The Chord Cheat Sheet

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Never get stumped over what to play over nearly any chord

Major Triads The major triad is one of the most common sounds in music, so it pays to know how it’s made, how to play it and what you can play over it. Sound – Bright and ‘happy’ Notated simply with the note name. For example: ‘C’ just means C major

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Major Triad Chord Table Root 3rd 5th

C Major C E G Db Major Db F Ab D Major D F# A Eb Major Eb G Bb E Major E G# B F Major F A C

F# Major F# A# C# G Major G B D Ab Major Ab C Eb A Major A C# E

Bb Major Bb D F B Major B D# F#

Use this table to quickly and easily figure out what notes are in what chords.

Minor Triads The minor triad is the other incredibly common sound in Western music. One way of potentially thinking about it is that it’s the same as a major triad, but the 3rd is lowered by one half step. Sound – Dark and ‘sad’ Notated by writing ‘min’ or a minus symbol. For example: ‘Cmin’ or ‘C-‘

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Minor Triads Root 3rd 5th

C Minor C Eb G C# Minor C# E G# D Minor D F A Eb Minor Eb Gb Bb E Minor E G B F Minor F Ab C

F# Minor F# A C# G Minor G Bb D

G# Minor G# B D# A Minor A C E

Bb Minor Bb Db F B Major B D F#

Augmented Triads Augmented triads aren’t particularly common, and they’re created by stacking major 3rd intervals on top of each other. Sound – Unstable and ‘harsh’ Notated by writing a plus symbol after the letter name or writing ‘aug’. For example: ‘C+’ or ‘Caug‘

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Augmented Triads Root 3rd 5th

C Augmented C E G# Db Augmented Db F A D Augmented D F# A# Eb Augmented Eb G B E Augmented E G# C F Augmented F A C#

F# Augmented F# A# D G Augmented G B D# Ab Augmented Ab C E A Augmented A C# F

Bb Augmented Bb D F# B Augmented B D# G

Notice the C, E and Ab augmented triads all have the same notes (even though they may be spelled differently – Ab instead of G# etc.) This is because the augmented chord is ‘symmetrical’. It’s just the same interval repeated over and over again. This means that there’s really only 4 augmented chords instead of 12. The augmented chords that use C, E, G#/Ab, the one that uses Db/C#, F, A, the one that’s made of D, F#, and Bb/A# and finally the Eb/D#, G and B chord.

Diminished Triads You can think of the diminished triad as being like a minor chord, but with a lowered 5th. Again, not super common, but common enough that it pays to know how to play it. Sound – Ominous and really dark Notated by writing a degree symbol after the letter name or writing ‘dim’. For example: ‘C+’ or ‘Cdim ‘

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Diminished Triads Root 3rd 5th

C Diminished C Eb Gb C# Diminished C# E G D Diminished D F Ab Eb Diminished Eb Gb A E Diminished E G Bb F Diminished F Ab B

F# Diminished F# A C G Diminished G Bb Db G# Diminished G# B D A Diminished A C Eb

Bb Diminished Bb Db E B Diminished B D F

4-Note Chords

Once you understand your triads and how they’re put together, you can start to move on to the more ‘advanced’ 4-note chords. Now I say ‘advanced’, but all we’re really talking about is the next logical step to take. These next chords aren’t more advanced than any other chord; they just have more notes than the triads. The triads all have a root, 3rd and 5th. All we have to do to make these next chords is add the next note in the sequence – the 7th. Simple, right? Now there are 2 kinds of 7th – a major 7th and a minor 7th. That means in doing this, we’re going to end up with 8 new 4-note chords. (4 triads x 2 kinds of 7ths) Some of them will be super common, where others will be hardly used at all – and that’s fine. If you know how they’re made and how they’re played, you’ll never have to worry about what to play over any chord ever again. Awesome! Let’s keep going.

