...ok, here's the E-shape E major triad chord, Emajor, with all adjacent degree notes labelled:



...notice how the 5/R degree notes on A5- and D4-strings 'repeat' on the B2- and E1-strings, and thus effectively provide Bass and treble "locations" to work with/from.

Oh good, here we go with 'E shapes'. Good diagram OTM, nicely degreed out.  I notice the fifth and the ROOT repeating, giving bass and treble locations to work with.  Noticing three ROOT notes too...must be why E major sounds so full, rich...are those the right words to describe what I hear?

GuitarZen wrote:

...must be why E major sounds so full, rich...are those the right words to describe what I hear?

...FULL is appropriate, due to the three repeated root notes and two repeated fifths.

...as before, we begin by "chasing" a descending degree note -- from M7 down to 2/9th -- thru a triad and so the first chord is E major 7th = EMaj7 = EM7:

...first, with the M7-degree note in the bass:


...and, then, with the M7-degree note in the treble:

...here, because of the "stretch" necessary to reach the M7-degree note at fret 4 on B2-string, the little (pinky) finger is often "folded over" and simultaneously frets the 3rd-degree note at fret 4 on E1-string.

I like the second version EM7, M7 in the treble and now that I know to 'fold' the pinky, it's easier to play. Thanks OTM.

...next is the 'ever popular' dominant seventh chord, E dom7 = Ed7 = E7 or sometimes also (rarely) seen as EbM7:
...with "rhythm" d7-degree note effectively in bass:


...with "treble" d7-degree note in treble:


...although, these are actually two different chords, in reality, they're typically (99%) combined so that both d7 notes are used. This is accomplished by simply lifting the little finger off the ROOT position (fret 2 D4-string) and moving it over to fret 3 on B2-string...dual d7 notes! In reality, just a single d7-degree note is required, but often "...more is better..." prevails, especially with folk songs where "open" strings are often allowed to "ring" as "drone" tones.

.....'E dom7 = Ed7 = E7 or sometimes also (rarely) seen as EbM7..'

Now that's an education in itself.

....'This is accomplished by simply lifting the little finger off the ROOT position (fret 2 D4-string) and moving it over to fret 3 on B2-string...dual d7 notes!...'

And so is that ! I avoided the second E7 shape thinking it would be so much easier to play the first example. Now I like the second one more !

...'In reality, just a single d7-degree note is required, but often "...more is better..." prevails, especially with folk songs where "open" strings are often allowed to "ring" as "drone" tones...'

Like in Bob Dylan's 'Highlands? The chord shown is E7 but there are other notes that are used in the actual song along with the E7 and they're higher in tone so it may well be that the rhytmn guitarist is alternating from the first example E7 to the second example and back again with other notes thrown in here and there...it seems random too.

'Drone tones'...not sure if you've used that term before but I understand it...so yet another lesson within the lesson ! Good one OTM, thank you !

...now, the E major 6th or simply E6 chord:

...with 6th in bass from rhythm:


...with 6th in treble for melody:


NOTE: be careful with this chord and don't fall into the "trap" of accidently also playing a d7 when simply lifting the little finger and moving it over to fret the 6th-degree note at fret 2 B2-string.

Why? Because the "open" D4-string creates a d7-degree note, which, when combined with the 6-degree note, produces an E13th chord (ie: 13 = 7 & 6) and not the intended "simple" E6!

Like the first example E6, rhytm chord...that's new to me, good one.

Moving from D4 fret 2 over to B2 fret 2 with the little finger din't occur to me but I tried it and I see what you mean and I'll have to remember that fingering for making the E13.  Normally I play an E with index, middle and ring unless I know I'm going right to an F or from an E major to an E minor to an F# m (F sharp minor), then it's middle, ring, little for the E major. I see the trap though. Thanks OTM.

GuitarZen wrote:

Like the first example E6, rhytm chord...that's new to me, good one.

