Escalas Musicales

Scales
Modes and
Chord construction
For the advanced guitarist
Charlie Garcia
Scales
Modes and
Chord construction
For the advanced guitarist
Charlie Garcia
Scales, Modes and Chord

construction
Is dedicated to:
Austin
Alex
Nicole
Tatiana
Special thanks to:

God, mom and dad, my entire family, Mike Major for teaching me how
to make records, Robert Manning for his great work ethic, R. Crosby,
Stuart Hamm, Emmet Chapman for creating the Chapman stick and
for having a great deal of patience with me, Aaron Coello and family, R.
Booth, Sergio Lorenzana and family, to all my friends for being so
forgiving and to every artist that I have ever produced or played with
over the last 20 years.
Charlie Garcia
Index
Introduction
How to use this Book ..
Page
Grid Protocol...
Standard Music Notation..

Reading rhythm.
Silence as written in music notation .
Note values .
6
8
11
14
Key Signatures
15
Scales..
Major and minor scales....
Major and minor scale patterns....
Major and minor Scales in 1st and 5th Positions
Other types of scales..
The harmonic minor scale
The jazz minor scale.
The melodic minor scale..
20
21
22
24
38
39
42
47
The Modes.
51
Chord Construction
Building a C major triad.
The C minor triad..
Major 7 and minor 7 chords....
Dominant 7 chords.......................................................................................
Chord extensions....
Chord alterations..
Other types of chords
Diminished chords...
Diminished chord trick..
The half diminished or flat 5 chord.
The augmented chord.
Augmented chord trick......
Suspended chords sus 2 and sus 4.................
The 6 chord....
106
108
109
110
113
114
121
126
126
131
137
139
142
147
152
Chord Substitutions...
Relative Minor principle
Tonic substitution principle...
Tritone substitution principle..
Diminished substitution principle.
153
154
157
160
165
Augmented substitution principle....

Diatonic substitution principle.....
Diatonic chord progression reference chart..
Diatonic chord progressions..
168
170
172
186
Chord Inversions...
Slash Chords
233
236
Arpeggios.
Major 7 arpeggio chart...
Minor 7 arpeggio chart...
238
243
244
The Extended Arpeggio Concept..
245
Grid Protocol
The graphs used in this book to illustrate chords and scales will be
represented in mirror image format. meaning that the left side of the
graph will represent the fret closest to the headstock and tuning gears
while, the right side of the graph represents the fret closest to the body of
the guitar just as if you where standing in front of a mirror.
1st fret
3rd fret
6th fret
Some of the graphs shown throughout the book may start on a different
fret such as the 2nd or any other fret depending on the example. Squares
will be used to represent the root of a chord or scale while circles will be
used for all the other notes within the grid.
The low E string is represented by the line at the top of the grid, while
the A string is represented by the line below. The D, G, B and high E
strings follow below in that same order.
1st fret
3rd fret
6th string low E

5th string
4th string
3rd string
2nd string
1st string high E

The example above is for a C major 7 chord played on the 3 rd fret of the
A string where you would bar on the 3rd fret and use the remaining
fingers to play the rest of the chord. You may encounter graphs without
fret numbers meaning that the example is not specific to a particular area
of the neck.
Grid protocol
Natural Notes on the Guitar Neck No Sharp or Flats

E
C
8
D
9
10
F
1
G
3
A
5
B
7
11
12
The Chart above represents the notes on the guitar neck with the
13
exception of the flat or sharp notes. Notice how the notes repeat
themselves after the 12th Fret.
Next I will show you where the sharp notes are on the neck
F#
#
F#
#
G
#
C
#
D
#
F#
#
G
#
#
C
#
D
#
D
#
F#
#
G
#
G
F#
#
E
1
13
G
#
A
F#
#
D
#
C
#
D
10
11
12
Lets take a look at the Flat notes on the Freeboard
Gb
#
C
Ab
Bb
Db
Eb
Gb
Ab
Bb
Bb
Db
Eb
Eb
Gb
Ab
Bb
Db
Eb
Db
Eb
Gb
Ab
b
G A
Bb
Db
Eb
Gb
Ab
Gb
Bb
13
Ab
Bb
Db
Eb
10
11
12
Standard Music Notation

