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INTRODUCTION
In the begining you should memorize as many chords and/or
chord shapes as possible to utilize during your play. In the case
of movable shapes, such as barr chords, you might memorize
the chord and its root note, in order to play different chords
with the same shape. This is a good foundation, but it is only a
foundation, on which you should learn to build. If you consider
a chord to be a rigid shape on the fretboard, you will severely
limit your options to color or stylize your sound. You should
also learn to modify them by adding variations, substitutions,
and the like. Chords are not just strict shapes to simply
memorize and repeat,but flexible. Once you know how they are
built, you can create and adapt them to fit your situation
greatly increasing the potential of your play. Knowing how
chords are built means knowing how intervals work on the
fretboard, and in this ebook you are given an introduction to
intervals, chords, and how intervals create chords.

INTERVALS
In music, an interval is basically the distance between two
notes. In western music, the smallest interval is the semitone.
The chromatic scale is composed of 12 semitones, so to play
the scale you need to play all the semitones in order.
The chromatic scale of C is:

C-C#-D-D#-E-F-F#-G-G#-A-A#-B-C
Intervals have different names depending on the number of
semitones between the two notes. Here is a table showing the
number of semitones and the respective names of the intervals
from wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_(music)
So, for example, the interval between the C note and the G
note of our chromatic scale, is 7 semitones long. Looking at the
table, this distance is called a perfect fifth. In the same way, if
you were to play from the lower C of the chromatic scale to the
higher C, you would cover a path of 12 semitones. This is
referred to as the perfect octave. A distance can have different
names, depending on the context. For example, a distance of 6
semitones, can be called either the augmented fourth or the
diminished fifth, more on this later.

FRETBOARD OCTAVES
The first interval that you should memorize on the fretboard is
the octave. Knowing your octaves is a great shortcut for
fretboard navigation. As you probably already know, two notes,
spanning a distance of one octave, or 12 semitones, will have
the same name (C and C ), but different pitch one note sounds
lower than the other. If you know how octaves are placed on
the fretboard, you can easily navigate the strings.
Have a look at the picture below:

Black dots always represent the same note (suppose a C). The
first and the sixth strings have the same notes (in standard
tuning), thus you can find your note in the same fret (yellow
circle) on the first and the sixth string. In the red circle, you will
notice that a note on the second string, is also placed on the
fourth string, two frets in,and on the fifth string, two frets out.
The pattern is similar in the yellow and orange circles, just look
at the diagram. If you memorize where octaves are placed on
your fretboard, you'll have a helpful visual aid for more
advanced fretboard geometry concepts.
Using octave concepts, you can identify the same notes on
different strings. Take for example the minor third interval:

The root note is the one marked with the black dot (fourth
string). You may find a minor third on the upper string (fifth
string), but, using your octaves, you may also find it on the
second string.
In the next diagram you can see another interval example-the
diminished fifth. You can get it on different strings. This gives
you many options to vary and to color your style of play .

INTERVALS GEOMETRY
Chords are composed of a number of notes played at the same
time. The distances between the root note, which gives the
name to the chord, and the notes of the following chords, are
called ntervals. Depending on which kind of interval, you will
get different chord qualities. For example,major and minor
chords are composed of the root note, a third interval(major or
minor), and a fifth interval.
C major: root C, major third E, perfect fifth G
C minor: root C, minor third Eb, perfect fifth G
More complex chords are created by adding seventh intervals,
ninth intervals, and so on.
Important interval patterns you should memorize are minor
and major thirds, perfect fifths, augmented fifths and
diminished fifths. An augmented fifth is a perfect fifth raised 1
semitone (7-> 8 semitones), a diminished fifth is a perfect fifth
lowered 1 semitone (7 -> 6 semitones).
If you add one octave to an interval , you get what is called an
extended interval; it is composed of the same notes by name
but the distance between the notes is one octave longer. For
example, a major second with one octave added becomes a
ninth (have a look at the following diagrams).
The following diagrams show the various options that you have
when you are building chords on the fretboard: it will help if
you don't think of chords as strict orders but more like flexible
suggestions. So learn the single intervals and then assemble
them in order to create specific chord shapes. With practice,
this will get easier until it is almost second nature!
Graphic convention: in the following diagrams, the root note
is marked with a black dot. Other notes are represented by an
empty circle.
3 semitones

Minor Third

adding 1 octave:
Minor Tenth

consonant
enharmonic
equivalent:
Augmented Second
4 semitones

Major Third

adding 1 octave:
Major Tenth

consonant
enharmonic
equivalent:
Diminished Fourth
6 semitones

Diminished Fifth

adding 1 octave:
Diminished Twelfth

consonant
enharmonic
equivalent:
Augmented Fourth
7 semitones

Perfect Fifth

adding 1 octave:
Perfect Twelfth

consonant
enharmonic
equivalent:
Diminished Sixth
8 semitones

Minor Sixth

adding 1 octave:
Minor Thirteenth

consonant
enharmonic
equivalent:
Augmented Fifth
CHORDS CONSTRUCTION
Next you will see some examples of chord constructions, using
the intervals you've just learned (minor and major thirds,
perfect fifth, diminished and augmented fifth). Try to recognize
visually the intervals geometries you've seen on the previous
diagrams. Due the nature of the fretboard, in which the same
note is placed on different strings, for a given chord can exist
different fingerings and positions. The following diagrams are
just one of many possible fingerings you can use.

