How to Remember Large Extended Chords Part 2

Posted on 30 September 2007 See Comments | Post Comment

This lesson continues from where we left off in the last newsletter lesson on remembering extended chords.

If you recall, I displayed a chart like this:

# of notes	Type of chord
Three	Triad
Four	Seventh
Five	Ninth
Six	Eleventh
Seven	Thirteenth

If you have the 300pg course, you’ll find more information about this on page 50.

We’ve already covered triads, sevenths, and ninth chords. If you didn’t get a chance to catch my last newsletter, simply visit www.pianoweekly.com!

Just to recap, here are the formulas for chords we’ve already covered:

Major triads (Ch 5): 1 + 3 + 5

Cmaj: C E G

Minor triads (Ch 8): 1 + b3 + 5

Cmin: C Eb G

Diminished triad (Ch 9): 1 + b3 + b5

Cdim: C Eb Gb

Augmented triad: 1 + 3 + #5

Caug: C E G#

Major seventh (Ch 10): 1 + 3 + 5 + 7

Cmaj7: C E G B

Minor seventh (Ch 10): 1 + b3 + 5 + b7

Cmin7: C Eb G Bb

Dominant seventh (Ch 10): 1 + 3 + 5 + b7

C7 (aka Cdom7): C E G Bb

Half Diminished seventh: 1 + b3 + b5 + b7

C half dim7: C Eb Gb Bb

Diminished seventh (Ch 13): 1 + b3 + b5 + bb7 (or just think of it as “6″)

Cdim7: C Eb Gb A

If you know all twelve major scales, then applying these formulas is a no-brainer. For example, taking the 1, 3, and 5 tones of any scale and playing them all together creates a major triad — it’s that simple!

Now, let’s get to our eleventh and thirteenth chords:

Eleventh Chords:

Eleventh chords are a lot easier than you think (especially if you already know your seventh chords).

First, I’ll list the formulas. Then I’ll give you even easier ways to remember eleventh chords.

Major eleventh: 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11

Cmaj11: C E G B D F

Minor eleventh: 1 + b3 + 5 + b7 + 9 + 11

Cmin11: C Eb G Bb D F

Dominant eleventh: 1 + 3 + 5 + b7 + 9 + 11

C11: C E G B D F

Major:

The easiest way to think of this chord is:

Maj chord + the “5″ dominant seventh chord

In the key of C major, this is simply C major (C+E+G) under a G7 (because G is the fifth tone of the C major scale. I’m simply using its dominant seventh chord, which is G7).

So:

C maj + G7 = Cmaj11

C E G B D F

Notice, this is also identical to the formula above (1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11).

You try it:

Cmaj11: Cmaj + G7 = Cmaj 11

Fmaj11: Fmaj + ___7 = Fmaj11

Bbmaj11: Bbmaj + ___7 = Bbmaj11

Eb maj11: Ebmaj + ___7 = Ebmaj11

Abmaj11: _______________________

Dbmaj11: _______________________

Gbmaj11: _______________________

Bmaj11: _______________________

Emaj11: _______________________

Amaj11: _______________________

Dmaj11: _______________________

Gmaj11: _______________________

Reference: Just in case you don’t know your dominant seventh chords yet, here’s a quick list for you to refer to…

C7 ( C E G Bb), F7 (F A C Eb), Bb7 (Bb D F Ab), Eb7 (Eb G Bb Db), Ab7 (Ab C Eb Gb), Db7 (D F Ab B), Gb7 (Gb Bb Db E), B7 (B D# F# A), E7 (E G# B D), A7 (A C# E G), D7 (D F# A C), and G7 (G B D F)

Minor:

Forming the minor eleventh chord is just as easy.

Minor chord + b7 major chord = Minor eleventh chord

In the key of C, this is C minor (C Eb G) under Bb maj (Bb D F), since Bb is the b7 tone of the C major scale.