Basics
It is extremely important to be able to read and write standard
music notation for a number of reasons. One of them being that by
being able to read and write music notation your chances of
becoming a professional musician increase due to the fact that a
great number of gigs require at the very least basic reading skills.
Another way you may benefit from being able to read and write
music is when communicating your musical ideas to other
musicians when your instrument is not within reach. The following
is not intended to be a complete method for learning to read and
write music but rather a basic reference guide that should be
enough to get you started and hopefully keep you in the right
direction towards learning this essential skill.
The staff
Treble clef
C D E F
CC
Ledger lines
Staff lines
A B
C D
F G
B C
The fancy looking symbol at the beginning of the staff is called the
treble clef. There are many different types of clefs but the most
common ones are the Treble and Bass clefs.
Bass clef
Bass clef
F G
C D
E F
G A
B C
D E
Measure or bar
Time signature
4
4
Bar lines
Common time signatures

4/4 2/4 3/4 6/4 6/8 7/8 etc.
4/4 time is also known as common time and you may see it
represented by the letter C in the place where the time signature
normally would be. 2/4 time is sometimes referred to as cut time
and its represented by the letter C with a slash thru the middle C.
Reading Rhythm
In common time we find that there are four beats or counts per
measure and these 4 beats and their subdivisions are represented by
a variety of symbols.
The whole note
The whole note = 4 beats
Its duration is that of an entire bar which means that you play the
whole note at the beginning of the measure and sustain (hold) the
note for 4 beats. There can only be one whole note per measure.
The Half note

Stem
The Half note = 2 beats
The duration of a half note is only 2 beats which is half the length
of a whole note. This means that you can have two half notes per
bar. Notice the introduction of the stem which helps to distinguish
a whole note from a half note.
The Quarter note
The Quarter note = 1 beat
The duration of a Quarter note is only half the duration of a

half note, therefore it only lasts for one beat. There can be 4
quarter notes per measure or bar. Notice that the quarter
note is just like the half note in the sense that it has a stem
but instead of the note being white it is black.
The 8th note
The 8th note = of a beat
The eighth note is written almost like a quarter note but

with a flag on top of a stem. The duration can be somewhat
short depending on the tempo and it only lasts of a beat.
The 16th note
The 16th note = of a beat
The 16th note has 2 flags on top of the stem and its duration is only
of a quarter note or beat.
The 32nd note
The 32nd note = 1/8 of a beat
The 32nd note has 3 flags on the stem and its duration is very short
lasting only for 1/8 of a quarter note.
10
Silence as written in music notation

Silence plays a very important role in music and is also represented
in music notation by symbols called rests. There are different types
of rests and they all have their own value or duration.
The whole note rest
The whole note rest = 4 beats
The whole note rest represents silence for an entire measure. (4

beats)
The Half note rest
The Half note rest = 2 beats
The half note rest represents a silence that lasts two beats or half of
a measure.
11
The Quarter note rest
The Quarter note rest = 1 beat
The quarter note rest represents silence for 1/4 of a measure the
equivalent of 1 beat or quarter note.
The 8th note rest
The 8th note rest = of a beat
The eighth note rests represents a short silence of only 1/2 of a

beat.
12
The 16th note rest
The 16th note rest = of a beat
The sixteenth note rest represents a silence that lasts only 1/8 of a
beat.
The 32nd note
The 32nd note rest = 1/8 of a beat
The 32nd rest is a very short silence lasting only 1/16 of a quarter
note.
13
Note Values
Whole
note
counts or beats
Half
note
counts or beats
Quarter note
counts or beats
8th
note
1/2 count or beat
16th
note
32nd
note
=
=
1/4 count or beat

1/8 count or beat
Rest Values
Whole
rest
counts or beats
Half
rest
counts or beats
Quarter rest
counts or beats
8th
rest
1/2 count or beat
16th
rest
1/4 count or beat
32nd
rest
1/8 count or beat
14
Key signatures
And Improvising
Learning and memorizing all key signatures is an invaluable tool
for the improvising musician that allows him/her to absorb a great
deal of information about a piece of music by simply taking a
quick glance at the beginning of the sheet music. Most students
know that key signatures are used to avoid writing sharp or flat
notes repeatedly throughout the chart and by writing them once at
the beginning it is understood that every time a particular note
appears within the composition , it is to be played as if the
accidental was written next to the note. By knowing what key a
song is in and by studying some of the concepts and patterns taught
in this book a musician can make use of substitutions and the
different modes to create a variety of textures during
improvisation. In the following pages you will find a very useful
chart with major and minor key signatures in both flat and sharp
keys that will allow you to easily memorize them by following the
circle of fifths for the sharp keys and the circle of fourths for the
flat keys.
15
Key Signatures
C major = A minor
Continued on next page

