Learning Chords

intelligent learning

This is about learning how to construct chords using major chord harmony , chord construction etc.

It's daunting to imagine you'll need to remember hundreds of chords in different fingerings all over the neck.

There are 12 major chords, 12 major 7, 12 minor, 12 minor 7, 12 7th chords, 12 diminished, 12 min7b5. And that's just the major harmony chords with no extensions or modifications (add 9 , sus2, sus4, #5, #9 etc.)

So that's over 100 main chords, with 5 positions/shapes each, adding up to about 500 chords + modifications!

But there is a quicker way! And this is how I learned all the chords I needed as a professional Jazz guitarist in the 90's.

I'll explain the basic concept, which is to understand the 3 chord types and how they are constructed using intervals.

There are only 3 types of chord:

1. Major

2. Minor

3. Dominant

Each of these 3 types can be enhanced with diatonic extensions such as 6th, 7th, 9th etc.

The Dominant chords are also commonly modified with non-diatonic (altered) notes that heighten the tension and anticipation. For example, These additional altered notes can turn the dominant chord into diminished and Augmented chords by adding b9 or #5 intervals.

Armed with this kind of understanding it becomes possible to construct chords as you need them by adding the correct intervals and alterations to the 3 chords you already know.

Although it is useful to know all the notes on the fret-board , it isn't necessary in order to use this chord method. Once you have learned your major scale in all 6 positions, creating chords you need using intervals within each scale is relatively easy.

So, to get started on this route you'll need to learn:

1. C major Scale in 6 positions

2. Chord Harmony in C

3. Chord construction

There is of course a quick and fun way to learn all this!