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Learn how to
understand confusing chord names.
David Hamburger is a guitarist,
teacher, and writer who lives in Austin, Texas. He has toured with Joan
Baez, Salamander Crossing, and Five Chinese Brothers, and has appeared
on recordings by Chuck Brodsky and the Kennedys. A regular instructor
at the National Guitar Summer Workshop, Hamburger has written a number
of instruction books, including The Acoustic Guitar Method.
In this lesson, Hamburger explains how
chords get their names.
To hear the examples, you need the RealPlayer plug-in.
Enjoy your lesson, and for more great
online guitar lessons, vist the lessons section
at Acousticguitar.com
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to Acoustic Guitar magazine and
Acousticguitar.com.
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 Tune up
Intro
How
many times have you flipped open a songbook and been baffled by
something peculiar like A7b13#9 or even something just out of the
ordinary like Dm6? It may seem like these names were designed to
deliberately confuse you, but in fact they’re trying to tell you very
specific things about what to play. In this lesson we’ll look at how
chords get their names and break down what some of those more
obscure-sounding names really mean.
Major
and Minor Triads
The
most basic kind of chord is called a triad, because it boils down to
just three notes. For example, an A-major chord consists of A, C#, and
E–notes that are referred to as the root, major third, and fifth of the
chord. You can also have a minor triad; an A-minor triad, for example,
consists of A, C, and E, which are the root, minor third, and fifth of
the chord. The only difference between a major triad and a minor triad
is the third. You can see and hear this by playing an A-major chord and
then switching to an A-minor chord:
A-major chord
A-minor chord
Every
major third in every major chord is two whole steps (four frets) above
the root of the chord. Every minor third in every minor chord is a step
and a half (three frets) above the root of the chord.
Augmented
and Diminished Triads
What
happens to a triad if the fifth changes? The fifth found in both the
major and minor triad is called a perfect fifth. There are
three-and-a-half steps (seven frets) between the root and a perfect
fifth. If you take an A-major triad and raise the fifth a half step to
E#, you have the interval (A to E#) of an augmented fifth, and the
resulting chord–A, C#, E#–is called A augmented. Raise the high string
one fret in a three-note A chord to hear what it sounds like.
A-augmented chord
Going
in the opposite direction, if you take an A-minor triad and lower the
fifth by a half step, you’ve got the interval (A to Eb) of a diminished
fifth, and the resulting chord–A, C, Eb–is called an A diminished. It
takes a little tricky fingering up the neck to hear what a three-note A
diminished chord sounds like:
A-diminished chord
So
we’ve got four kinds of triads: major, minor, augmented, and
diminished. Here they are in terms of their roots, thirds, and fifths.
| R |
R |
R |
R |
| 3 |
b3 |
3 |
b3 |
| 5 |
5 |
+5 |
b5 |
| major |
minor |
augmented |
diminished |
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