Moving from D4 fret 2 over to B2 fret 2 with the little finger din't occur to me but I tried it and I see what you mean and I'll have to remember that fingering for making the E13.  Normally I play an E with index, middle and ring unless I know I'm going right to an F or from an E major to an E minor to an F# m (F sharp minor), then it's middle, ring, little for the E major. I see the trap though. Thanks OTM.

...confession [red face]: "...it got ME..," too, during my early years of learning chords, until a sharp-earned player commented: "...that's a 13th, not a 6th, 'cuz there's a 7th in it." Mistakes have a *way* of learnin' you pretty quickly (ha,ha)!

But it wasn't a mistake until the sharp eared player caught it...goes to show too, why 7ths are called dominant, right boss? Because they stand out and we hear them, especially if they're the last note played, yes? And oh yeah, having someone point out mistakes is a fast track learning process alright !

GuitarZen wrote:

And oh yeah, having someone point out mistakes is a fast track learning process alright !

...how so VERY true!

...next, we drop (flatten) another halfstep (semi-tone) to the Eaug5 = E#5 = E+5 chord.



...here, there's only ONE version, because as a triad, the augmented or raised 5th must be applied to each V-degree note within the chord construction (same "triad" rule applies for minor and III-degree notes, by the way).

...nevertheless, two 4-note fingerings are generally used, the center 4-strings as a rhythm chord and the treble 4-strings as a melody chord.

Well I had to read it a couple of times before I noticed the 'sneaky' OTM  hidden test. At least I hope it is ! You say....

'...next, we drop (flatten) another halfstep (semi-tone) to the Eaug5 = E#5 = E+5 chord...'     Sir OTM, you go on to say....'the augmented or raised 5th must be applied...etc.'

And from my struggles, though now gainfully realized and learned, with up, down, flatted, sharped, -, +, aug, #, lowering, raising and any like terms I've missed for the same, I hope I pass the test when I say surely you must have meant raise (sharpen) when making an Eaug5 = E#5 = E+5, this since in the diagram we've raised the open 5th at B2 a halfstep to B2 fret 1 and the embedded 5th degree note at A5 fret 2 up a half step to A5 fret 3. Man, please tell me it was a test boss !

Onwards though, E+5 sounds good, rhythm or melody. Sounds famiilar  too, when I strum the Eaug5 alternately with a C triad, starting from the C. Something from The Dave Clark Five maybe. Plays easy enough now that I've tried it a number of times though I couldn't just 'grab' it at first since I've not seen or tried this chord shape before.

....'as a triad, the augmented or raised 5th must be applied to each V-degree note within the chord construction (same "triad" rule applies for minor and III-degree notes, by the way)...'

Good info in the above also OTM, I need to read, read and reread that when I do review work. Thank you very much for another great lesson !

...rephrased: '...next, from the 6th-degree note, we drop (flatten) another halfstep (semi-tone) to the Eaug5 = E#5 = E+5 chord...' because of the earlier statement "...as before, we begin by "chasing" a descending degree note -- from M7 down to 2/9th." just like we did with the G, C and A shapes.

...and, here's the next lower (flatted) note below the triad V-degree, Edim5 = Eb5 = E-5:



...again, as a triad (ie: not an "altered" x7, x9, etc., chord), each V-degree note must be flatted, and since we cannot get "behind the nut" we have to "drop" (not play) the 5th on open B2 string with this location (but not so with F or higher chords using E-shape).

note: "aug" and "dim" are sometimes stated without the "5", ie: Eaug or Edim, but they BOTH refer to the V-degree note of the triad, just as "min" and "sus" refer to the III-degree note of the triad...unless specifically annotated differently, ie: "sus" = "sus4" meaning 4 instead of 3, while "sus2" = 2 instead of 3, explicity.

Oops...sorry OTM, I tunnel visioned out on the '+' and the 'aug'. Hope you weren't offended. I see the lesson now...and I should have remembered that we were 'descending' in this case from the 6th degree note in the second example E6 diagram from the previous lesson. Again my apologies.

