chord diagrams

Altered chords add color, tension, and sophistication to your playing, making them a must-know for jazz, fusion, and even blues and rock guitarists.

An altered chord contains one (or several) altered notes that don't belong to the diatonic scale.

These notes are the b5 (flat fifth), #5 (sharp fifth), b9 (flat ninth), #9 (sharp ninth).

In this guitar lesson we will see that they can be grouped into three disctinct families (major, minor and dominant) and also how to play them on guitar.

Unlocking that smooth tension and release in jazz harmony is where the magic lies—and the dominant seventh flat-fifth (7♭5) chord is one of your secret weapons.

Imagine sliding into a chord that sounds both unexpected and inevitable, bridging the gap between yellow-and-gold major chords and grey-shaded minor ones. That’s what the 7♭5 chord does.

Seventh chords (aka four-note chords) represent the backbone of jazz harmony. It is common to extend them with extra tones.

These other notes form the upper structure of a chord which includes the 9th, 11th and 13th.

Adding extensions to chords help to get off the beaten tracks and provides some new harmonic colors to your playing (chord soloing, comping, and arrangement).

This lesson provides useful extended major 7th chord shapes to apply to your playing.