Question from a newbi guitarist.

seany65

@Dace, Welcome to the forum.

I am learning the C Major scale, both in single notes and chords. As you know, the C major scale is C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. What I've done is to get a list of chords which are from the set of 'correct' ones for this scale. These Chords are : CM, Dm, Em, FM, G6, Am, Bm7b5, Cadd9. With M=Major and m=minor.  I chose these chords as they are easier to play than some of the other 'correct' chords. The info I'm using is in 'Progressive guitar chords' by Gary Turner and Brenton White. on page 153 they give a table of chords that can be substituted :

For Major chords you can use : M6, M6/9, Madd9, Maj7, Maj9, Maj11, Maj13, Maj7#9, sus (which is 'suspended' and has the 1, 4, 5 notes instead of 1,3,5).

For minor chords you can use : m6, m7, m6/9, m9, m11, m13, minor(Major7), m7b5, m9b5.

Generally speaking, if the song is in C major, then the rhythm will be using chords in the C Major scale, so all you do is use notes of the C Major scale. You'll have to decide what notes of the C Major scale to play during your lead. This will depend on where you want to go with your lead/solos, and on what chords the rhythm player is using at the time that you want to play any particular notes.

Phil_aka_Pip

'M' is an abomination. The triad that forms the 1st 3 notes of the chord is major unless otherwise specified. You only need 'm' or '-' to indicate minor. 'M' is too easily mistaken for 'm' in handwriting, and is at best a distraction on a chord chart. Use Cmaj7 or the little triangle which I don't seem to be able to get on this keyboard, but NEVER 'M'. 

edited for spelling

seany65

I used the 'M' to indicate, to a newbie guitarist, what type of chord was meant by '6' etc.

I'm not convinced your tone was completely necassary.

Phil_aka_Pip

seany65 said:

I used the 'M' to indicate, to a newbie guitarist, what type of chord was meant by '6' etc.

I'm not convinced your tone was completely necassary.

It wasn't intended as flame or put-down. Just a firm assertion. No hostility intended

edit I do think it's important to not lead newbies astray

GuyBoden

Phil_aka_Pip said:

You can use chords made up of any notes from the C major scale (and a few others once you've sussed how to use them). For each note of the C maj scale, create a triad with that note as its root:

CEG
DFA
EGB (edit: might as well have them in the right order, eh?)

... etc I'll let you do the rest, you just pick every other note

When you add an extra note to those stacks of 3 you get "seventh" chords. Again you pick one miss one pick one miss one etc:

CEGB
DFAC
EGBD

Next, classify the triads you get, your ears will tell you which are major and which are minor. The last one is called diminished, it's the odd one out.

You should get major triads on scale notes C F G, minor triads on D E A.

Next you need to not get confused over the nomenclature. You can have "major seventh intervals" and "major seventh chords". The "interval" is just the pitch difference between a pair of notes, it uses inclusive counting, and is always referenced to the form of the major scale. EG a major Third is like from C to E - 3 note names, two whole tones, 4 frets up the same string. a Minor Third is like from E to G, one tone plus one semitone, 3 frets up the same string.

The seventh chords you get from harmonising C major are the triads (R 3 5) plus an extra note, the 7. The 7th note of the C maj scale is B, it's a maj 7th interval away from the C below it (ie just 1 semitone short of a complete octave (11 frets not 12). When you add the 7th note to each of the other triads, you will notice that it is 2 frets short of a complete octave (eg D ... C). When you lop off a semitone from a major interval it becomes minor. You will notice that you get minor 7th chords on the D,E A notes (ie scale notes 2,3,6). On the 5th degree (this note within the scale is known as its dominant - there are names for other scale degrees also), you had a maj triad, and you get a minor 7th on top. That's G7 (not G maj7, G-7, just G7).

Work it out on paper, you should get maj7 chords on C & F (scale degrees 1&4) , minor 7ths as previously noted, the dominant 7th on scale degree 5, and the half-diminished chord (aka minor seventh flat 5) on the 7th degree.

That's the whistle-stop tour. Feel free to ask questions if you get stuck. There's quite a few people here who are good with scale harmony. And have fun

@Phil_aka_Pip Well done for adding clarity and logic.

Phil_aka_Pip

@GuyBoden Thank you for those kind words