papage..
16
17
Key Signatures
C major = A minor

pagepppage..
18
19
Key Signatures
Scales
In western music scales are the foundation of melodic content within a
composition. Major and minor scales are at its core. A scale is a series of
notes that ascend and descend in a particular order of intervals. The most
basic scale is the chromatic scale which consists of nothing but half step
intervals. A C major scale is made of: C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A,
A#, B and C. from this scale we can create two of the most important
scales in western popular music; the major scale and the minor scale.
W= whole tone interval or whole step jump within the chromatic

scale
C C# D D# E F F# etc
W
Whole tone interval
H= half tone interval or half step jump within the chromatic
scale
C C# D D# E F F# etc
H
Half tone interval
Major scale formula = W, W, H, W, W, W, H
Minor scale formula = W, H, W, W, H, W, W
20
Major and minor scales

Building a C major scale from the chromatic scale using the whole tone,
half tone formula.
Major scale formula = W, W, H, W, W, W, H
C#
D D#
E F F#
G# A A#
B C
C Major scale = C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C

Building a C minor scale from the chromatic scale using the whole tone,
half tone formula.
Minor scale formula = W, H, W, W, H, W, W
C#
D D#
E F F#
G# A A#
B C
C Minor scale = C, D, D#, F, G, G#, A# and C
21
Scales
Major and minor scales patterns

There are many ways of playing scales on the guitar but I have found
some to be more effective than others. The fingerings you are about to
learn will allow you to play any major or minor scale in any key by
moving your hand up or down the neck. Although I recommend that you
are fully aware of the notes contained in any given scale, the reality is
that when you are playing and more importantly when you are
improvising over a chord progression it is almost impossible to think of
what notes belong to a scale therefore learning a few simple patterns will
go a long way in your quest for mastering the guitar. Next we will learn
a one octave pattern and a two octave pattern for both the major and
minor scales.
C Major scale = C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C
1 octave pattern
2 octave pattern
6th fret
C major scale
6th fret
C major scale
22
C Minor scale = C, D, D#, F, G, G#, A# and C

1 octave pattern
2 octave pattern
6th fret
C minor scale
6th fret
C minor scale
Before we move on to the next section I would like to teach you

a simple formula used to easily convert any major scale into
minor.
C Major Scale
C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
In order to turn this C major scale into a C minor all you have to do is
flatten the 3rd, 6th and 7th degrees
C minor = C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C

1o 2o b3o 4o 5o b6o b7o 8o
Minor conversion formula
Flat 3rd, Flat 6th and Flat 7th degrees
23
Scales
Major and Minor scales

In 1st and 5th positions
The patterns I will show you in the following pages are what make
accomplished guitar players have total command of their
instruments when improvising solos. These patterns allow you to
play any major or minor scale without having to switch positions,
therefore maximizing the principle of economy of motion amongst
other benefits. I used to be mesmerized when seeing Pat Martino
solo over complex chord changes without his hand moving up or
down the neck, I could hear the chords changing, but Martino
would always play the right notes to all the different chords all
while his hand remained in the same position! An important thing
to remember is that when improvising solos in most styles of
music most musicians do not just play scales up and down the
neck; instead we try to create melodies that fit that particular
musical language. The melodic advantage these patterns have is
that most of them do not start on the root note of the scale, which
makes the sound more like runs, rather than mere scales. A C
major scale can start on A instead of C if played on the 5th position
or F if played in 1st position. Before we get started with the
patterns I would like to explain what we will be referring to as 1 st
and 5th positions throughout this book.
24
Fingering protocol
1st position will be accomplished by placing your index finger on
the first fret, second finger on the 2nd fret, third finger on the 3rd
fret and the fourth finger placed on the 4th fret.
5th position is a bit different than 1st position due to the fact that the
both the index and pinky finger can cover two frets allowing you to
cover up to six frets in this position alone.5th position is
accomplished by placing your index finger on the 5 th fret, second
finger on the 6th fret, third finger on the 7th fret, and finally by
placing your pinky on the 8th fret. Keep in mind that the index
finger is allowed to shift down to the 4th fret and the pinky is
allowed to move up to the 9th fret.
25
Scales
Major Scales in 1st Position

