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Guitar Chord Variations: Major


The fundamental major and minor chords can be varied to produce more exotic variations. These generally involve adding one or more notes to the root, third and fifth notes that make up the fundamental chord. In fact, the name of the variant chord is usually the name of the chord with the name of the additional note added - for example, G7 (pronounced "G seventh") or G6 ("G sixth").

Major Chord Variations

First form

The first form chords are shown at the third fret, making these G chords. Note however that the patterns can be played at any position on the fretboard to form any other chord - A, B, F, etc.

<-- Peghead                                    Body -->

G (G Major)




GM7 (G Major Seventh)

          or                    or        


G7 (G Seventh)

          or         

GM6 (G Major Sixth)

                                         or                                              



G4 (G Fourth) or Gsusp (G Suspended)




G9 (G Ninth)




G7-9 (G Seventh-Ninth)





Discussion of the patterns

The chord patterns for each of the chord variations have been arranged in columns that help to show exactly what is varied.

In the first column, each chord variation is formed by adding a note to the fundamental major chord. Of course, since we (most of us) have only 4 fingers to work with, this means one of the notes in the original chord gets left out; but that's OK, since the notes in the original chord are repeated in different octaves (there are three notes in each chord and six strings, so at least some of the notes are repeated).

In the second column, the extra note is added by "flating" the root note on the fourth string - i.e., by moving this note down one or more frets.

The third column gives a pattern that is a "variant" form, using only four of the strings  and not really being a true "bar" chord since there's no "bar" across the strings - the notes on the four strings are fingered individually.

In the major-seventh chord, the note added is the 7th note of the major scale, which is the note just before the root note, one fret down. In the first column, this note is added on the second string; in the second column, this note is added on the fourth string by moving the root note that was on that string down one fret. The pattern in the third column is just the pattern in the second column with only four of the strings used.

The seventh chord is interesting, in that it's just like the major-seventh chord except that it adds the note that's 2 frets down from the root note of the chord. This is actually not one of the notes in the true major scale - it's instead the flatted seventh note, which is used in the "***" major scale. This scale is just like the major scale, only uses the flatted seventh note. This scale is frequently used in blues and rock because the flatted seventh gives the scale an "edgier" feel. The seventh chord similarly has a "darker" feel than the major-seventh chord, which is somewhat "brighter". This chord should probably have been called the "major-flatted-seventh" chord, but for convenience it's just called the seventh chord, without the "major" or "flatted". Note that there's a big difference in sound between the major-seventh and seventh chords.

The major-sixth chord similarly just adds the sixth note of the scale to the major chord. This chord is often used in conjunction with the fundamental major chord and major-seventh chord; the major / major-seventh / major-sixth / major-seventh / major-sixth progression is a standard jazz progression.

The fourth chord just adds - you guessed it - the fouth note in the scale. This note is one fret above the third note, which coincidentally occurs on the third string in this form; thus the pattern illustrated just moves the note on the third string up one fret. This chord is also called G suspended, because it has an incomplete or "suspended" feel to it - when you hear this chord, you want to hear the straight major chord after it to finish the progression.

The two ninth chords add the ninth note in the scale. Well, since the scale repeats after 8 notes, it amounts to adding the second note in the scale. The straight ninth chord adds the ninth note to the straight major chord, while the seventh-ninth chord adds the ninth to the seventh chord.

These same chord variations can be played in the other fundamental forms, too.


Second form

The second form chords are shown at the third fret, making these C chords. Note, however, that as with the first form chords, the patterns can be played at any position on the fretboard to form any other chord - A, B, F, etc.

C (C Major)

          or         


CM7 (C Major Seventh)

          or         


C7 (C Seventh)

          or         

CM6 (C Major Sixth)



C4 (C Fourth) or Csusp (C Suspended)




C9 (C Ninth)




CM7-9 (C Major Seventh-Ninth)




C7-9 (C Seventh-Ninth)





Discussion of the patterns

As in the chords of the first pattern, each chord variation adds one or more notes from the scale to the fundamental major chord. In the first column, this is accomplished by modifying one of the notes in the major chord pattern; in the second column, the extra note is added.

Note also that there's one extra chord here, the major-seventh-ninth chord, which is formed by adding the ninth note to the major seventh.



Third form

The third form chords are shown at the fourth fret, making these E chords. Note however that the patterns can be played at any position on the fretboard to form any other chord - A, B, F, etc.

E (E Major)




EM7 (E Major Seventh)

          or         


E7 (E Seventh)



EM6 (E Major Sixth)




E4 (E Fourth) or Esusp (E Suspended)




E9 (E Ninth)




EM7-9 (E Major-Seventh-Ninth)





Discussion of the patterns

Same deal as before - the chords are all variations on the fundamental form, with one or two notes added. Note the lame suspended chord, which uses only 3 strings...


      
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