There isn't a standard in chord naming. Often, we find many different names for the same chord, specially in the Internet. For this reason, it's important to understand the meaning of the chord names. A chord name is composed of 4 items: 1) Fundamental 2) Mode 3) Intervals and/or Dissonances 4) Bass 1) Fundamental: The fundamental is the main note of the chord. 2) Mode: The mode complements the fundamental, indicating the other notes in the chord. There are 4 main modes: · Major · Minor · Diminished · Dominant The chart below shows the notes that belongs to each chord in each mode, as well as its spelling (always using "C" as the fundamental). Code: [u][b] Mode[/u] [u]Chord Name Samples[/u] [u]Notes[/u][/b] Major C C, E, G Minor Cm, or Cmin C, Eb, G Diminished Cº, or Cdim C, Eb, G, A Dominant C7 C, E, G, Bb Note: · Major chords don’t present any extension. For instance, a "F" chord denotes a "F major". · The fifth usually belongs to the chord. 3) Intervals and/or Dissonances: Chords are defined as sets of notes. In order to understand their spelling, you must learn about intervals. A musical interval is the number of semitones (or frets, in the guitar) between two notes. The intervals that don't belong to the basic chord are called "dissonances". These dissonances can be used to complement the chord name. The possible names for these intervals and/or dissonances, as well as the respective notes, for each fundamental are given in the Word Document attached below. Note: · Suspended ("sus") chords, as Csus4 and Dsus4/7, exchanges the third note for the fourth note of the scale of the fundamental. · Diminished ("dim") chords are composed by the fundamental, the third, the fifth and the diminished seventh. 4) Bass: Chord names may include a slash ("/"). This slash indicates the bass note (the note after the slash is not the fundamental). For instance: C/G indicates a "C major", but with "G" as bass. Examples: Code: [u]Chords[/u] [u]Notes[/u] C C,E,G Dbmaj7 Db, F, Ab, C A#min6/C# C#, A#, F, G E4/7 E, A, B, D G7M(9) G, A, B, D, F# The above lesson is based on an article from Daccord Guitar Dictionary Cheers :beer: Rohan.
@Paranoid: Dude u need to get ur facts right. First off, u mentioned diminished chord as: Code: Diminished Cº, or Cdim C, Eb, G, A This would make the intervals as : 1 b3 5 bb7 This doesnt make sense. The diminished chord has intervals: 1 b3 b5 bb7, making it C, Eb, Gb, A. U need a b5 instead of regular fifth in a diminished chord. (Locrian mode, anyone?) Didnt quite get what u meant. Plz explain in simpler words. Doesnt sound right from what I understood. What about sus2 chords? U can swap either 4th, or 2nd for suspended chords, not 4th alone. And Dsus4/7 is not right. Its D7/sus4 aka "sus" chord. What the hell is with the name? Its simply called Esus. (1 4 5 b7) Nah, its the fundamental (aka root) flat 3rd, flat fifth, and diminished 7th (aka 6th, but we dont call it sixth, its diminished 7th, diatonically.) And that Bass heading, its not bass, its the inversion. Meaning we use any other note of the chord in a lower octave than the root. For Example, C/E is C major with 1st inversion, meaning that we have used the 3rd note in the bass. Similarly, C/G is the 2nd inversion, having 5th in the bass. Similarly we can go on to 3rd, 4th, even 5th inversions using 7th(maybe b7 im not sure), 9th & 11th note in the bass respectively, but that much inversions are not that common. Hope it clarifies some stuff. Peace out.
I wanna ask 1 thing..what the hell is an Esus chord or anythin.. there is either sus2 or sus4 i aint heard of Esus etc.
k i got it. Johny i totally agree wid ya. Cdim chord goes C Eb Gb A This makes progression as 1 b3 b5 bb7 The C Major scale goes like C D E F G A B C. C1 Eb Gb(b5) A Then bout the FMajor extension and 5th i dint understand much. And bout the bass heading ..(Theres nothing wrong in calling it a bass). Many ppl call it bass. But the actual musical term is inversion. For Example C/G is an inverted chord which has the sound of 'G' in the bass which goes like : 332010 (GCEGCE) This is nothing but an inverted C chord. Well I hope this clarifies the doubts. Peace.
anytime bro PS : Paranoid check ure reps i repped u a lil late coz i had repped u too often and i had to rep some undeservin ppl. (Just a joke) hehehe
P.S. i can't find my EDIT BUTTON ... so can't edit it ... plz luk at reply #4 (by Johny Bravo) for more details !!!
