Chord Structure:

     Chords are often a great mystery to musicians and of special interest to
guitarists because eventually every guitarist ends up playing a lot of them,
whereas a trumpet player for instance, never plays one.  A chord is simply a
combination of single notes often called a "formula".  There is no end of
formulas one could come up with, and so naming them all with descriptive
names would be quite a task.  However, over the centuries attempts have been
made to categorize different formulas and give them names.  Understand from
the start that the names for chord formulas that have come to be accepted are
only barely descriptive.  Besides that, most teaching on the subject of
intervals and chord structure is confusing, and on top of all that, different
"authorities" disagree on the spacing of some intervals.  The simplified
explanation below should take you a long way.

     A little encouragement at this point.  The following may seem a little
boring at first glance, but it is crucial and becomes very interesting when
you understand it.  There's really not much to it and without it you will
NEVER understand music to any reasonable degree.  With it, music will become
like a whole new subject.  From here to the end of this file, is some of the
most enlightening music theory you will ever learn.

     First, keep in mind that the notes are spaced as follows:

         A#           C#       D#           F#       G#
     A   --   B   C   --   D   --   E   F   --   G   --   A
         Bb           Db       Eb           Gb       Ab

     To understand the formula for each chord name, one must consider the
major scale.  That is:


     Do  Re  Mi  Fa  So  La  Ti  Do    (Sounds boring, right?  Keep going...)


     To play the major scale starting at any note, it must be played with the
following intervals:


     Do * Re * Mi Fa * So * La * Ti Do

or:

     1 * 2 * 3 4 * 5 * 6 * 7 8


     Each number or asterisk represents a fret on the guitar.  What this
means is that you must skip a fret between certain notes, but not others. 
Forget about "Do, Re, Mi" now and just consider the numbers.  From 1 to 2 is
called an "interval".  From 1 to 2 is a distance of two semitones (there is
a fret between 1 and 2).  Notice that 3 and 4 are right next to each other
and likewise 7 and 8.  The rest have frets between them.  Therefore, it is a
greater distance from 1 to 2 than it is from 3 to 4.  Try playing a major
scale starting at the second string, (next to the thinnest string) pressing
the first fret (C).  Call this note number 1.  Next, play the second note of
the scale in the third fret, and then continue following the number pattern
above until you reach the end of the scale.  You should end up at the 13th
fret which is the next C and exactly one octave from the note you started
with.  You have just played a C major scale.

     So what does this have to do with chords?  It's simple really.  The
different chord formulas are simply different number combinations based on
the major scale.  The most basic chord for instance is a major chord (major
triad), which is any combination of the first, third and fifth notes of the
major scale.  If you are reading this file in Text View, you might want to
stop at this point and minimize Text View so you can press the scale button
on the toolbar to take a look at the major scales.  (You will have to use the
main program's minimize or restore button to get back to Text View.  It might
be easier to print this file.)

     So, a C major chord is made up of any combination of C, E and G (1, 3
and 5 from the C major scale).  If you display a C major chord, you'll find
that every alternative is a different combination of these three notes. 
Notice the formula for the selected chord is listed to the right of the
fingerboard diagram and the "voicing" for each alternative is listed just
below it.  Number "1" is also referred to as the "root" of the chord.  Now
display an E minor chord.  Notice the formula is R b3 5.  Now look at the E
major scale on the side of the screen.  The root is E, a flatted 3 is G
natural, and 5 is B.  Knowing these number combinations is actually more
important and descriptive than the names of the categories.  For instance,
calling a chord a "C7" doesn't reveal a lot about the structure, but knowing
the formula is 1 3 5 b7, starting with C, is much more useful.  (You need to
know the names though.)


Inversions:

     A chord is said to be "inverted" if a note other than the root is on the
bottom of the chord.  

     Consider the following chord:

     C major                  G    (5th)
                              E    (3rd)
                              C    (Root)

     This chord is in "root position" because the root is on the bottom.  If
the root were to be placed on the top and the 3rd was left on the bottom,
then we would say the chord has been inverted once and therefore called the
"first inversion":

     C major                  C    (Root)
       (1st inversion)        G    (5th)
                              E    (3rd)

     If now the 3rd were to be placed on the top and the 5th left on the
bottom, we would say the chord has been inverted twice, so we have a second
inversion:

     C major                  E    (3rd)
       (2nd inversion)        C    (Root)
                              G    (5th)

     As with many of the terms used in music, the word "inverted" is not
ideal.  The chord was not really inverted by the usual definition of the
word, that is, the chord was not turned upside down.  Also, keep in mind that
the example given demonstrates the strictest definition of the term
"inversion" as used in music.  It is generally used in reference to the
bottom note only--the rest of the notes above can be in any order.  The
following two chords would both be called C major, 2nd inversion:

               E    (3rd)                    C    (Root)
               C    (Root)                   E    (3rd)
               G    (5th)                    G    (5th)

     One might wonder if this is important.  Actually, it is very useful. 
Consider the following sequence of chords:

                         C    G    Am   C

     If each of these chords is played in root position, the bottom note of
each chord produces the following bass line:

                         C    G    A    C

     It sounds pleasant enough, but is nothing special.  However, playing the
same chords making use of inversions can produce a more melodic bass line.

Using the following:

     C  (root position)
     G  (1st inversion)
     Am (root position)
     C  (2nd inversion) 

produces a descending scale (C B A G) which sounds much more interesting.  To
play this example, use the following chords from the database:

     C major (first alternative)
     G major (first alternative)
     A minor (first alternative, skipping the sixth string and using the 5th
         as the bottom note)
     C major (2nd alternative)

     Study the structure of every chord you play.  Gradually, you'll begin to
see how useful this knowledge is.