...'each V-degree note must be flatted, and since we cannot get "behind the nut" we have to "drop" (not play) the 5th'...

I remembered the above this time.

...'note: "aug" and "dim" are sometimes stated without the "5", ie: Eaug or Edim, but they BOTH refer to the V-degree note of the triad,'...

I seem to remember the above from a question I had about a dim chord a while back.

..."min" and "sus" refer to the III-degree note of the triad'....this is sinking in more each time you mention it.

...'sus" = "sus4" meaning 4 instead of 3, while "sus2" = 2 instead of 3, explicity'.....I always remember right away that 'sus' means 'sus4' when I see it now.

Thanks OTM, VERY good lesson.

...next, we descend another halfstep to the IV-degree note, ie: Esus4 or simply Esus:

...first, the "usual" Esus4 fingering (treble):


...and, then the "not-so-usual" Esus4 fingering (rhythm):

I usually play the first example Esus4, but now I'll be adding the second example, rhythm Esus4 to my 'chordbook'.  They good mixed in with E7 and Em7, also I notice the Esus4 rhythm chord is a quick shortcut to a 'simple' Asus2.

Thanks OTM.

GuitarZen wrote:

...also I notice the Esus4 rhythm chord is a quick shortcut to a 'simple' Asus2.

...excellent! when you start noticing the similaries / applications of chords, that's a sign you're really beginning to understand what you're seeing.

...next descending note is the minor-III or m3, creating the triad chord: Eminor = Emin = Em:



...since there's only one III-degree note across all the six strings, there's effectively only one Em fingering (actually the E-shape does have others, but we have to move away from the nut before they can be used).

The Eminor, Emin, Em chord shows up a lot I notice. Possibly even more than EMajor. It's very easy to move around to a lot of other 'simple' chords from Em I notice also.

And yes, I knew there were 'Em's' away from the nut.

Thanks OTM.

OK, the next descending note is the II-degree (or 9th), making the chord Eadd9

...here, the "added" 9th note is on E1-string for a "melody" chord:


...while, here, the "added" 9th note is on D4-string for a "rhythm" chord:


...note: the add9 note could also be placed on the E6 (ie: "mirror" of E1 string)...this is often done as a "passing" tone but seldom done as a full 6-string chord.  Why? Because it tends to create a "muddy" sounding chord, hence the use of 4-note "jazz" chords where the bass note is on E6-string, the A5-string is "skipped/not played" and the remaining 3 notes are clustered on the D4-B2 strings. It's the tonal "distance/separation" between the E6-string note and the D4-string note that makes the "non-muddy" difference.

TEST QUESTION: "How" would you create an Esus2 chord? Think about it as a simple step-by-step sequence.

Ok, I've wracked my brain on this one and looked back at the 'make any A' lesson, looked at Asus2, looked elsewhere for 'Esus2' chords, found a few but I don't get something. And here I thought I had 2/9 figured out especially since we've just been talking about it recently. I didn't want to just post something I found so I have to say what my first reaction was before I even looked around and that was that your Eadd9 diagrams already have what we need to be called Esus2 chords.

I mean right away I thought from the test question, 'ok, I have to add a 2nd degree note'...then I looked at the Emajor diagram at the beginning of the 'Make Any E chord' posts and noticed I can't double flat the 3rd degree so then I thought, 'ok, I have to add a 9th' but the Eadd9 examples already do just that of course. That's when I looked up Esus2's elsewhere and found that Esus2's are alternately called Eadd9's. I'm kind of confused but hopefully not totally....I want to put this 2/9 issue behind me but in a way that I won't be confused at all. Am I wrong when I say I'd make my Esus2 for my test question either of the two ways you've shown the Eadd9 chords? I spent a lot of time thinking about this and looking around for answers in previous lessons plus at other sites but I'm not clear yet. so HELP boss ! Thanks OTM, very thought provoking test question.