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Chord Theory from Beginner to Advanced in One Easy Lesson
4) Extended Chords
We have seen how the major chord is constructed from notes 1, 3 and 5 of the major scale. More complex (extended) chords are constructed by taking further the same idea of adding alternate notes from the major scale into the chord.
A “major 7th chord” is a major chord (1st 3rd and 5th of the major scale) with the 7th note of the major scale added making it a 4 note chord.
. So a C major 7th (written Cmaj7) can be played using the notes C, E, G and B. One fingering on a piano looks like this.
And finding the same 4 notes on a guitar, with
an extra E on the top string to fill the sound out.
(click chord box to play)
Let’s keep going. The major 9th chord continues the pattern,
being made of notes 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 of the major scale.
Hang on, there are only 7 notes in a major scale!!!
Well 8 if you count the root note again.
No problem, just keep moving up the keyboard, and the pattern repeats.
Each set of 8 notes is known as an octave (like an octagon has 8 sides or an octopus has 8 legs). Up to now we have been using the octave beginning on Middle C, but there are higher and lower C notes on all instruments too.
“Bass C” “Middle C” “Treble C” “High C”
Hopefully you get the idea. Here’s a complete set of C chords
constructed from the C major scale.
C = 1,3,5 = C,E,G
Cmaj7 = 1,3,5,7 = C,E,G,B
Cmaj9 = 1,3,5,7,9 = C,E,G,B,D
Cmaj11 = 1,3,5,7,9,11 = C,E,G,B,D,F
Cmaj13 = 1,3,5,7,9,11,13 = C,E,G,B,D,F,A
And that’s it. As you can see above the 15th note of the major scale is the root note again, so we’ve exhausted all the possibilites, and with a Cmaj13 we are effectively playing every note in the major scale.
Of course it’s tough to finger a 7 note chord on a 6 string guitar, so at least one of the notes has to be dropped . Which ones and why is separate topic, but you may consider that in a group situation other players will be playing notes too.
For example, if you aren’t playing the root note of a chord, the bass player most definitely will be, and fill out your stripped down version with the correct root note. This sort of thinking opens up huge possibilities when choosing fingerings for chord shapes.
That shows you all you need to know to understand the “jazzier” sounding extended major chords. On the next page we’ll apply the same sort of reasoning to create the “bluesier” sounding dominant chord family.
Click here for the next page (Dominant Chords)
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Octave from “Treble C” to “High C”
Octave from “Bass C” to “Middle C”
Octave from “Middle C” to “Treble C”
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