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As explained in the first article of this series “Playing The Right Notes” chord tones are the building blocks of all music. In this article we’ll learn how they are made in just three easy steps.

Without further ado I bring you the three steps to spelling any chord (and consequently -spelling its chord tones):

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STEP 1:

Spell chord tertially (in thirds) from root.

STEP 2:

Apply key signature to create a Major 7th chord (1, 3, 5, 7).

STEP 3:

Apply chord formula.

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An Explanation:

Now that you have seen the steps I’ll break down each one and thoroughly explain just what I mean by each.

(1.) Spell chord tertially from root:

Let’s start by defining some terms.

Root: The root is the fundamental pitch in a given chord. You may also hear it referred to as “the key,” or as “one.” Most often the root of a chord is stated very bluntly in the name of the chord.

Example:
In the chord Am7 the root is A. In the chord D7 the root is D. In the chord Bb-7b5(b9) the root is Bb.

Tertially: (As taken from the Berklee College of Music Dictionary of Obscure Musical Terminology). Tertial is based on the root ‘ter’, meaning three. Thus tertially is a fancy way of saying in thirds.

If this sounds complex fear not, as you are probably more familiar with this concept’s application then you might have originally thought. Every time you count in odd numbers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9…) you are counting tertially.

So when someone says “Spell chord tertially from root” what they are actually saying is:

Spell up the chord skipping every other letter beginning with the fundamental pitch of the chord.
Meaning if you can count in odd numbers, you can spell a chord.

Examples:

C seventh chord spelled tertially from root = C E G B
A seventh chord spelled tershially from root = A C E G
D seventh chord spelled tertially from root = D F A C

Please Note: In this first step we are simply trying to establish a base on which to build our chord. At this point we don’t care about whether intervals are major or minor, we just want them to be some basic form of “1, 3, 5, 7″ (a.k.a. root, 3rd, 5th, and 7th).

If you’d like to learn more about intervals check out our lesson creatively titled “Intervals”

Why do we care about thirds? Check out our lesson “Chord Fundamentals” to learn more.

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(2.) Apply key signature to create a Major 7th chord.
A key signature is a device musicians employ to help them to find the major intervals in a given tonality.
For the sake of space I’ve written a more in-depth explanation of this topic in “Key Signatures.”So what does it mean to apply a key signature?

When you apply a key signature you are simply replacing given chord tones (from step 1) with the altered pitches as spelled out in the key signature.
The end result of this step is a Major 7th chord.

Example:

• The key of A has 3 sharped notes in the key signature ( F#, C#, and G#)
• We know from step #1 that an A chord contains some form of A, some form of C, some form of E, and some form of G. (A, C, E, G)
• So now we simply swap the C for a C#, then swap the G for a G#, and since there is no F in the chord we can ignore the F# for now.
• Our end result is an A Major 7th chord with a spelling of (A, C#, E, G#)

Let’s try another one.

• The key of D has 2 sharps in its key signature (F# and C#)
• The chord spelling from the previous step was (D, F, A, C)
• We now apply the key signature (F# and C#) to end up with a D Major 7th Chord spelled (D, F#, A, C#).

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(3.) Apply Chord Formula In order to complete the final step we must first understand what a chord formula is.
A Chord Formula is a simple mechanism for listing the intervalic relationships between each individual chord-tone and the root of the chord that is being spelled. All degrees in a chord formula relate back to Major and Perfect intervals. Meaning if a formula reads (1, b3, 5, b7) you can assume the intervals:

• root
• minor 3rd (written b3 as it is a half step below the assumed Major 3)
• perfect 5th (written 5 as perfect or major is assumed, granted there are no other accidentals preceding the interval)
• minor 7th (written b7 as it is a half step below the assumed Major 7th)

Below are two lists of the most common chord formulas. Each list includes the formula itself (the top box), an example in the key of C (the bottom box) and the distance between each interval (the middle boxes).

Triads

Seventh Chords

So now all that’s left is to take our major 7th chord from step 2 and make the necessary alterations.

Example:

To spell a C min7 :
-Start with the Major Chord from step #2 (C, E, G, B)
-Make necessary as instructed by formula (1, b3, 5, b7) -so in this case we would lower the 3rd a half step to make a minor 3rd, and then lower the 7th a half step to make a minor 7th.
-The end result is (C, Eb, G, Bb)

And that’s basically it. All that’s left is to put the chord tones on your instrument and you’ll have a pocket full of “right notes” at your disposal.

 

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more articles by Tyler Oakleaf

• Notes of Fretboard Diagram
• Like our lessons? Take a poster!
• The Big Picture
• Chord Soloing & Chordal Embelishment 1
• Good Things…
• “Making It” In Music
• Practice Progression