Major 7 Chords How they’re made: A major triad with a major 7th. Example: Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour” – lots of major 7 chords in that song. Notated: maj7, Maj7, Ma7, △, △7. Some charts will write M7, but I’d recommend you avoid this as it’s easy to mistake it for a minor 7 How they’re played:

Dominant 7 Chords How they’re made: A major triad with a minor 7th. Example: Any ‘standard’ 12-bar blues uses this chord as it’s base Notated: simply ‘7’. If there’s just a number and nothing else, chances are that it’s a dominant chord – even if it says something like ‘A9’ or ‘A13’, it’s still a dominant chord. The one exception is if you see a chord like ‘A6’. Only if you see a 6 and nothing else is it NOT a dominant chord How they’re played:

Minor-Major 7 Chords How they’re made: A minor triad with a major 7th. Example: Not a very common sound, but check out the last chord of the James Bond theme Notated: Any of the ways of notating minor combined with any of the ways of notating major 7. For example: -maj7, -△7, min△, etc. How they’re played:

Minor 7 Chords How they’re made: A minor triad with a minor 7th. Example: Super common sound, but check out the Doobie Brothers’ ‘Long Train Running’ Notated: m7, min7, -7 How they’re played:

Maj7#5 Chords How they’re made: An augmented triad with a major 7th. Example: This is not a common sound at all. If you can think of a specific example, let me know. Notated: maj7#5, Maj7+, △, △7(#5) – This is a very specific sound so if you ever do come across it, it should be pretty obvious. How they’re played:

Dominant 7 #5 Chords How they’re made: An augmented triad with a minor 7th. Example: Again, not a super common sound, but check out the first chord of the bridge of the jazz standard ‘Stella By Starlight’ Notated: +7, 7#5, 7(#5) How they’re played:

Minor 7 Flat 5 Chords How they’re made: A diminished triad with a minor 7th. These are also called ‘half-diminished’ chords because of their use of the diminished triad. Example: This sound usually comes as a package deal with a dominant chord that’s a 4th above. For example, a Dm7b5 chord would usually be paired with some kind of G7 chord. Check out Eric Clapton’s ‘Change The World’. In the chorus, during the line ‘I could be the sunlight…’ it’s one of these chords. Notated: m7b5, -7b5, min7(b5), 7#5, 7(#5),Ø, Ø7 or very occasionally ‘half-dim’ How they’re played:

Diminished 7 Chords How they’re made: A diminished triad with a diminished 7th. This means one fret DOWN from the minor 7th. These are also called ‘fully-diminished’ chords. Example: This is a very unstable chord type, has a ‘creepy’ quality to it and is often interchangeable with the diminished triad. It’s a ‘symmetrical’ chord and is built entirely on minor 3rds. Notated: °7, dim7, ° How they’re played:

Scale Catalogue

Use this scale catalogue to connect your chords with your scales. If you come across a chord that you’re not sure about, just come back to this catalogue and see what your options are. NOTE: The scales here are simply suggestions. Music is very context-dependent. Even when you have the same exact chord, the ‘correct’ scale can be different. For example, if you’re in the key of G and come across an E minor chord, then an E Aeolian scale would be a good choice, but if you’re in the key of C and come across the same E minor chord, an E Phrygian would probably be a better choice. If you come across a chord and you’re not 100% sure which scale to use, try all the suggestions and see which one feels the most natural. Major Triad/Major 7 – The major scale (Ionian) or Lydian mode. The major pentatonic would work really well too. Minor Triad/Minor 7– The natural minor scale (Aeolian), Dorian or Phrygian. You could also try the minor pentatonic scale. Dominant 7 – Mixolydian mode. If you’re playing a blues, you can also experiment with the major AND minor pentatonic and blues scales.

Half-Diminished/Minor 7 flat 5 – Locrian Minor Major 7 – Melodic Minor or Harmonic Minor Diminished Triad/Dim7 – Very context-dependent, but the ‘Whole-Half’ diminished scale is a good starting point Dom7#5 – Try the whole tone scale first, but again, very context-dependent Maj7#5 – Not a very common sound, but try the Lydian #5 scale; the 3rd mode of your ascending melodic minor

Like I said, just use this catalogue as a starting point. Scale types don’t always work over specific chords, even if it seems like they should, so always be using your ear and do your best to make good choices. As always, if you have any questions, just let me know – I’m always happy to help. Cheers, Luke