• Jazz Chord Formulas •

 


Every chord in the standard jazz toolbox! Interval formulas below refer to the chord root’s major scale (e.g. Cmaj7: 1–3–5–7 = tones 1–2–3–4–5–6–7 from the Cmaj scale). Plus a few other nomenclature quirks…


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—Interval Formulas—


• Power: 1-5 [C5]
• Major: 1-3-5 [C, Cmaj]
• Minor: 1-b3-5 [Cm, Cmin]
• Diminished: 1-b3-b5 [Cdim, C°]
• Augmented: 1-3-#5 [C+, Caug]
• Sus. 2nd: 1-2-5 [Csus2]
• Sus. 4th: 1-4-5 [Csus4]

• Major 7th: 1-3-5-7 [Cmaj7, C▵7]
• (Dominant) 7th: 1-3-5-b7 [C7]
• Minor 7th: 1-b3-5-b7 [Cm7, C–7]
• Half-Dim. 7th: 1-b3-b5-b7 [Cm7b5, Cø7]
• Dim. 7th: 1-b3-b5-bb7 [Cdim7, C°7]
• Aug. 7th: 1-3-#5-b7 [Caug7, C+7, C7#5]
• Min-Maj. 7th: 1-b3-5-7 [Cm(maj7)]
• Dim-Maj. 7th: 1-b3-b5-7 [Cdim(maj7)]
• (Major) 6th: 1-3-5-6 [C6, Cmaj6]
• Minor 6th: 1-b3-5-6 [Cm6, Cmin6]
• Add 9th: 1-3-5-9 [Cadd9, Cadd2]
• Add 11th: 1-3-5-11 [Cadd11, Cadd4]

• Major 9th: 1-3-5-7-9 [Cmaj9]
• (Dom.) 9th: 1-3-5-b7-9 [C9]
• Minor 9th: 1-b3-5-b7-9 [Cm9]
• 6th/9th: 1-3-5-6-9 [C6/9, C6add9]

• Major 11th: 1-3-5-7-9-11 [Cmaj11]
• (Dom.) 11th: 1-3-5-b7-9-11 [C11]
• Minor 11th: 1-b3-5-b7-9-11 [Cm11]

• Major 13th: 1-3-5-7-9-11-13 [Cmaj13]
• (Dom.) 13th: 1-3-5-b7-9-11-13 [C13]
• Minor 13th: 1-b3-5-b7-9-11-13 [Cm13]

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—Chordal Quirks—


• Bespoke names: virtually all other chords can be deduced via the info above, e.g. ‘C7#9(no5)‘ has no 5th, ‘C6(b9)‘ just adds a b9 to a Cmaj6, etc. Rare exceptions include compound ‘polychords’, which are written as their ‘sum’ – e.g. ‘Cmaj + Emaj‘ (C-E-G-E-G#-B) is much clearer than ‘G#aug(#9)/C‘, although they both mean the same thing [also check this lookup site]

• Inversions: chords where the root isn’t the lowest-pitched tone – notated like ‘D/F#‘ with the lowest tone after the slash (often, this note is ‘ignored’ in naming the rest of the chord, e.g. ‘Am/G‘: an Am triad doesn’t contain a G, but the pre-slash part isn’t renamed to reflect its presence)

• Altered dominants: any dominant 7th with an ‘altered’ upper extension, i.e. 1-3-5-b7 plus a 9/11/13 which is ‘altered’ by an accidental – which in practice is limited to the enharmonics of b9/#9/#11/b13 (e.g. C7b9, C7#9(b13)). Alt chords can often be treated interchangeably, in part due to their tritonal overlaps (i.e. try playing any in the place of any other…)

• Omitting tones: often, playing all notes of a complex chord isn’t practical (e.g. a guitar’s 6 strings can’t play all 7 notes in a 13th chord) – therefore, tones tend to be omitted as per a rough hierarchy: usually the 5th is the first one to go, often followed by the root – and the most important tones to keep are the 3rd, 7th, plus any extensions which are specified in the name

• Nicknames: many chords also have special names, often referring to specific voicings rather than generalised formulas – e.g. the ‘Hendrix chord‘ (1-3-b7-#9), Scriabin’s ‘Mystic chord‘ (1-3-b7-9-#11-13), Strauss’ ‘Elektra chord‘ (Emaj + C#maj), Stravinsky’s ‘Petrushka chord‘ (Cmaj + F#maj), La Monte Young’s ‘Dream chord‘ (1-4-5-#11), Schoenberg’s ‘Farben chord‘ (1-3-6-7-b13) and ‘Napoleon chord‘ (1-3-6-b9-11-b13). See Keith Horn’s excellent Chord of the Week series for more examples…

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A few general learning principles:

  • Listen to lots of different music: feed the brain with good sounds
  • Train the ear: this gives you the ‘toolbox’ to teach yourself any style
  • ‘Sing inside’ as you play: music is about emotions, not finger muscles
  • Experiment freely: constantly create your own patterns & variations
  • Enjoy it! Find fun in improvement…then mastery is no struggle

• ‘Guitaragas’ | My Music •

Multi-step meend in Raag Bageshri: some riyaz improv in one of my all-time favourite ragas

#raga #jazzguitar #indianmusic #icm #londonmusic
E8 Boogie (Squarepusher): @sqpusher did I get them right? Tried to work out guitar voicings for this curious chord sequence in E8 Boogie (...originally at the request of a student!)

Original: Squarepusher/Tom Jenkinson (from 1997’s Hard Normal Daddy)

#jungle #jazzguitar #warprecords #idm #dnb @warprecords
Raag Jaiwanti Todi (SrgmPDnS): An Ahiri-prakriti raga introduced by Maharaja Jaiwant Singh Waghela (1904-1980): the hereditary ruler of Sanand who gained wide renown as a spiritual teacher, vocal educator, and generous patron of the nascent Mewati gharana (also the creator of Gyankali and other ragas). Sung here by his student Pandit Jasraj - a bandish I’ve always loved, especially the ferocious taan and colourful harmonium accompaniment...

—Original: Pandit Jasraj (khayal); Appa Jalgaonkar (harmonium); Nizamuddin Khan? (tabla)

#raga #khayal #indianmusic #worldmusic #icm
Raag Prabhateshwari (SrgmPDnS): A mysterious raga created by Hariprasad Chaurasia, played here by his nephew Rakesh - resembling a blend of the morning Ahir Bhairav and the late night Bageshri. I was inspired to learn the raga when researching Maa Annapurna Devi’s time teaching Hariprasad (many thanks to my crack team of experts including Rupak Kulkarni, Alam Khan, George Ruckert, Suresh Vyas, Anindya Banerjee, and Gopi Shanker, who all gave valuable assistance in illuminating the raga’s origins)

—Original: Rakesh Chaurasia (bansuri), live at Darbar 2008 @chaurasia_rakesh @darbarfestival 

#raga #darbarfestival #indianmusic #bansuri #worldmusic

George Howlett is a London-based musician and writer. I play guitar, tabla, sitar, & santoor, focusing on raga, jazz, and global improvisation. Above all I seek to enthuse fellow sonic searchers, connecting fresh vibrations to the human voices, cultures, and passions behind them.

• Join my PATREON! •

Recently I’ve worked long-term for Darbar, Guitar World, and Ragatip, and published research into tuning and Coltrane’s raga notes. I’ve written for Jazzwise, JazzFM, and The Wire, and also record, perform, and teach in local schools. Site menu above, follow below, & get in touch here!

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