• Jazz Chord Formulas •

 


Every chord in the standard jazz toolbox! Interval formulas below refer to the chord root’s major scale (e.g. Cmaj7: 1357 = tones 1234567 from the Cmaj scale). Plus a few other nomenclature quirks


BlackLineNARROWER

—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, C7]
(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]

BlackLineNARROWER

—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…

BlackLineNARROWER

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 •

Raag Jog: exploring different ways the electric guitar can support a Dhrupad-ang nomtom (syllabic improvisation)...

(From ‘Around the World in Eight Ragas’: my show with Ashwin Baliga & Marc Clayton at Mehfil Space on 11 Jun 2026) @ashwinbaligaofficial @marc_plays_tabla @mehfilspace

#dhrupad #raga #indianmusic #icm #worldmusic
Raag Kafi: Electric guitar improv around the adha bandish ‘Aaj Khel Shaam Sang Hori’

(From ‘Around the World in Eight Ragas’: my show with Ashwin Baliga & Marc Clayton at Mehfil Space on 11 Jun 2026) @ashwinbaligaofficial @marc_plays_tabla @mehfilspace

#raga #indianmusic #icm #worldmusic #ragaguitar
Raag Jog: some sawal-jawab (‘question-answer’) fun with Marc Clayton on tabla

(From ‘Around the World in Eight Ragas’: my show with Ashwin Baliga & Marc Clayton at Mehfil Space on 11 Jun 2026) @ashwinbaligaofficial @marc_plays_tabla @mehfilspace 

#raga #indianmusic #icm #worldmusic #ragaguitar
Some tintal improv around a wonderful Durga bandish I’ll be playing at @mehfilspace @the_rose_hill in Brighton on Thu 11th June! with vocalist @ashwinbaligaofficial and @marc_plays_tabla

https://therosehill.co.uk/event/the-mehfil-space-presents-around-the-world-in-8-ragas/

‘Around the World in 8 Ragas’: exploring cross-cultural melodic forms (e.g. scales that turn up independently in Japan, India, Mali, etc)

#indianmusic #raga #icm #brightonmusic #ragaguitar
Come see me play some bendy raga-guitar at @mehfilspace @the_rose_hill in Brighton on Thu 11th June! with vocalist @ashwinbaligaofficial and @marc_plays_tabla 

https://therosehill.co.uk/event/the-mehfil-space-presents-around-the-world-in-8-ragas/

‘Around the World in 8 Ragas’: exploring cross-cultural melodic forms (e.g. scales that turn up independently in Japan, India, Mali, etc) - including this piece, a famous Bhairavi bhajan by Pt. Bhimsen Joshi (Jo Bhaje Hari Ko Sada)

#bhajan #raga #indianmusic #brightonmusic #ragaguitar
tomato can jungle/DnB (distracted while cooking)

#drumming #percussion #dnb #jungle
A great Jaunpuri gat from Senia-Shahjahanpur sarod legend Pt Buddhadev DasGupta, full of fast bends and slides (originally released for Joep Bor’s 1997 Raga Guide, in many ways a precursor to my own raga index)

Raag Jaunpuri: a late morning raga, likely originating in the Sultanate-era music of Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh (as per Subodh Agrawal: “The rulers of Jaunpur were keen patrons of the arts, and the last one – Sultan Hussain Sharqi – was himself a distinguished musician; it is probable that the Jaunpuri flavor of Asavari was developed by him, or under his patronage“). Rajan Parrikar elaborates on its “Asavariant” status, noting that some (including Omkarnath Thakur) see it as essentially indistinguishable from Shuddha Re Asavari, while others consider Jaunpuri to follow more ‘rounded’ melodic motions…

#sarod #ragaguitar #stratocaster #worldmusic #jaunpur
just for fun…I had to defend the honour of my main instrument against my second instrument (many thanks to @mountainhead for the original video, as well as some tasty bends) - still no match for the surbahar’s meend range though!

#sitar #guitar #raga #bends #ragaguitar

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!

everything 100% ad-free and open-access