1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
26
Major and Minor Scales

1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6 o 7o 8o
1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
27

1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
28
Major Scales in 5th Position

5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
29

5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6 o 7o 8o
5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
30

5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
31
Minor Scales in 1st Position

1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
32

1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
33

1st Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
34
Minor Scales in 5th Position

5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
35

5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
36

5th Fret
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
37
Other types of Scales

Harmonic minor
Jazz minor
Melodic minor
Although there are many scales in music, the ones shown in this book
are the most common and the most versatile.
38
Scales
The Harmonic Minor Scale

The Harmonic minor scale is very easy to remember since it just
like a minor scale except it has a major 7th as shown in example 1.
Although I try not to give any adjectives to any of these scales, I
will say that some musicians describe the harmonic minor scale as
sounding exotic and some even say it sounds Middle Eastern to
them. What is important here is that you internalize the sound and
use it as a tool to express yourself in a musical way. The harmonic
minor scale works well over a m7 to dominant 7 chord
progression. For example if you play Gm7 to D7 we can play G
harmonic minor over both chords. Lets take a look at the notes in
the chord progression and see how the scale relates to it.
1 o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o
39
Harmonic Minor Patterns
40
41
The Jazz Minor Scale

The jazz minor scale (sometimes referred to as Jazz melodic
minor) is similar to classical musics melodic minor scale
ascending form which is a major scale with a flat 3 rd degree 1o 2o
b o
3 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o the difference is that the Jazz minor scale
remains the same ascending as well as descending. As the name
may suggest this scale is extensively used in Jazz but can and
should be used in any style. Scales should never be confined to one
single style of music; instead they should be viewed as a series of
notes that have a certain sound or color when played over chords
regardless of style. The main factor that makes a musician sound
true to a style when improvising is phrasing and not the use of
any particular scale. Do not be fooled by the name of this scale and
start applying it to your favorite style of music as soon as possible.
On the other hand do not make the assumption that you will sound
Jazzy by incorporating the Jazz minor scale into your
vocabulary. I would like to point out the fact that some of these
scales can have multiple names, for example the Jazz minor can be
viewed as a major scale with a flat third degree or it may also be
viewed as a minor scale with natural sixth and seventh degrees! As
I have mentioned before, it is more important to learn the sound or
color of the scale and not get too caught-up in too much theory
or giving scales all kinds of different names.
Jazz Minor Scale Formula

1o 2o b3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
42
Jazz Minor Scale Patterns
43
Jazz Minor
Jazz Minor Scale Formula
44
Jazz Minor Scale

Applications
There is a simple trick to apply the Jazz minor scale that is easy to
remember and sounds very sophisticated when played over
certain chord progressions. Any time you have a dominant7 b13
chord that resolves to a major7 up a fourth or down a fifth you may
play the Jazz minor scale up a half step from the dominant 7 b13. If
the dominant 7b13 resolves to any other chord other than a major7
up a fourth or down a fifth you may play the Jazz minor scale
starting from the 5th degree of the dominant7b13.This scale can be
applied to a G7b13 to Cmajor7 chord progression as shown in the
following example in which we choose to play a G# Jazz minor
scale based on the notes it shares with G7b13 as well as with the
Cmajor7 chord.
G# Jazz minor played over a G7b13 to Cmaj7 chord

progression analysis.
Ex.1
R
G
G7b13
3
5
B D
G# Jazz minor
7
F
13
Eb G# A# B
C# D# F
Common notes
G
Eb
Outside notes
G# A# C#
*Eb is enharmonic to D#. This means that its the same tone but
they can have two different names.
45
Jazz Minor
R
C
C major7
3
5
7
E G B
G# Jazz minor
G#
A# B
C# D# F
Common notes
G and B
Outside notes
G# A# C# D# F
Keep in mind that the outside notes can create a very desirable
color.
I cannot overemphasize the importance of knowing what notes are
in a chord, you must be aware of the chord extensions or chord
alterations if there are any. In example 1 we have a G# Jazz minor
played over a G7b13 in this chord the altered extension is the b13
(Eb) which coincides with the fifth degree of the scale. If we
choose to play G#7/13 (natural 13 degree) we can play the D Jazz
minor scale as shown in example 2.
Ex2.
R
G
G7/13
3
5
7
B D F
D Jazz minor
13
E
Common notes
G
F and E
Outside note
C#
46
C#
Melodic Minor Scale

