Fundamental Chords

[Kuark]

Right now I am going through a scale both, major and minor, a day during my practice time and memorizing all the root notes and patterns to a T. Then I am also going to take chords and memorize the arpeggios for each chord associated with that root note. Obviously I cant go over ever variation of chord out there in a day so what are the most fundamental chords that you should learn first along with major, min?

[bassplayertom77]

7th, major 7th, and minor 7th chords are commonly used. Getting familiar with those will help tremendously.

[EADG mx]

Half-Diminished

Fully Diminished

Augmented

[Pacman]

Maj 7
Min 7
Dom 7
Min 7(b5)
Dim 7
Aug 7
Min(maj7)

[Dave Grossman]

Check out:
http://www.guitar-and-bass.com/

should help.

- Dave

[Dave Grossman]

For example:


- Dave

[Asher S]

Here's an older post of mine that might also help. Just another approach, nothing more.

Originally Posted by Asher S

A little about CHORDS
the basic triad consists of the root (1), third (3), and fifth (5).

To understand major vs minor, and "perfect" vs diminished vs augmented, you should know that in the 8-note scale (including the octave), only the 4 and 5 can be diminished (flattened a half tone). All the other notes (2, 3, 6, 7) are "minor" when flattened a half tone. Sharpening a half tone yields an augmented "X" (2-7).

So, with this in mind, and using the C Ionian scale (C D E F G A B C) the main triads are:

MAJOR: C E G
MINOR: C Eb G
DIMINISHED: C Eb Gb
AUGMENTED: C E G#

Now, if you add in a fourth note to the chord (commonly the 7th) you need to know that in the notation, one "maj" refers to the 7th being major (a half-tone below the octave) and one "min" (or just "m") refers to the 3rd (being flat). The 3rd default is MAJOR and the 7th default is MINOR... SO:

C Maj 7: C E G B (C major triad + major 7th: B is a half-tone below C)
C Dominant 7 (Or just C7) : C E G Bb (C major triad + minor 7th)
C min 7: C Eb G Bb (C minor triad + minor 7th)
C Diminished 7: C Eb Gb Bbb (C diminished with double flat B, which is equivalent to an A)
C Minor Major 7: C Eb G B (C minor triad + major 7)

Then you can get into 6ths, 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, sus4 etc etc...

A good book that explains this (and much more) is the Total Jazz Bassist by Overthrow & Ferguson.

I hope that helps.

[mambo4]

As you learn chord arpeggios (pacman's list is solid)
be sure to learn how the chords fit into a scale.

For example, each of the 7 tones in the major scale can be seen as the root of an implied chord, whose chord tones are taken form the scale. that's where all the I-IV-V and ii-V7-I stuff comes from. Each roman numeral represents the scale tone and the chord it implies

For all seven scale tones it looks like : I-ii-iii-IV-V7-vi-vii(dim).
Capital letters (I-IV-V ) are major chords, lower case (ii-iii-vi) are minor.

so harmonizing a C major scale looks like:
C-Dmin-Emin-F-G7-Amin-Bdim.

This way you will be practicing chord arpeggios with an ear toward understanding how the all relate to whatever key you are in.

[Kuark]

Originally Posted by mambo4

As you learn chord arpeggios (pacman's list is solid)
be sure to learn how the chords fit into a scale.

For example, each of the 7 tones in the major scale can be seen as the root of an implied chord, whose chord tones are taken form the scale. that's where all the I-IV-V and ii-V7-I stuff comes from. Each roman numeral represents the scale tone and the chord it implies

For all seven scale tones it looks like : I-ii-iii-IV-V7-vi-vii(dim).
Capital letters (I-IV-V ) are major chords, lower case (ii-iii-vi) are minor.

so harmonizing a C major scale looks like:
C-Dmin-Emin-F-G7-Amin-Bdim.

This way you will be practicing chord arpeggios with an ear toward understanding how the all relate to whatever key you are in.

I understand what your example means but I dont understand why it is harmonized that way. Is that the only way to harmonize a c major scale or did you just pick to do it that way. If that is the only way does it transfer the same way to other scales so a D major would harmonize as

D-Emin-F#min-G-A7-Bmin-C#dim

Anybody have more input on this to explain it out or have a link to an article explaining the theory behind it in more detail?


Also what are the formulas for

Originally Posted by Pacman

Min 7(b5)
Dim 7
Aug 7
Min(maj7)

I am assuming Min7(b5) is the same as min7 but with the 5 also flated

[Ed Fuqua]

Sometimes it's best to have somebody who has a good background in musical fundamentals and has an organized approach work with you, rather than cobbling together a bunch of info typing to people on the internet.

If you are building chords in C major, you only have the notes of the C major scale to work with, right?

C D E F G A B C

And you make chords by stacking thirds, right?

C d E f G a B or C E G B or Cmajor7, right? So go through the rest of the scale making chords by stacking thirds on whatever note you start with. That gets you the "diatonically harmonized" C major scale that mambo gave you. Not because somebody "decided" to do it that way. And I think your question may be pointing at -

Does that mean that because you are playing a song in Cmajor you're never going to see a D7 or a Bmajor7 or even an F#7b9#9b13? No, because there are modulations, secondary dominants, modal interchange, substitutions and the flat out "the only chord the composer knows how to play with F# for the root is a b9#9b13.

Teachers (well, good teachers) are great at assembling the information you need at the time you need it so that supports building a good foundation and so that you can see the path ahead.

[Ziltoid]

http://www.bryanrtylermusic.com/chor...ingcharts.html