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• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •Writing Chord Names• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Knowing how to read and write chord names is an easy yet invaluable skill. Chords
are often written in a kind of shorthand that makes them instantly recognizable (and
gives you the freedom to play them with the voicing or inversion that you prefer).
Once you understand the basic principles of harmony and chords, it’s very simple to
use this shorthand to write out the chords of a song.
First, write the root note of the chord in an uppercase letter. If you need to specify
sharp or flat, indicate that to the right of the root. The chord type should be indicated
to the right as well. Examples for the key of C are shown below.
One important point: Chords are made up of notes “stacked” on top of each other,
and the stacked notes are indicated in the chord name of the chord type as a number
— the number being the distance of the note from the root. (See the keyboard dia-
gram below.) For example, the minor 6th chord includes the 6th note of the scale, the
major 7th chord has the 7th note of the scale, etc.
The Intervals of the Scale
To better understand the intervals and
the numbers used to represent them in
the chord name, study this diagram of
the C major scale:
Other Chords
Major chord
CMinor chord
CmAugmented chord
Caug Diminished chord
Cdim
For simple major chords, the type is omitted.
CDEFGABCDE F
Root
2nd
4th
3rd 5th
7th
6th Octave
11th
9th
Dominant 7th (flatted 7th)
Csus4
5th 4th
C7
Dominant
7th Major chord
Cm7
Dominant
7th Minor chord
CM7
7th Major chord
Cm7bb
bb5
Dominant
7th Diminished
chord
Cm6
Minor
chord 6th
C(9)
9th
* Bbb = A
Cdim7
Diminished 7th
(double flatted
7th)
Diminished
chord