Even though there are virtually unlimited combinations of individual notes that can be combined into chords, all chords will fall into one of seven categories. Familiarity with these categories is very helpful when it comes to understanding chord symbols, and constructing chords, melodies or solos over a tune’s chord progression. Please note:
- The categories are based on the particular intervals contained in a chord.
- Four categories are indigenous to our diatonic system: major, minor, dominant, and half-diminished. The fully-diminished and augmented categories do not occur naturally within the major scale diatonic structure.
- Some categories require only a triad (3 tones or pitches). Others require at least 4 tones (ex: dominant, half-diminished).
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In Practice
For every chord you learn on the guitar (or any instrument, for that matter), one of the best things you can do towards understanding and expanding your mastery of chords is to identify every interval in the chord at hand.
Whether it’s a simple C chord, or the most convoluted gnash-up of fingers you can muster, go through the chord, identify the root and every other interval within the chord. Armed with this knowledge, when presented with a chord you don’t know how to play, you can quickly identify the intervals you need, locate them, and work out your fingerings.
This will also inform your improvisational skills. If you’re presented with an altered chord, knowing the intervals can help you modify the scales you’re using to solo over the chord.
Such “intervallic awareness” is also useful when composing. By learning the intervals by name, and the particular color they bring to a chord, you will “hear” ways to expand the sophistication of what you’re writing.
Yeah… it ain’t easy!
There’s no way one can totally absorb the meaning of all this information simply by looking at a chart. You have to get the information into your hands, and this requires countless hours of deep practice, thinking things through, and developing the muscle memory to execute this stuff at will, and hopefully get to the point where you’re creating great music with little or no thinking involved. But we all know it can be done, we hear great, inspiring music every day where this knowledge base is on full display. The determining factor is, do you have the patience to do the work? How badly do you want it?
(December 21, 1931 – March 26, 2016)
Acknowledgement
I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my jazz mentor while I was attending and teaching guitar at Indiana University back in the late 80s, Dr. David Baker. Dr. Baker’s vast, comprehensive understanding of music, jazz theory, and his unique gift for andragogy (extended adult learning) enlightened and inspired every musician with whom he ever came in contact.
Dr. Baker single-handedly taught me more about music and improvisation than anyone else in my life. And his quintessentially cool demeanor was an absolute joy to be around, immediately setting his students at ease and open to the pearls of musical wisdom he delighted in sharing with all of us. The information I’m passing on in this tutorial is based entirely on Dr. Baker’s teachings. He is greatly missed but fondly remembered. ~~JF