Note: To find the b7 tone of any scale, simply locate the 7th tone and lower it one-half step. For example, the seventh tone in the C major scale is B so lowering it one-half step gives you the flatted seventh tone (b7).

C minor + Bb major = C Eb G Bb D F (Cmin11)

You try it:

Cmin11: Cmin + Bbmaj = Cmin 11

Fmin11: Fmin + ___ maj = Fmin11

Bbmin11: Bbmin + ___ maj = Bbmin11

Ebmin11: Ebmin + ___ maj = Ebmin11

Abmin11: _______________________

Dbmin11: _______________________

Gbmin11: _______________________

Bmin11: _______________________

Emin11: _______________________

Amin11: _______________________

Dmin11: _______________________

Gmin11: _______________________

Dominant:

The dominant eleventh is identical to the dominant minor except for one change.

Major chord + b7 major chord = Dominant eleventh chord

… so instead of playing a minor chord at the bottom (like you did with the min11 chord), simply play a regular major triad.

In C major, this is Cmaj (C E G) under Bbmaj (Bb D F). Basically, two major triads stacked on top of each other. It can’t get any easier than this.

You try it:

C11: Cmaj + Bbmaj = C11

F11: Fmaj + ___ maj = F11

Bb11: Bbmaj + ___ maj = Bb11

Eb11: Ebmaj + ___ maj = Eb11

Ab11: _______________________

Db11: _______________________

Gb11: _______________________

B11: _______________________

E11: _______________________

A11: _______________________

D11: _______________________

G11: _______________________

Easier Trick: I just prefer playing C on my left hand (or a power chord), and playing Bbmaj on my right hand and it creates the same dominant 11 sound I’m looking for (just without the 3 and 5)!

Thirteenth Chords:

Next, we’ll turn to thirteenth chords.

Here are the formulas for the three thirteenth chords we’ll cover below:

Major thirteenth: 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 + 13

Cmaj13: C E G B D F A

Easy way:

Major seventh chord + 2 minor chord = Major thirteenth chord

Example: In the key of C, this is Cmaj7 (C E G B) under Dmin (D F A).

C E G B D F A, played together, create a Cmaj13 chord.

Minor thirteenth: 1 + b3 + 5 + b7 + 9 + 11 +13

Cmin13: C Eb G Bb D F A

Easy way:

Min seventh chord + 2 min chord = Minor thirteenth chord

Example: In the key of C, this is Cmin7 (C Eb G Bb) under Dmin (D F A).

Cmin13 = C Eb G Bb D F A (Cmin7 + Dmin)

Dominant thirteenth: 1 + 3 + 5 + b7 + 9 + 11 +13

C13: C E G B D F A

Easy way:

Dominant seventh chord + 2 minor chord = Major thirteenth chord

Example: In the key of C, this is C7 (C E G Bb) under Dmin (D F A).

C13 = C E G Bb D F A

Easier way: I commonly play C on my left hand while playing a Bbmaj7 on my right hand (Left: C // Right: Bb D F A). This produces the same sound as a 13th chord (just without the third and fifth present). Notice, the Bb is the 7th of C… the D is the 9th… the F is the 11th… and the A is the 13th.

In the next lesson, we’ll learn how to apply these extended chords to various progressions and songs!

 

 

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Related posts:

1. Easy to Ways to Remember Large Chords
2. Seventh Chords
3. Opening and closing your songs with “2-5-1″ progressions!
4. Chord Inversions… The Basics!
5. Variations of “2-5-1″ Chord Progressions
6. The “What Key Am I In” Game 1
7. Have you learned these harmonic minor seventh chords yet?

2 Comments For This Post

1. les says:
   October 15th, 2008 (comment#1)

   Absolutely superb Les U.K

2. Jermaine says:
   October 16th, 2008 (comment#2)

   Thanks les… one of my throwback lessons from 2005/2006. glad you enjoyed it!

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