Cmaj chord
Name variations: C major, CM, C
This chord is a major triad: root, major third, perfect
fifth.
Cm chord
Name variations: C minor, Cm, C-
This chord is a minor triad: root, minor third, perfect
fifth.

Caug chord
Name variations: C augmented
This chord is an augmented triad (root, major third,
augmented fifth)
C-5 chord
Name variations: C diminished triad, Cb5
This chord is composed of the root, a minor third and a
flat fifth.

MORE INTERVALS
You can now move on and learn the remaining kinds of
intervals: minor second, major second, perfect fourth,
minor and major seventh, minor and major sixth, and so
on.
1 semitone

Minor Second

adding 1 octave:
Minor Ninth

consonant
enharmonic
equivalent:
Augmented Unison
2 semitones

Major Second

adding 1 octave:
Major Ninth

consonant
enharmonic
equivalent:
Diminished Third
5 semitones

Perfect Fourth

adding 1 octave
Perfect Eleventh

consonant
enharmonic
equivalent:
Augmented Third
9 semitones

Major Sixth

adding 1 octave:
Major Thirteenth

consonant
enharmonic
equivalent:
Diminished Seventh
10 semitones

Minor Seventh

adding 1 octave:
Minor Fourteenth

consonant
enharmonic
equivalent:
Augmented Sixth
11 semitones

Major Seventh

adding 1 octave:
Major Fourteenth

consonant
enharmonic
equivalent:
Diminished Octave
CHORDS CONSTRUCTION EXAMPLES
PART 2

Csus4 chord
Name variations: C suspended fourth, C4, C#3
This chord is composed of the root, a perfect fourth and
has no third (suspended), therefore is neither major nor
minor.

C7 chord
Name variations: C dominant seventh, Cdom7
This chord is a major triad with a minor seventh.
Cmin7 chord
Name variations: C minor seventh, Cm7, C-7
This chord is a minor triad (root, minor third, perfect
fifth) with a minor seventh.
Cmaj7 chord
Name variations: C major seventh, CM7, C7
This chord is a major triad (root, major third, perfect
fifth) with a major seventh.
MORE CHORDS TO CREATE
Now that you hopefully understand the process, your job is to
create the other kinds of chords, exploiting the interval
diagrams you now know wellYou can check your answers on
the Fachords Chords Library
http://www.fachords.com/guitar-chords-library/

C7-5 chord
Name variations: C dominant seventh flat five chord,
C7b5, C7(-5), C7(b5), C7/b5
This chord is composed of the root, a major third, a
diminished fifth and a minor seventh.

C7+5 chord
Name variations: C dominant seventh sharp five, C7(#5),
C7#5
This chord is composed of the root, a major third, an
augmented fifth and a minor seventh.

C6 chord
Name variations: Csixth, Cmajor sixth
This chord is composed of a major triad and a major sixth

Cm6 chord
Name variations: Cminor sixth, Cm6, C-6
This chord is a minor triad with a major sixth

Cm9 chord
Name variations: Cminor ninth, C-9, Cmin9
This chord is a minor triad with a minor seventh and a
major ninth

C6/9 chord
Name variations: Cmaj6/9, CM6/9, CMAJ6/9, C6add9
This chord is composed of the root, a major third, a
perfect fifth, a major sixth and a major ninth

C7sus4 chord
Name variations: C seventh suspended fourth, C7-4,
C7sus
This chord is composed of the root, a perfect fourth and
a minor seventh. It has no third (suspended), then is
neither major nor minor.
C7-9 chord
Name variations: C dominant seventh flat ninth, C7(b9),
C7(-9)
This chord is a major triad with a minor seventh and a
minor ninth

C7+9 chord
Name variations: C dominant seventh sharp ninth,
C7(#9), C7(+9)
This chord is a major triad with a minor seventh and an
augmented ninth

C9-5 chord
Name variations: C ninth flat five, C9b5, C9(-5), C9(b5),
C7/9(b5)
This chord is a 7/b5 chord (root, major third, flat five,
minor seventh) with added a major 9th.

C9 chord
Name variations: Cdominant ninth, Cdom9
This chord is a major triad with a minor seventh and a
major ninth
Cmaj9 chord
Name variations: C major ninth, CM9, C9
This chord is a major triad (root, major third, perfect
fifth) with a major seventh and a major ninth.

C11 chord
Name variations: Cdominant eleventh, Cdom11
This chord is a major triad with a minor seventh, a major
ninth and a major eleventh

C13 chord
Name variations: Cdominant thirteenth, Cdom 13
This chord is a major triad with a minor seventh, a major
ninth and a major thirteenth
What's next?
To practice utilizing these concepts, you should take a
well known chord progression, and play it without using
the shapes that your muscles have memorized in the
past, but building chords on the fly in different fretboard
zones.
For example, play the C, G, Am, F progression starting
with the C root note on the 8th fret of the higher E string.
If you need help, write me at band@fachords.com
First time on FaChords Guitar Lessons Software?

Hi guitar lover! I'm Gianca, I live in Italy, I'm a guitar

teacher and a software engineer. I originally
created FaChords Guitar Lessons Software to be a
tool for my students, and now it's available to
anyone looking to get better at guitar.

You will find lessons and tutorials on chords, scales, fretboard,

interactive learning software, ear training, smart practice strategies
and more. Click on the link below to start:

http://www.fachords.com/go/welcome