Crash course on forming chords.....

[70strathead]

so if its not an add9 then what is the e in that chord then? its not a root since the root is the D and the third is the F# if im understanding this correctly?

It's a Dmaj9. If you have a 7th chord (which it is because of the c#) then you throw the 9 on top it's a maj9. You add the 9 to a triad without the 7 you get an add9 chord.

When you extent the chord, no add, when you add without extending the previous note...add9.

i agree with this. Cmaj9 was what i picked out as well. learning and memorizing all the triads to minor/major chords is what helped me see the fretboard better, then expanding on intervals. i actually discovered that learning key signatures >chords/arpeggios helped me visualize easier and retain better more than modes/scales. so many approaches u can take and great tips on this thread.

i meant Dmaj9...doh!

 

[Les Moore]

Thank you dallas! I'm still getting my head wrapped around all of this.

That's why I wanted to know where should I start? for example

-Start with triads, and LEanr EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM (whatever this means) THEN and only then, move to _________

Just like a teacher would.


what do you recommend?

Hi everyone.
I'm new here and this is my first post.
A short presentation.
As of now I play guitar in a metalband (see web page) but I have a diploma in classical guitar, a degree I took after studying in Italy for several years. I used to teach classical guitar, musical theory and harmony. I think I can help you and everyone else who is interested.
Many things that has been said here are correct but it is my experience that you should go very slowly in the beginning so that the student really understands every step fully. Musical theory is the basis for harmony and it all begins with the scale.
Lesson nr. 1
Learn the c-major scale on the guitar and then get back to this thread. Ok?

 

[stephen sawall]

Welcome to the forum Les Moore...

 

[Les Moore]

Thank you.
The OP seems absent for the moment so I´ll just assume that there is someone even slightly interested in what I have to say
In the scale all the secrets of theory and harmony are present.
For starters let´s look at some of the steps of scale.
The first step is the root, the note on which the cord is built, in our case C-major. This step is also called the tonic (spelling?). The tonic is the harmonic center around which everything gravitates in western music, as opposed to some other cultures.
Let´s jump to the fourth step. This is called the subdominant, in our case the note F.
The fifth step is called the dominant, in our case the note G.
Played in sequence as single notes, C-F-G-C, we now have the most common chord progression in our western culture. This progression can be found in music from Bach to Aerosmith.
But we have other notes too, right?
To build a chord we need at least 3 notes. With only 2 notes we just have an interval, not a chord. This will be clearer later.
So, to construct a chord there are 2 very important notes; the root and the third.
The root defines which chord it is, and the third defines if it´s major or minor. In our case we need a major third since we are building a C-major chord.
The major third can be found two whole steps from the root, in our case the note E.
If we now add the fifth, G, we have our first triad of C-major; C-E-G. Apply the same theory for the subdominant and the dominant and our first chord-progression is born.
To be continued.

 

[Les Moore]

So, now we have a simple but very common progression; tonic, subdominant, dominant, tonic. The triads of the chords are; C-E-G (C-major), F-A-C (F-major) and G-B-D (G-major).
Let´s look a little closer at a couple of notes.
There are what we call lead-notes. These are notes that have a very strong "will" to resolve into another, close note. For instance, if you play the G-chord in our progression and you emphasize the third (B), you will hear that it "wants" to resolve to the root of the tonic, C. Also, you can hear the third in the C-chord wanting to resolve to the root of the subdominant, F.
We can therefor conclude that the third is a very important note in any chord; it defines major and minor and often has a leading function, sort of tying chords together.
There are other leading notes.
If we take our dominant chord, G-major, and count the notes from the root up to the seventh note ( G, A, B, C, D, E, F) we arrive at F. We add that F to our G-major chord and we have dominant7 chord, or G7 (G-B-D-F).
If we play that G7 chord and emphasize the F-note, we´ll hear that it "wants" to go to the third of the tonic, the E of our C-chord.
These rules apply to any key.
To end this lesson I´d like to turn your attention to the concept of the key.
We say that a song goes in the key of C for example. What does that mean? Well, it means that all the chords and notes are stemming from the scale of C, no alterations of any note. Of course alterations normally will appear sooner or later, but they don´t belong the key of C. Alterations will appear when we want to change key, or temporarily make things a bit more interesting. Alterations are altered notes, for example flat notes or sharp notes.
Also a key will have certain chords. We have mentioned three already, the tonic, subdominant and the dominant. In C-major these three chords are major.
Every major-chord has a minor relative chord. These minor relative chords are found a minor third below their major relative. For example, if we go a minor third down from the note C (1 half and 1 whole step), we arrive at the note A. If we construct a triad on the A-note with notes from the C-scale (remember we are in the key of C) we get an a-minor chord (A-C-E).
If we do the same with the F-chord we get a d-minor. We do the same with the G-chord and we get a e-minor.
So, every key has at least six chords. So if you see a song in the key of C-major you can be pretty sure, without ever having heard it, that these chords will probably appear; C-major, F-major, G7 (also a major chord), a-minor, d-minor and e-minor.
Note that I write major chords with majuscule letters and minor chords with minuscule letters.
To be continued

 

[stephen sawall]

The OP seems absent for the moment

This thread is a year old ....

 

[Les Moore]

Hahaha... Yeah, well I thought that it would be brought up by someone keeping it alive. Doesn't it work that way? Anyway, if someone makes a search they should be able find the info here. Correct me if I'm wrong, please. Perhaps it's better to start a new thread.

 

[stephen sawall]

Hahaha... Yeah, well I thought that it would be brought up by someone keeping it alive. Doesn't it work that way? Anyway, if someone makes a search they should be able find the info here. Correct me if I'm wrong, please. Perhaps it's better to start a new thread.

Do whatever you want .... it really does not matter. But most people do not follow threads they started over a year ago if they have been dead for some time. Once a thread is past the first page in many cases it is dead...

As you can tell most of this forum is about gear. You are right if someone does a search on this topic it would pop up I believe. Most people only look at the main forum.

 

[Les Moore]

Ok, thanks for the info.