If you can’t then don’t worry, I’ve written the answers below.

E||------------------|------------------||----------------------------------|
B||------------------|-8----------------||-------------------9--------------|
G||-9----------------|-7----------------||-11----------------8--------------|
D||-9----------------|-5----------------||-9-----------------9--------------|
A||-7----------------|-7----------------||-7-----------------7--------------|
E||------------------|------------------||----------------------------------|

The second chord has an added minor third on the D string and on the B string, but also has an added 7^th.

The third chord has an added 9^th; this may seem confusing, but if I follow the major scale from the root of the chord being expressed, it’s the ninth note I hit. I don’t have to use the major scale all the time, but in this case I have to make it easier to understand. When people refer to numbers higher than 7^ths they are most likely using notes in different octaves using the same scale, but not always the same scale as some musicians like to mix things up.

I hope that this lesson has helped some of you. The most difficult thing for beginners to pick up is probably the music language that comes with being a musician, and this is what I was trying to help with in this lesson. As I have said in other lessons, don’t be afraid to let me know if there is anything you don’t like about my lesson or anything that you simply don’t understand about it. There will be many other chords like sus chords and diminished chords out there, but by recognising what 7^ths and whatever other notes are being expressed, it becomes much easier to find them than having to search blindly until you find the one you’re after.

Take care guys and remember that there are far more chords out there than what I have written here, so be sure to explore. See you next time!