The melodic minor scale is very different from all the other scales
due to the fact that it ascends like a minor scale with a natural 6 th
and a natural 7th but it descends like a minor scale with its b3, b6
and b7 degrees. In reality these are two separate scales but for some
reason they have been taught to music students in this manner for
quite some time. If you were to take the A melodic minor and play
it over an Am7 chord you will see that the major 6th and major 7th
(which are part of the melodic minor scale) are not found in the
Am7 and when played against the chord it adds a certain color
that you may or may not find useful. However, the rule to this
particular scale is that you must play the melodic minor ascending
which is 1o, 2o, b3o, 4o, 5o, 6o, 7o, 8o and when descending the
natural minor scale is played 1o, 2o, b3o, 4o, 5o, b6o, b7o, 8o so going
up there are going to be some outside notes but coming back
down you should be within scale. To me this looks and sounds like
to different scales and I choose to think of the melodic minor scale
as little as possible simply because popular music does not
function in this way where you would have two different scales
played over a single chord. If you are a student or composer in the
classical field you may find the classical melodic minor scale
useful to analyze certain compositions but I rarely find this to be
the case in popular western music.
47
1o 2o
b o
3 4o 5 o 6o 7o 1o 2o
48
b o
3 4o 5 o
6o b7o
Melodic Minor Patterns
49
50
The modes
There is a great deal of confusion about the modes, especially
amongst beginning students although there are countless books,
magazines, and lessons on the Internet dealing with this subject. I
have taken the time to review a good number of them and found
that some are a very poor explanation of the subject. After some
time studying the modes I came to the conclusion that mode theory
like most concepts in music is very simple, however it is the way
that some of these lessons are presented that can create some
confusion to the beginning student. For instance I have found that
many of these lessons will have an explanation of the Ionian mode
followed by the Aeolian mode instead the Dorian mode, this may
not make sense to you at this time but trust me this is the kind of
thing that gets people confused. At the risk of being criticized I
must admit that I do not feel that one must know the name of the
modes to be able to accomplish a high level of technical
proficiency on the guitar, however I wanted to include them
because I felt that not doing so would make this book incomplete.
One thing to note is the fact that people get too caught up in the
whole mode thing but the fact of the matter is that it is almost
impossible to be thinking of which mode to play when the chords
are flying by so fast. Almost every great improviser that I ever
talked to about this subject has given me the same answer; that
they are not thinking in modal terms, instead they are focused in
creating melodies whether its playing jazz, metal or whatever style
it may be. Next I will explain the modes minus the nonsense.
51
What are the Modes?

A mode is a scale that starts on any given degree of a major scale
other than the root note.
Take a C major scale and instead of starting on the root note, start
on the 2nd degree (D) using the notes of the C major scale
exclusively and working your way up to the D an octave higher.
This will render a mode, which in this case it would be D Dorian.
C Major Scale
1o 2o 3o 4 o 5o 6o 7o 8o
C D E F G A B C
Start on the second degree and you get D Dorian.
D E
G A B C D
52
The Modes
The 7 modes of the Major Scale
Ionian
Dorian
Phrygian
Lydian
Mixolydian
Aeolian
Locrian
Lets take the C major scale and use it to build our modes starting
with the Ionian mode which is simply the major scale, meaning
that we start on C and end on C an octave higher using the formula
for the major scale of Whole step /Whole step /Half step /Whole
step /Whole step /Whole step /Half step that you should know by
now.
C Ionian = *also known as the C major scale.

