Chord Directory - 1
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(Almost) all the chord symbols you'll ever need. There'll always be more but all 'standard' chords should be derivable from these...
1-note C pedal
&w
[R]
2-note C5
C(b5)
[R, 5]
& ww
bww
[R,♭5]
3-note (triads) C
& ww
[R, 3, 5]
C‹
(major, maj)
bww
[R, ♭3, 5]
C&
(minor, min, -)
#ww
[R, 3, ♯5]
Cº
(aug, #5)
bbww
[R, ♭3, ♭5]
(diminished, dim)
3-note (sus chords) C(“4)
& ww
[R, 4, 5]
C(“2)
[R, 2, 5]
www
(sus)
4-note (7th chords) CŒ„Š7
& ww
[R, 3, 5, 7]
C7
bww
[R, 3, 5, ♭7]
C‹7
bbww
[R, ♭3, 5, ♭7]
C‹7(b5)
[R, ♭3, ♭5, 7]
bbbww
C‹(Œ„Š7) [R, b3, 5, 7] CŒ„Š7(b5) [R, 3, ♭5, 7] CŒ„Š7(#5) [R, 3, #5, 7] C7(b5)
& bww
bww
#ww
Cº7
bbww
[R, ♭3, ♭5, ♭♭7]
bb ww ∫
[R, 3, ♭5, ♭7]
C7(#5)
#bww
[R, 3, #5, ♭7]
2
Chord Directory - 2
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4-note (6th chords) C6
C‹6
[R, 3, 5, 6]
& www
C(b6)
[R, ♭3, 5, 6]
bwww
C‹(b6)
[R, 3, 5, ♭6]
bwww
[R, ♭3, 5, ♭6]
bbwww
4-note (add and sus chords)
C(„ˆˆ9)
[R, 3, 5, 9]
& www
C‹(„ˆˆ9)
[R, ♭3, 5, 9]
C 7 ( “4 )
[R, 4, 5, ♭7]
bwwww
bwww
5-note (9th chords)
CŒ„Š9
& www
C7(b9)
& bbwww
C‹9
[R, 3, 5, 7, 9]
[R, 3, 5, ♭7, ♭9]
bb www C7(#9)
b#www C%
& wwww
[R, ♭3, 5, 7, 9]
[R, 3, 5, ♭7, #9]
[R, 3, 5, 6, 9]
C(“9)
bwwww C‹%
wbww w
C9
bwww [R, 4, 5, ♭7, 9]
[R, ♭3, 5, 6, 9]
[R, 3, 5, ♭7, 9]
C(“4b9)
bbwwww
[R, 4, 5, ♭7, ♭9]
3
6-note (11th chords)
Technically 11th chords include a root, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th. But '11' is also used to mean a 7th chord with an added 11th and no 9th (sometimes called 7add11) In addition, C11 is sometimes used as an (incorrect) shorthand for C9sus (R, 4, 5, ♭7, 9, ♭11) which has no 3rd. So the 'rare' 3rds ar bracketed below. The only common 'real' 11 chord is a min11 chord. #11 chords, however are often found.
CŒ„Š11
C11
C‹11
C‹11(b5)
bwww
bb www
bbb www
C9(“4)
Csus11 [R, (3), (3), 5, 7, 9, 11] 11] [R, (3), (3), 5, ♭7, 9, 11] [R, [R, ♭3, 5, ♭7, 9, 11] [R, ♭3, ♭5, ♭7, (9), 11] [R, (4), 5, ♭7, 9, 11] (a 5-note chord)
w & ww
CŒ„Š7(#11)
# w & ww
[R, 3, 5, 7, 9, #11]
C‹7(#11)
C7(#11)
b#www
[R, 3, 5, ♭7, 9, #11]
bwwww
C‹(Œ„Š7#11)
bb#www
[R, ♭3, 5, ♭7, 9, #11]
#b ww w
[R, ♭3, 5, 7, 9, #11]
The most common the above are Cm11, Csus11, Cmaj7(#11) and C7(#11) The latter two are often p layed without 5ths
7-note (13th chords) 13th chords technically contain root, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th (all 7 notes). However the 11th, unless on a min13 chord is very rarely intended, the 9th often (but not always) is, and unless indicated otherwise, as a natural 9th (D on a C13). Often a 13th chord just implies root, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 13th (ie C7add13) unless other degrees are stated (eg. C7(b9/13). Some but not all 13th chords are listed below, although you should be able to derive most from those below.
CŒ„Š13
ww & ww
CŒ„Š13(#11)
#www w
C13
wbw ww
C13(#11)
#b www w
[R, 3, 5, 7, 9, (11), 13][R, 3, 5, 7, 9, #11, 13] [R, 3, 5, ♭7, 9, (11), 13][R, 3, 5, ♭7, 9, #11, 13]
C13(b9)
C13(#9)
C7[áÆ]
C9(b13)
C7[äÆ]
[R, 3, 5, ♭7, ♭9, (11), 13] [R, 3, 5, ♭7, 9, (11), ♭13] [R, 3, 5, ♭7, ♭9, (11), 13] [R, 3, 5, ♭7, ♭9, (11), ♭13] [R, 3, 5, ♭7, #9, (11), ♭13]
w b & b www
#b www w
bbbww ww
bbww ww
bb#ww ww
7-note (Altered) [R, 3, ♭5, ♭7, ♭9, #9, ♭13]
bb bwww # & b ww
½ C7
An altered dominant (alt.) chord includes a root, 3rd and ♭7 and any number (or all) extensions from an altered scale. (ie. ♭9,#9, #11/♭5, ♭13)