5. Other Chords

SUSPENDED CHORDS:
Chords that are (1-2-5) or (1-4-5) are referred to as suspended chords. Since they lack 3rds, 6ths, and 7ths they don’t have a very strong tonality. Very useful though.

Suspended second (1-2-5) is denoted “Csus2”
Suspended fourth (1-4-5) is denoted “Csus4” or just “Csus”

The don’t really have inversions. If you invert a sus2 chord, you get a different sus4 chord.

CHORD EXTENSIONS:
Another common chord type is extended chords, or rather, chords with extensions. These are chords with "add9", "add11", "add13" tacked on the end. I suppose you could add anything above 9 really. A ninth is just an 2nd an octave up. Elevenths are octave+fourths. Thirteenths are octave+sixths. You would only say a chord has an added 9th if there isn't a 2nd in the first octave. You could also have an addb9 or add#11 chord, if that note wasn't diatonic.

By the same token you can have chords missing notes. If you had a chord that was (A-E-G) you could call it A7no3, meaning it's an A dominant seventh missing it's 3rd.

"Add"s and "no"s can get messy real fast, make sure your chord isn't just an inversion of something else before going nuts with them.

I dunno if you're familiar, but the first chord from So What by Miles Davis is pretty cool/weird.

It's 1-4-m7-M9, which is the root, up a 4th, up a 4th, and then up a Maj3.

Not sure what you'd call that.

On guitar you can just bar across the middle 4 strings.

You know that chord that comes before like every James Bond scene change, or when you get shot in Goldeneye?

(0-10-9-8-7-x)

1-m3-5-M7-M9

It's called a min/Maj9 chord apparently. I dunno why the 7 isn't mentioned.


Also check out the chord progression for the Bond theme:

Am-Am#5-Am6-Am#5

Am (x02210)
Am#5 (x03211)
Am6 (x02212)

These are the notes in those chords:
Am (xAEACE)
Am#5 (xAFACF)
Am6 (xAEACF#)

Am#5 is actually the same notes as F Maj. In this instance it's called a m#5, not only cause the emphasis is on A, but also so when you read the progression you don't think your making some big leap between A and F, you're just inching up and down. Think of what the bassline would be. You could play it on the A string like this (0-7-0-8-0-9-0-8 ). You never really leave that Am pocket.