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Extended Chords
Extended chords are guitar chords that are built upon triads (basic chords consisting of three notes).For example, if we add the 7th note from the major scale to a major triad (1st, 3rd and 5th note of a major scale) we get a major 7th chord. So if we added a B note to a C chord (1, 3 and 5 or C, E, G) we would get a C major 7 chord (Cmaj7) which would consist of the notes C, E, G, B or the 1, 3, 5, 7 notes of the C major scale.
Here are some common formulas for extended chords:
- 6th chord: 1, 3, 5, 6 – e.g. C6 = C, E, G, A
- minor 6th chord: 1, b3, 5, 6 Cm6 =C. Eb, G, A
- 7th chord: 1, 3, 5, b7 – e.g. C7 = C, E, G, Bb
- maj 7th chord: 1, 3, 5, 7 – e.g. Cmaj7 = C, E, G, B
- 9th chord: 1, 3, 5, b7, 9 – e.g. C7 = C, E, G, Bb, D
- 11th chord: 1, 3, 5, b7, 9, 11 – e.g. C7 = C, E, G, Bb, D, F
- 13th chord: 1, 3, 5, b7, 9, 11, 13 – e.g. C7 = C, E, G, Bb, D, F, E
- minor 7th chord: 1, b3, 5, b7 – e.g. C6 = C, Eb, G, Bb
- diminished 7th chord: 1, b3, b5, bb7 (diminished triad with a diminished 7th)
- half diminished chord: same as a diminished 7th but with a minor 7 (also know as a minor 7b5 chord)
Altered Chords
We can also take any of the above chords and alter one or more notes. This is called an altered chord. A commonly used altered chord is the 7#9 chord. In this case, we take a 9th chord and raise (sharp) the 9th.
C7#9: 1, 3, 5, b7, #9 – e.g. C7#9 = C, E, G, Bb, D#
