Those funny lil things on the end....

[Oddjob]

Can neone tell me what those funny lil things on the end of chords are, e.g Csus 2, D sus 4 and the Aug's

~Oddjob~

[R_A_D]

neone? Who the heck is that?

[Oddjob]

neone = anyone
ne= any
one=one
neone = anyone

[Nate]

Are there any in particular you want to know??? Or just all of them???? There's an awful lot of them.... but I'll try to do as many as I can recall. (The notes that are different from normal major and minor chords are in boldface)


*sus2, *sus4 - "Suspended" chords. In a suspended chord, the third note of the normal chord is replaced with some other note. The number after the "sus" tells you which note to replace the third with.

For example: Gsus4 is G, C, and D. The third (B) was replaced with the fourth, (C). Asus2 would be A, B, and E. Replace the C# with B. One interesting thing to note is that a *sus2 chord is an inversion of a related *sus4 chord. For example: Asus2 (A-B-E) is the first inversion of Esus4 (E-A-B). Pretty cool, huh?

*aug - "Augmented" chord. In an augmented chord, you take the fifth and raise it up one half-step.

For example: Caug would be C, E, and G#. You take the fifth (G) and raise it up one half-step to G#.

*dim - "Diminished" chord. A diminished chord is a minor chord with the fifth lowered one half step.

For example: Gdim would be G, Bb, and Db. Minor third and flatted fifth.

*m7, *7, *maj7 (*M7) - "Seventh" chords. A seventh chord includes the root, either the minor or major third, the fifth, and a seventh. The note used for the seventh and third is determined by what kind of seventh chord is indicated. A *m7 chord includes the minor third and the flatted seventh. A *7 chord includes the major third and flatted seventh. And a *maj7 (or *M7) chord includes the major third and natural seventh.

For example: Cm7 is C, Eb, G, and Bb. C7 would be C, E, G, and Bb. Cmaj7 (CM7) is C, E, G, and B.

*add4, *add9, etc, etc - A chord with the word "add" in it implies that you add whatever note is indicated to the original chord. You can add notes to any kind of chord you want... major, minor, suspended, seventh, etc, etc.

A few examples: Cadd9 is C, E, G, and D. (Usually in an *add9 chord, the ninth is dropped down one octave... so it would be C, D, E, and G) Aadd4 would be A, C#, D, and E. Gm7add4 would be G, Bb, C, D, and F. Take the minor seventh chord (G-Bb-D-F) and add the fourth. (C)

*/* - "Slash" chords In a slash chord, the stuff before the slash indicates what the main chord is... the stuff after the slash indicates the bass or root note to be used.

For example: G/B would be G, B, and D with a B either played by the bass guitar or in your left hand. C/A would be C, E, and G with an A played in the bass. You can have any note that you want after the slash... it doesn't have to be in the original chord.


Ok.... are there any other types you'd like to know about??? Or does this pretty much cover it?

[Oddjob]

Thanks, that helped a lot. are there any others? i didn't know. If there are others i would like to know.....
Thanks

~Oddjob~

[Nate]

Let's see.... there's *6's, *9's, *11's, and *13's. (they're mostly used in jazz) They're all formed about the same way. The *6's take the root, third, and fifth and then add the sixth. So C6 would be C, E, G, and A. All the rest keep adding onto the seventh chords.... a *9 takes whatever seventh chord is indicated (m7, 7, maj7) and adds the ninth on top of it to make either a m9, 9, or maj9. Same thing with the *11's and *13's.... they just take the last step down and add on top of it.

I can't think of anymore right now... are those all pretty clear?

[Oddjob]

yup, thanks keyboardFreak

~Oddjob~

[Nate]

Hey.... check this site out. It's meant for guitar.... but it applies equally to any other instrument.

http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~desmith/guitar/chords/chords.htm

It's about the best music theory site I've ever found.

[Nate]

Originally posted by Oddjob
yup, thanks keyboardFreak


Glad I could help!! :D