Extended Chord Formulas

Below are some common extended chords. Their

usefulness varies by style. Jazz musicians often start
with the seventh chords, and add the extended chords
over time. Blues musicians often learn the dominant 9
chord right away. Meanwhile, Rock and Pop styles use
them occasionally, but you can go a long time without
learning them.
You will notice that the extended chords build upon the
seventh chords in the same way that the seventh chords
built upon the triads. Because we’re building upon the
previous chords, we are ascending in order. Therefore, we
start to use the “extended” names of 9th, 11th, and 13th
instead of 2nd, 4th, and 6th.
You will notice that the dominant 13 chord has 7 notes
when the guitar only has 6 strings. Some notes will be
omitted when you play this chord by yourself, but another
band member may play the notes that you omit.

Chord Formula Interval Audio

Formula

Major 9 1-3-5-7-9 Root-M3-P5- Coming

M7-M9 Soon

Dominant 9 1-3-5-♭7-9 Root-M3-P5- Coming

m7-M9 Soon

Dominant 11 1-3-5-♭7-9-11 Root-M3-P5- Coming

m7-M9-P11 Soon

Dominant 13 1-3-5-♭7-9- Root-M3-P5- Coming

11-13 m7-M9-M13 Soon

Quick Review
▪ I promised a practical approach to chord construction…
we’re not there yet!
▪ There are three main types of chords: triads, seventh
 chords, and extended chords.
▪ You can form a chord by using a formula based on the
major scale or on intervals.
▪ Chords are built on thirds (we’ll come back to this later).

Easy Ways to Remember Chord

Formulas
This is where the practical approach begins. Let’s start
with some common observations.
Three Observations
▪ All chords except the suspended chords contain a root,
third, and fifth. Suspended chords replace the third
with a 2nd or 4th.
▪ Chords skip notes. In other words, 1 (skip 2) 3 (skip
4) , 5, (skip 6), 7, etc. In notes: C, (skip D), E, (skip F),
G, (skip A), B. So the notes are C, E, G, B (for C Maj 7)
▪ I omitted power chords because they only contain two
notes, the root and perfect fifth. The C power chord
is notated as C5 and contains the notes C and G.
7 Rules to Derive the Chord Formulas
These rules are useful because they tell you the important
notes for each chord quality! You can also form almost
any chord with these rules.
How Chord Names Relate to 3rds, 5ths,
and 7ths
▪ Major and dominant chords all have a major third (3)
▪ Minor and diminished chords all have a minor third (♭3)
▪ Major 7 chords have a major seventh (7)
▪ Minor 7 and dominant chords have a minor seventh (♭7)
[in addition to the minor third (♭3)]
▪ Diminished chords have a diminished fifth (♭5) [in
addition to the minor third (♭3)]
▪ Augmented chords have an augmented fifth (♯5)
▪ Suspended chords replace the third with a major second
(2) or perfect fourth (4)
7 Rules in Table Format
Chord 3rd 5th 7th

Major & Dominant 3

Minor ♭3

Major 7 7

Minor 7 & Dominant ♭7

7

Diminished ♭3 ♭5

Augmented 3 ♯5

Sus2 2

Sus4 4
Tip: Jazz musicians often focus on the 3rd and 7th of the
chord. They are important chord tones that you can
highlight when improvising.
Chord Modifiers
The chord formulas above cover many of the chords you’ll
need to know. The following modifier rules will help you
modify them to learn almost all the rest.
▪ Add chords – These are chords that simply add a note.
For example, a Cadd9 chord is a C Major chord with
an added 9th (D). Because it doesn’t have a seventh,
it is not a ninth chord. For 9th chords, you need the
entire sequence of root, third, fifth, seventh, ninth.
▪ Omit chords – These chords simply omit a note from the
chord. Chords are often played with omitted notes,
but it is rarely specified. When it is, the composer is
stressing the need to omit that note.
▪ Modified Notes – You may run into chords with a
modified note. Some examples include minor7♭5,
which is pronounced minor seven flat five. It is
 simply a minor7 chord with a flatted fifth. Another
example, is a modified add chord like the dominant7♯9
chord. It is simply a dominant 7 chord with an added
and sharped 9th. E7♯9 or E7(♯9) is sometimes called
the Hendrix chord.
Quick Review 2
Before the REALLY practical part of this lesson, let’s
review.
▪ Chords are generally constructed in thirds, which skip
every other note.
▪ There are some easy rules that help musicians construct
and think of the chord’s harmony.
▪ The 3rd and 7th are important chord tones.
▪ Added, omitted, or modified notes can be specified in the
chord’s name.
Practical Chord
Construction Secrets
At this point, some teachers would instruct you to
memorize several chords or stop here and let you learn
chords as you need them to play a song. Neither approach
is wrong, but they don’t give you intuition or simplified
rules to improve your playing. In this section, I will reveal
some simple rules that teach you how most guitar chords
are constructed. It will help you think faster and play
thoughtfully with specific notes in mind.