The Theory of Musical Chords for Melodic Instruments

Musical chords are the basis of harmony in music. Guitar and piano players are very familiar with chords, because they are able to play several notes at the same time and the good sounding combinations of notes are chords. But musicians who play melodic instruments such as the clarinet, saxophone or flute should also become familiar with the sounds of the basic chords and become facile at playing them.

When the notes of a chord are played in a sequence, it is called an arpeggio. If a guitar or piano is playing a chord, if a flautist plays the chord as an arpeggio, all of the notes will fit. This article will explain the theory of how to build chords and what your ear should learn to detect as the differences between chords.

To make it simple, we will use a C scale which has no sharps or flats. We will number the notes of this scale 1 through 7. This will be the basis of C chords. To build D chords, simply move the numbers so that 1 is D, 2 is E, and so forth for the D scale. The picture at the top of this article has the C scale and several chords written out, which may be useful in understanding how this works.

Chords which are triads, or simple chords, consist of three notes. Chords of four notes are usually called 7^th chords because they include the 7^th note of the scale. A major chord is built from the notes numbered 1, 3 and 5, which is C, E, and G for a C Major chord. A C Major chord is simply called a C chord. A D chord would be notes 1, 3 and 5 from the D scale, or D, F^#, and A. If the note 7 is added to a C chord, it would be called a C Major 7^th or CM7 (the capital M is for Major)^. The chord written C7 with no M in the middle is the C Dominant 7^th chord. It has a lowered 7^th note, or 1, 3, 5, and ^b7 (or C, E, G, B^b).

A minor chord will have the third note lowered or flatted. A C minor chord (written C- or Cm, a small m for minor) will be steps 1, ^b3 and 5 or C, Eb and G. If you play an arpeggio of the C (C, E, G) and Cm (C, E^b, G), the sound of the chords will be quite different. If you build a Dm chord, it would be D, F (Natural), and A. The key of D has an F^#, but it would be lowered for a minor chord. When adding a 7^th to a minor chord to make a minor 7^th chord, a lowered 7^th note is used. A minor 7^th chord is 1, ^b3, 5, and ^b7. So a Cm7 chord would be C, E^b, G, and B^b.

If a chord is build with a lowered 3 and a lowered 5 that is a diminished chord or C, Eb, Gb for Cdim. If a seventh is added, it is lowered twice, so the 7^th note of B is lowered to Bb then to A. A Cdim7 is C, E^b, G^b, A (sometimes written as C, E^b, F^#, A because the G^b is hard to remember).

To learn the difference in sounds between the types of chords, it is good to play them all in the key of C as we have just explained. But they are not used this way in music. Another way of looking at chords is to say "What chords are in the key of C?" Using the notes of the C scale, a chord built by using every other note above the C gives a CM7 of C, E, G, and B. But building on D in the key of C gives D, F, A, C which is a Dm7 chord because the key of D has both an F^# and a C^#, but here those notes are naturals instead of sharps. The next chord on the scale of C is an Em7, followed by an FM7, a G7, an Am7, and a Bdim. Notice that the G7 is not a Major chord but a Dominant chord, the G7 will be the most noticeable chord in the C scale.

If you have not played chords before, I suggest practicing the simple Major chords first, then the minor, and then learn the Dominant 7^th chords. These three are the most commonly used. The picture shows all of these chords written out as whole notes above each other. You should practice them as arpeggios for the whole range of your instrument. One way to practice them is shown at the bottom of the page. The example using the A chord should be modified for your own instrumental range, this example is good for the Saxophone. A flautist could extend the exercise to a high A, while a clarinetist would extend the range downward to the low E.