C D E F G A B C
1o 2o 3o 4 o 5o 6o 7o 8o
53
D Dorian
D E F G A B C D
2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o R 2o
I will like to stop at this point and explain something that seems to
create a lot of confusion. This Dorian mode that we are playing
here is nothing more than the C major scale starting on D instead
of C as it has been established, and it is not to be confused with the
C Dorian mode which is: C/D/E /F/G/A/B /C. Furthermore you
will notice that in the previous example D Dorian starts on the
second degree of the scale and not the first. Writing it in this
manner is to emphasize that we are dealing with the 2nd degree of
the C major scale and not the D major scale. Lets take a look at
the next mode.
E Phrygianrd
Starting on the 3 degree of the C major scale we get:
E F G A B C D E
3o 4o 5o 6o 7o R 2o 3o
F Lydian
Starting on the 4th degree of the C major scale we get:
F G A B C D E F
4o 5o 6o 7o R 2o 3o 4o
54
The Modes
G Mixolydian
th
G A B C D E F G
5o 6o 7o R 2o 3o 4o 5o
A Aeolianth
A B C D E F G A
6o 7o R 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o
B Locrian th
B C D E F G A B
7o R 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o
Before I show you how these modes are played on guitar, I will
teach you a simple formula that will help you memorize them by
simply learning if there are any sharp or flat degrees.
55
Formula
Ionian mode
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
Dorian mode
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
Phrygian mode
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
Lydian mode
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
Mixolydian mode
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
Aeolian mode
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
Locrian mode
1o 2o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
56
The Modes
Notice how we are starting on the 1st degree of the scale this time
and not on the second degree for the Dorian mode, otherwise it
would be a Dorian mode but in a different key. This is where most
of the confusion has been generated. So if we take the C major
scale:
C D E F G A B C = Ionian mode
C Dorian would be:
C D E F G A B C = C Dorian
And not!
D E F G A B C D
That would be D Dorian.
Next we will work out all 7 modes in C using the formula we just
learned.
57
The 7 Modes in the key of C

C Ionian
C D E F G A B C
1o
2o
3o
4o
5o
6o
7o
8o
C Dorian
C D E F G A B C
1o
2o
3o
4o
5o
6o
7o
8o
C Phrygian
C D E F G A B C
1o
2o
3o
4o
5o
6o
7o
8o
C Lydian
C D E F G A B C
1o
2o
3o
4o
5o
6o
7o
8o
C Mixolydian
C D E F G A B C
1o
2o
3o
4o
5o
6o
7o
8o
A Aeolian
C D E F G A B C
1o
2o
3o
4o
5o
6o
7o
8o
C Locrian
C D E F G A B C
1o
2o
3o
4o
5o
6o
7o
58
8o
The Modes
First we will refer to the pattern we have been using to play the
major scale on guitar.
1
Frets
6
S
T
R
I
N
G
S
5
3o
4
3
1o
2o
4o
5o
6o
7o
8o
2
1
It is important that we remember the pattern for the major scale, as

it is our foundation for the major scale and modes as well as for
building chords, which will be discussed in a later chapter. The
small number next to the black dot on the diagram refers to the
degree of the scale. The reason we will be looking at the diagram
instead of learning the name of the notes for each one of the modes
is due to the fact that I want to make it as easy as possible to learn
these modes and very much like we did so when learning the major
scale pattern, once you learn the simple formula along the pattern
all you have to do is move it up or down the neck and you will be
playing all the modes in every possible key by simply memorizing
a few simple fingerings.
59
The following examples work just like the pattern for the major
scale except that this time you will be learning 7 different patterns
instead of just one, the good news is that in doing so, you will have
learned all of the modes in all keys by simply moving your hand
up or down the neck.
3rd Fret
C Ionian
1o 2 o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
No Sharps or Flats
3rd Fret
C Dorian
1o 2 o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
Flat 3, 7
60
The Modes
3rd Fret
C Phrygian
1o 2 o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
Flat 2, 3, 6
3rd Fret
C Lydian
1o 2 o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
Sharp 4
3rd Fret
C Mixolydian
1o 2 o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
Flat 7
61
3rd Fret
C Aeolian
1o 2 o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
Flat 3, 6, 7
3rd Fret
C Locrian
1o 2 o 3o 4o 5o 6o 7o 8o
Flat 2, 3, 5, 6, 7
62
The Modes
Great! We now know all the modes in the key of C and we also
know that by moving our hand up or down the neck we get all 7
modes in every key. The previous patterns only covered one octave
and are confined to the middle strings.
Next we have all 7 modes in the keys of C, D, E, F, G, A and B
covering two octaves in 1st and 5th positions.
What we will learn next is the key to improvising, not only are
these modes great for improvising but also for writing melodies
and to make your soloing much more interesting or outside
sounding. Keep in mind that depending on the style you are
playing you will have to use the right phrasing in order to be true
to the style, Furthermore the purpose of these various patterns we
have learned and the ones we are going to learn next is to make
music and not to just run scales up and down the neck.
*NOTE:
The
following
Patterns may also be viewed
as fingering exercises to
build speed and dexterity.
63
The Modes in 1st Position key of C

