14 Really Cool Chord forms Based on C (well 12.. because 1 and 2 are rather boring actually)

1.Major                   - C E G 
2.Minor                   - C D# G 
3.Suspended 2nd           - C D G 
4.Suspended 4th           - C F G 
5.7th                     - C E G A# 
6.7th Suspended 4th       - C F A# 
7.Major 7th               - C E G B 
8.Major 7th (Sharp 11th)  - C E G F#  [this one is cheesed =) -Ed.] 
9.Minor 7th               - C D# G A# 
10.Minor 7th (Flat 5th)   - C D# F# A# 
11.Major 9th              - C E B D  [G may or may not be implied  -Ed.] 
12.Minor 9th              - C D# A# D 
13.Minor 11th             - C D# A# F 
14.Major Add 9th          - C E G D 

A suspended 2nd chord is a triad whos 3rd is replaced with a major 2nd, thus creating the voicing: 1,2,5. This Can sound similar to an Add9 Chord (1,3,5,9) but it is a truely different chord. So please go now to your Future Crew sample directory and rename the infamous sus2nd brass chord to an add 9. That is in fact the chord that it is.. Technically even though the 2 chords sound similar.. an add9 cannot be expressed as a modified sus2nd voicing because the 3rd is still present..

Suspended 2nd Users And Abusers..

do you recognize any of these songs.. the chord progressions contain good use of a suspended second chord play one using the form I outlined above and see if you can pick out sus2nds in these cool tunes

"Hina" - Steve Vai "Purple Rain" - The Artist formarly known as prince "Message In a Bottle" - The Police "Ramble On" - Led Zepplin

Get to know the sus2nd.. all 4 of those songs spent at least one week in the billboard top ten.. [gack =) -Ed.]

Now as a point of interest, many years have passed since the commodore c64 a machine where we were limited to 3 channels and arpeggios.. arpeggios by there very nature could not handle Big chords... it could only handle simple ones (major, minor, etc) But I see no reason now to stick to the same boring chord progressions.. C, E, G. or E, C, D. Basically boring staid 80's 1980's demo music chord progressions... and many of todays young compositional minds are thinking of these same dumb ideas.. now as an attempt to make music simple and fun for everyone.. I present the big chart.... it is basically based again in the key of C major and it is a chart of chords that work in the Key of C besides the major or minor simple ones.. the best part.. you can trak this chart.. and transpose it.. and kapow.. you have Aahz's 7 hip chords in the key of F# or D what fun!

Basically all 7 of these chords will work in the transposed key.. you can mix and match and create a large number of chord progressions that don't suck

once again.. I list all chords in one voicing... but you aren't tethered to it.. Eg. Cmaj7: C E G B you can play jumble like so.. C G B E <-Still A Cmaj7.

Its tons of fun just jumble play the notes ascending from the root, and whamo! Its a different voicing nothing to it..

Onto the chart

Current Key = Cmajor
C E G B   = Cmaj7
D F A C   = Dmin7
E G B D   = Emin7
F A C E   = Fmaj7
G B D F   = G7
A C E G   = Amin7
B D F A   = Bmin7(Flat5)

Example Transposed Chart

Current Key = F# (7Sharps)
F# A# C# E# = F#maj7
G# B D# F#  = G#min7
A# C# E# G# = A#min7
B D# F# A#  = Bmaj7
C# E# G# B  = C#7
D# F# A# C# = D#min7
E# G# B D#  = E#min7(Flat5th)

Do you see the pattern forming... you start on the root note of your key name ie: C, F# or whatever and simply ascend the letters of the alphabet till you reach G and Start over at A if neccesary... pay attention to the sharps and flats of the key signature and thats it.. Pure ease.. ie: C,D,E,F,G,A,B or F#, G#,A#,B,C#,D#,E#. Using the forms I gave you this chart works in any key signature..

Now you can avoid chord progressions that are stale and boring.. Which is a good thing because a good chord progression is the backbone of your song.. and often should take priority over a cheesy lead

- Aahz / Carcass