What makes a chord a chord?

Hey!

Sorry, have not been here for quite some time, but the have been practicing... I learnt quite a bit from this site then have started some private lessons every 10 days or so...the good thing is i didnt have to learn a lot from the teacher as i learnt it here..saved me time and money

Today (my second lesson) he tried teaching me music theory about why a major chord is called a major chord, about the 1st the 3rd and the 5th etc...i took it all in but now that i am home...its kinda leaked outa my head :o I was wondering if anybody could recommend a starting place where i can read up about it again..
eg:
what makes a major/minor chord,7ths,9ths and the rest of the blah blah stuff (this is the part that sucks about music...not the playing...the f#&*!$g theory :mad: ....but...you gotto know it...IMHO ;) )

Something that will take me in baby steps.... not whole steps..but half steps ....... (hehe couldnt resist)

Thanks in advance.
Ryan

Well, let me get you started:

A major scale has a certain set of intervals, normally I would write them as 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, but that doesn't explain much, now does it?

Here is the pattern for the Major scale:


------------------
------------------
-----------------
------------4-6-7
------4-5-7------
--5-7------------


Here is the pattern for the Natural Minor scale:


--------------------
------------------
------------------
--------------5-7
--------5-7-8-----
--5-7-8-----------


Notice that compared to the Major Scale, the Minor Scale has a flat 3rd, 6th, and 7th degree.

In music, almost everything is compared to the major scale, so we would call the intervals of the minor scale: 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7.

Anyway, that's just an intro to scale theory, here's what you want to know about chords:

A major chord has these notes in it: a 1 3 and 5. So if we're in the key of C, the notes would be C, E, and G.

If we want a minor chord in the key of C, then we would have these intervals 1 b3 5. So the notes would be C, Eb, and G.

Now, about sevenths and ninths, when you are adding notes to a chord, you will need to name the notes you are adding. For example, if I want to play a Cmaj7 chord, I'm going to need to use the notes of a C major chord (C, E, and G) and then add a 7th. The seventh note in the C major scale is B, so a Cmaj7 chord would have these notes in it: C, E, G, and B.

Sometimes, when a note added to a chord is an octave above the root of the chord, musicians like to add higher numbers to the notes added. As you may have guessed, a major scale only has seven notes in it, with the root being octaved. Well, if we consider the octaved root to be "8", then a 9th would simply be the octave of a 2nd interval. That means that if you have a chord that has a "9" in it, you need to add the octaved 2nd interval of that key into your chord.

Hope that helped a little. :)

-Mike

Way to go zamboni. I was about to type a huge explanation...but u already did. Cheers mate! Said it better than I could. ;)

Originally Posted by: InfectiousWay to go zamboni. I was about to type a huge explanation...but u already did. Cheers mate! Said it better than I could. ;)

Cheers :)

Hey thanks mate,

Problem is, even that explanation is a bit too advanced for me...I need theory right from the beginning :(

Any links would be appreciated because you have already been kind enough to write so much, I dont want to bother you with more.

Thanks,
Ryan

try these:

http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=8078

http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=8505

I went and got hal leonard Music Theory for Guitarists - Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask - Guitar Method - Book & CD Package - 695790 - $17.95 . great book will help you alot ,got mine on ebay.

Thanks Doc, will check them out,

and thanks Bigskiohio, unfortunatly i dont have a credit card to buy from ebay :-( or any site online and i really dont have the patience to wait days for a book...links should do for me now but will prolly check out that book a bit later.

Cheers,
Ryan

Checkout; Main Page -Guitar basics - page 3 - I need help with scales please
By Grambo

Thanks mate, I bookmarked it!

Had me running around a bit though before i found it...
you wrote:

Checkout; Main Page -Guitar basics - page 3 - I need help with scales please

So i went to the main page.....
http://www.guitartricks.com/
:rolleyes:

could not find guitar basics there...but did find a link to guitarbasics.com.....
so went there....could not find any third page...

so thought about it a bit more and figured you probably meant the index of the forum ;) and found it!!

Guitars is not my thing...am just starting...but computers ARE my thing (since i make my living off it) so heres a quick tip (may come in useful for you later on), when you are on a page you like you can usually just copy and paste the entire address from your address bar (the place on top where you type in www.guitartricks.com)
so the link directly to that topic/place would be:
http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14553

Please note, I am not being sarcastic or anything, if you already knew the above just ignore it...and I am greatful for that link/chord explanation.

Thanks!
Ryan

Thanks Ryan, and Top marks for perserverance.
Hmm, I highlighted the address bar, clicked on copy in Edit, but didn't know where to paste it ?
Gray

Sussed it mate, it was in favourites
Thanks again

Hey,
There are two easy ways to copy and paste,

1: highlight what you want and then right click with your mouse-> copy
then go to whereever you want to paste, right click again with your mouse-> paste.


2: The faster method and the one i use most often and which has saved me LOADS of time is simply highlight what you want then press the CTRL (control) key on your keyboard and C at the same time (that does the copy, its usually written like this CTRL+C),
then CTRL+V to paste it.

A little off topic, but a quicker way to save to your favourites folder is simply to CTRL+B (the B is for bookmark, which brings up the question why the hell CTRL+V for paste...answer is because CTRL+P is for printing :p )

Cheers,
-Ryan

P.S if you have any other interesting guitar links for a beginner like me, feel free to reply here or PM me

Hej,
I posted a reply on the "guitar basics" forum which might help with scales. As for chords I like to think that whenever 2 or more notes are played at once that is a chord. If you already know some chords try moving position or changing finger positions, make up your own chords and discover what makes a good sound. If you play "rock/metal"?! try these shapes anywhere on the fret board-played loud and distorted they are as "full" as 6 string chords.

-5------ so if you play any fret on the 6th string play the fret
-7------ 2 up from it on the 5th string-any fret on the 5th string
-------- play the fret 2 up from it on the 4th string etc.
--------
--------
--------

-5---- so any fret on the 6th string play the same fret on the 5th
-5---- any fret on the 5th string play the same fret on th 4th etc
------
------ only sound the two notes fretted!
------
------ now make up your own and if they sound good they are good