1st Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
64
The Modes
1st Position key of C

1st Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
65
The
1stModes
Position
in key
1st Position
of C
1st Fret
66
The Modes
1st Position key of D

1st Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
67

1st Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
68
The Modes

1st Fret
69
FIRST
1stPOSITION
Position key
KEY
of EOF D
1st Fret
1st Fret
*Alternate Fingering
1st Fret
70
The Modes
1st Position key of E

1st Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
71
1st Position key of E

1st Fret
1st Fret
72
The Modes
1st Position key of F

1st Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
73

1st Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
74
The Modes

1st Fret
75
1st Position key of G

1st Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
76
The Modes
st Position key
1ST1POSITION
KEY
ofOF
G G
1st Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
77
1st Position key of G

1st Fret
78
The Modes
1st Position key of A

1st Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
79

1st Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
80
The Modes

1st Fret
81
st Position Key
1ST1POSITION
KEYofOF
B B
1st Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
82
The Modes
1st Position Key of B

1st Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
83
1st Position Key of B

1st Fret
84
The Modes
The Modes in 5th Position Key of C

5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
85
5th Position Key of C

5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
86
The Modes
5th Position Key of C

5th Fret
87
5th Position Key of D

5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
88
The Modes

5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
89

5th Fret
90
The Modes
5th Position Key of E

5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
91

5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
92
The Modes

5th Fret
93
5th Position Key of F

5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
94
The Modes

5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
95

5th Fret
96
The Modes
2nd5th
POSITION
Position Key
KEY
ofOF
G F
5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
97
5th Position Key of G

5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
98
The Modes
5th Position Key of G

5th Fret
99
5th Position Key of A

5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
100
The Modes

5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
101

5th Fret
102
The Modes
5th Position Key of B

5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
103
5th Position Key of B

5th Fret
5th Fret
5th Fret
104
The Modes
th Position Key
2nd5POSITION
KEYofOF
B B
5th Fret
105
Chord construction
The process of chord construction like most concepts in music is very
simple; it is so simple that once you have learned the method taught in
this book you will be able to build any chord regardless of how complex
it may be. Have you ever been faced with a chord such as D7/9/#13?
Only to be left wondering how such fancy chord is to be played on piano
or guitar. Being a bass player and coming from a rock background I was
used to playing some basic folk chords and simple power chords on
guitar but I always wondered how Jazz musicians where able to come up
with such beautiful and exotic sounding chord voicings. Growing up
the resources for learning music outside a music school where limited to
some VHS instructional videos or from a private instructor. Some of
these methods showed how to grip or finger these fancy jazz chords
but would not offer an explanation on why or how the chord was built.
During my early days as a musician I tried talking to all kinds of players
to learn how these chords where created but soon realized that most of
these musicians had different versions of the chords in question and
ultimately had no idea what they were talking about and to make matters
worse they made an effort to make things more complicated than they
really were. I would be at rehearsal and the guitar player would say
something like hey check out this D/#13 chord when in fact it was a
Dm9. I had a feeling that chord construction was simpler than what
anyone cared to admit. After a great deal of research and countless hours
of trial and error I managed to figure it out! And subsequently developed
a very simple method to build any chord without having to memorize
hundreds of patterns from chord books that seem to be so popular
nowadays but can take years to master. If you have an understanding on
how the major scale is played on the guitar and can count to 20 you
should have no problem creating your own chords.
106
Chord types
Major triads
Minor triads
Major 7 chords:
maj7 or 7
Minor 7 chords:
-7 or m7
Dominant 7 chords: simply notated with a number 7 such as C7

Chord Extensions: 9ths, 11ths and 13ths
Chord Alterations:
Sharp and flat 9, sharp and flat 11,
sharp and flat 13, sharp and flat 5
Other Chord Types

Diminished chords
Half diminished chords
(also known as flat 5)
Augmented chords
Suspended chords ( sus 2 and sus 4)
6 Chord
107
Chord Construction
Building a C Major triad

