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| Introduction |
| Major-Minor-Diminished & Augmented scales |
| Pentatonic-Major & Minor scales |
| Modes |
| Constructing Chords |
| Introduction |
| First things First |
| Learning Guitar Sessions |
| Guitar Scales Introduction |
| Guitar Scales Getting Started |
| Musical Keys |
| Chord Theory |
| Chord Definition |
| Guitar Notes 1 |
| Guitar Notes 2 |
| Music Scales in the Keys |
Chord Theory starts right here at the chromatic scale. Below is the chart diagram of the chromatic scale This scale is the foundation where all other music scales and music chords are constructed from. It contains all 12 of the notes used in the music world.
In the chart below the chromatic scale starts with the C note and ends with a C note, which is an octave tone higher in sound.
In this session were going to be constructing the C Major Chord and C Minor Chord to give you a good basic understanding how we arrive at the notes that make up these 2 chords. Also I'd like to mention, that the Major & Minor chords are the 2 main types of chords in music, and the name of a chord is any one of the 12 notes in the chromatic scale.
Now looking at the chart you will notice on the left side, the position each note in the chromatic scale holds.
Both the Major and Minor chords use the rootnote the 3rd & the perfect 5th notes of the chromatic scale. Notice on the left side of the chart
there is the minor 3rd and major 3rd.
Well you probably already guessed that the major 3rd note will be in the C Major Chord
and the minor 3rd will be in the C Minor Chord. And you'd be right. The notes for the C Major are C-E-G and for the C Minor the notes are
C-E flat-G. But now the formula to find any chord on this chromatic scale is to know Interval Steps
An interval step is what we use to measure the distance between each note on the chromatic scale. There are 2 types of interval steps that are used in this process, which is the halfstep if you look at the chart below it's the distance from the C note to C sharp note. And the wholestep, if you look on the chart is the distance from the C note to the D note.
Now lets find the notes for the C Major chord by using the wholesteps & halfsteps. Being the name of the chord is C, will start out on the chromatic scale
with the C note, which is the rootnote for this chord. If we were looking for the notes for the D Major chord, then the D note would be the rootnote. Another words
what ever the name of the chord is, that will be the rootnote & the note you start off with on the chromatic scale. In this case were starting out
with the C note now to get to the major 3rd in this scale we need to move 2 wholesteps, and from this spot on the scale we need to move
another wholestep & halfstep to reach the perfect 5th note. And here we have the notes that make up the C Major chord. The interval step pattern
we used is as follows:
rootnote /2 wholesteps /wholestep & halfstep
This interval step pattern can be used to find all 12 of the major chords in music. Now lets say we want to find the notes that make up
the D Major Chord. The rootnote is D, will be starting out on the chromatic scale on the D note. So now the rootnote of the chromatic
scale is the D note and the rest of the scale will follow suite. The minor 3rd & major 3rd are the F & F sharp the perfect 5th is the
A note. So the bottom line here is_ that any note in the chromatic scale can be the rootnote! As for the notes that make up the
D Major Chord, if you use the interval step pattern - rootnote /2 wholesteps /wholestep & halfstep - you'll find that the notes
for the D Major Chord are D - F sharp - A
The interval step pattern for the Minor Chord is -
rootnote / wholestep & halfstep / 2 wholesteps / and this pattern can be used
to find any of the 12 Minor Chords in music. Actually there is a interval step pattern for every type of chord there is in music.
Now the trick to having this system of finding notes for chords easier, is to take the Chromatic Scale and placing it in a circular pattern like you see in the diagram below. You will find this works much better, especially when your finding notes for chords with extensions like the 9th chord or minor 11th and so on. Always keep in mind that you will always move in a clockwise direction on this cycle. I call it the Chord Cycle, you can call it what you'd like but the bottom line is, it gets the job done & it's fast!
Hoping you have a better understanding of the music chord, let me direct you to the page that has all the Interval Step Patterns for any chord you wish to know the notes for, by going to Constructing Music Chords
