Major Chords III - Modern

If we want to play a simple song based on just major chords, we can modify the chords in certain ways to create that special open sound we know from many modern pop, rock, or folk songs. In most cases these modified chords are even easier to play than barre chords or even the standard major chords!

Your choice of chord variant mainly depends on two things:

• Harmonic context: what chords are played before and after the chord we are looking at? What's the key of the song (or section)?
• Fingering: which variant keeps chord changes smooth?

Extended or modified chords often have cryptic names (e.g., Gadd9, Gsus2). When playing, the exact symbol isn't always crucial—experiment a bit and you'll quickly hear what works in a given context.

So there is no need to immediately memorize all the theory of this lesson. But it will make later lessons easier if you have already heard about the meaning of "sus2" or "add9". You will stumble across these chord types many times later on.

As a demo, we'll use a song in G major. On the I, IV and V scale degrees you find the major chords G, C and D. Many well-known songs use only (or mostly) these three chords.

It's virtually always possible to omit a note. Here we drop the major 3rd, leaving a G chord built from the root and the 5th.

Muting the A string yields a clearer, more focused sound.

Switch between note names, intervals and fingering with the ⓘ button.

It's nearly always possible to add a major 2nd above the root (better: above an octave of the root). For C major this is the note D. As before, the 3rd (E) is omitted.

So the 2nd (D) replaces the 3rd (E). This creates a Csus2 chord—"sus" indicates the 3rd is replaced.

Again, a clearer sound is created by muting the string above the lowest note.

Switching between G(no3) and Csus2 is fairly simple: the 2nd finger moves between the E and A strings; the muting is the only tricky part.

Here's another great-sounding and easy-to-play variation of the C major chord:

Unlike the previous C chord, the 3rd is still included in this variant.

Therefore the major 2nd D is an extension, not a substitute for the 3rd. Consequently, it must be notated as a 9th in the chord symbol rather than as a 2nd! That doesn't mean the note is an octave higher—it's just a naming convention (extensions count one octave—7 steps—higher than modifications).

Now what difference does "add" make in the chord name?

"add" means there is no 7th in the chord.

• Cadd9 = C major chord + 9 (D) => tones C E G D
• C9 = C7(9) chord = C7 chord + 9 (D) => tones C E G Bb D

The latter belongs to the dominant seventh chords and is not of interest in this lesson.

In a sus4 chord the major 3rd of the major chord has been replaced by a perfect 4th. You can switch the chord diagram between a D major chord and its variants Dsus4 and Dsus2.

Unlike the previous variants, sus4 tends to resolve back to plain major, and major+sus4 together can sound dissonant (especially with multiple harmony instruments). If the chart shows a plain major chord, use sus4 only briefly before returning to major.

Alternating between sus4, major, and sus2 additionally creates a little inner melody of the 4th, 3rd and 2nd of the chord.

Melody instead of chord extension/modification

We don't have to worry that much as long as we

• just change the chord for a short amount of time
• and the notes we use are part of the actual key/scale.

We already know that we are in the key of G major when we combine the chords G, C and D. So we can freely change chord tones to other notes from the G major scale, creating a second-voice melody this way.

If you play around with the tones on the G string (G, A, and B), you will probably omit the high E string. Doing so you can use your 4th finger and put more emphasis on your little G-string melody.