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Posted by: Ignite Dec 8 2008, 02:43 AM

So i've been introduced to Chord Tone. I really like it, it makes solos sound very very cool. But the problem is memorizing all of them! I know that you play the notes that are in the chord being played, but is there an easy way to memorizing all the notes in every chord? Thats a lot of notes to memorize.

Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Dec 8 2008, 02:47 AM

Just best remembering intervals. So for example EVERY Major chord has 1 3 5 so the 1st, 3rd and 5th so if you have a C Major chord you have C, G and E and a Minor chord ALWAYS has 1 b3 5 so the 1st, Flattened 3rd and 5th. So C Minor would be C, G and Eb (D#) for example. Then you have additions to these so if you see like C add 9 or something then you just add a 9th to chord. Which in C Major would be a D note an octave above. I know this sounds mad probably but there are easy ways to remember these chords. And when you remember intervals and map to guitar you can remember patterns

Posted by: Ramiro Delforte Dec 8 2008, 03:21 AM

A little trick to memorize type of intervals regarding a root:

Imagine you have a Cmaj7 and you want to know what intervals are you playing over when soloing.

- You only have to memorize this:

C to D 9th
C to E 3rd
C to F 11th
C to G 5th
C to A 13th
C to B 7th

Now you know that everywhere you play a D (no matter if it's Db or D# you'll be playing the ninth, could be flat or could be sharp but always it will be the ninth). And so on with the other intervals.

Imagine that you play the G major scale over the Cmaj7 chord well the difference will be that the 11th is raised instead a perfect 4th ( or 11th).

Other way to do this is counting: C to D is the second name so is the second degree and if it is played on the upper octave is the 9th. No matter if it is flat or sharp because it will always be the 2nd or 9th (Db would be b9 and D# would be #9).
I think this is the best way.
Watch my Piazzolla Style lesson for a analysis of that kind.

I hope this will help you

Posted by: Gerardo Siere Dec 8 2008, 09:31 AM

The way it worked for me to figure out chord shapes is to study the shapes of intervals close at hand range from a root on 6th, 5th and 4th string. Once you visualize them you can add the to your regular chords. BTW it is anoying but you have to check fingerings 3 times: depending is the rooth is pressed by finger 1, 2 or 3, and 4.

Posted by: Ignite Dec 8 2008, 05:43 PM

So I should study each degree well, and memorize each "formula" (or whatever you would call it ) for each chord.

Like: the "formula" for a major chord is 1 3 5.
so the degrees would be for a c major is C E G (from the key of C: C D E F G A

and to double check, for a G major the degrees would be G B D?
This is using the counting method

Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Dec 8 2008, 06:28 PM

Exactly

When you start converting these to patterns on guitar you'll memorise them a lot easier.

Posted by: BMcG Dec 8 2008, 07:19 PM

Hey Ignite,

So, all these suggestions are very good. One thing that often gets forgotten when learning theory is to actually apply it to the guitar, so definitely do all that!!!

Having said that, a real great way to get a good jump on this stuff is to memorize all the major triads. It's really not that hard and it will serve you endlessly throughout your musical career.

Here's how to do it:

- First, memorize the "circle of fifths" (or "circle of fourths" as it is more often used in a jazz context).
It's C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, B, E, A, D, G. Notice there is one note name (we'll call it the root of our triad) for each of the 12 notes we use in Western Music.

- So once you've got that, memorize the spelling of all 12 major triads....
C-E-G
F-A-C
Bb-D-F
Eb-G-Bb
Ab-C-Eb
Db-F-Ab
Gb-Bb-Db (Alternatively, F#-A#-C#)
B-D#-F#
E-G#-B
A-C#-E
D-F#-A
G-B-D

It may seem like a lot to memorize, but trust me, I've been through an entire college jazz studies program, and you can easily tell in class who knows this stuff and who doesn't. It makes the rest of theory, and even jazz theory MUCH easier.

-Then you need to learn how to alter these major triads to get the other triad types (Minor, Diminished, Augmented).

Let's just take the first one, C for example. We now know (because we've memorized it!) that the C Major triad is:
C-E-G

To get the minor triad we flat the third (the middle note) of the major triad giving us:
C-Eb-G

For the C diminished triad we flat both the third and the fifth (middle and last notes) of the major triad giving us:
C-Eb-Gb

For the augmented triad we raise (make sharp) the fifth (last note) of the major triad giving us:
C-E-G#

This works for all the major triads that you've memorized above, so for Eb we have the following triads:
Major: Eb-G-Bb
Minor: Eb-Gb-Bb
Dimin: Eb-Gb-Bbb (This is B double flat! It's the same note as "A".)
Aug: Eb-G-B (here we'd usually say "B natural" to make sure to show that it's been raised from Bb in the major triad.)

The easiest way to memorize this stuff is to take some 3x5 index cards and write the root of the chord on one side (C, F, Bb, Eb, etc.) and then write the triad spelling on the back (C-E-G, F-A-C, Bb-D-F, Eb-G-Bb, etc.).

Start with cards for the major triads, then add in the other triad types (minor, diminished, augmented).

You'll be a theory whiz in no time. If you do this you'll really be shocked at how much theory you've knocked off by learning these 12 things!

Hope that helps!
_Bryan

Posted by: kjutte Dec 11 2008, 10:13 AM

I feel that the easiest way to get basic knowledge is to compare to each mode of the scale you are using.

Cmaj: C D E F G A B C

C E G - I - Cmaj
D F A - II - Dmin
E G B - III - Emin
F A C - IV - Fmaj
G B D - V - Gmaj
A C D - VI - Amin
B D F - VII - Bdim (or Bmin/b5 if you will, because a dim chord is R min3 dim5 )

This is the easiest way to look at it IMO, hope it helps.
Also I will post these rules from Andrew's board, as it is essential for understanding how to create the chords you want.

Major : 1,3,5
Minor : 1,b3,5
Diminished : 1,b3,dim5
Augmented : 1,3,aug5
Minor 7th : 1,b3,5,b7
Major 7th : 1,3,5,7
Dominant 7th : 1,3,5,b7
Sixth : 1,3,5,6
Minor 9 : 1,b3,5,b7,9
Minor 11 : 1,b3,5,b7,9,11
Minor 13 : 1,b3,5,b7,9,11,13

b=halfstep down
#=halfstep up