Lets begin by building simple major and minor triads (3 note chords)
which will be the foundation for most of the chords discussed in this
book.
Step #1
The first step is to take a scale and use it as a road map to construct
our triad. To keep things simple we will be using the C major scale
which consists of the following notes:
C major scale
C D E F G A B C
R 2o 3o 4o
5o 6o
7o 8o
A major triad is composed of the 1st (root), 2nd and 3rd degrees of a major
scale as shown in the following example:
Step #2
C Major triad
C D E F G A B C
R 2o
C major triad
3o 4o
5o 6o 7o
8o
Major triad formula

R, 3rd and 5th.
C Major triad = C, E and
G.
108
The C minor triad

The first step in building the C minor triad is to take the C major scale as
our guide and then convert it to a minor scale by lowering the 3rd, 6th and
7th degrees of the scale.
Step #1
C major scale
C D E F G A B C
R
2o 3o 4o
5o
6o
7o
8o
Conversion to minor by
lowering the 3rd, 6th and
7th degrees.
C Minor scale
C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
R
2o
b o
4o 5 o
b o
b o
8o
The minor triad is composed of the Root, 3rd and the 5th degrees of the
minor scale. Step 2 in the process is to find those chord tones to create
our triad.
Step #2
C Minor triad
C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
R
C Minor triad
2o
b o
4o
5o
b o
b o
8o
Minor triad formula

R, 3rd and 5th.
C Minor triad = C, Eb and G.
109
Chord Construction
Major 7 and Minor 7 chords

Lets continue with the building process and start adding notes to the
basic major and minor triads. The next note we will add is the 7 th degree
of the major scale which makes the chord sound fuller and much more
sophisticated.
Building a C Major 7
Step #1
Begin with the major triad
C Major triad
C D E F G A B C
R 2o 3o 4o
5o 6o
7o 8o
Major 7th
Step #2 add the 7th degree of the scale
C Major 7 or
C D E F G A B C
R 2o 3o 4o
C Major 7
5o 6o
7o 8o
Major 7 formula
R, 3rd,5th and 7th
C Major 7 = C, E, G and B.
110
The Minor 7 chord

The minor 7 chord is constructed by using the major scale as reference
then lowering the 3rd, 6th and 7th degrees of the scale in order to convert
it to a minor scale; we then find our chord tones as in the previous
examples by starting at the Root and skipping every other note. To those
students already familiar with minor scales the major to minor scale
conversion may seem like an unnecessary step when building minor
chords, however this is an invaluable tool for the beginning student
providing them with a step by step guide to chord construction and scale
conversion
Building a C Minor 7
Cm7 or C-7
Step #1 major to minor scale conversion
C major scale
C D E F G A B C
2o 3o 4o
5o
6o
7o
8o
Conversion to minor by
lowering the 3rd, 6th and
7th degrees.
C Minor scale
C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
R
2o
b o
4o
5o
b o
b o
8o

111
Chord Construction
Building a C Minor 7
Step #2
Next we take the minor scale and locate the chord tones. A C minor 7
chord consists of the Root, 3rd, 5th and 7th.
C Minor scale
C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
R
C Minor 7
2o
b o
4o
5o
b o
b o
8o
Major 7 formula
R, 3rd,5th and 7th of the minor scale
C Major 7 = C, E, G and B.
*By now you should have realized that the major and minor scales are
the building blocks of every chord. The simplest way to think of chords
is to take a minor or major scale and starting at the root skip every
other note in order to find the chord tones
112
Dominant 7 chords
Dominant 7 chords play a very important role in popular music and are
considered to be the harmonic foundation for jazz and blues. These
chords are easy to learn and have a very familiar sound due to the fact
that they have been ingrained in our musical culture in styles ranging
from Bossa to RnB and everything in between.
Dominant 7 chord formula

A dominant chord is based on a major scale with a lowered 7th degree.
C major scale
C D E F G A Bb C
R
2o 3o 4o
5o
6o
b o
8o
lowered 7th degree
C7
Dominant 7 formula
R, 3rd,5th and flat 7th
C 7 = C, E, G and Bb
113
Chord Construction
Chord extensions
Most musicians know that if one stands in front of a piano and plays the
lowest C note available and continues to play the C major scale thru the
full range of the keyboard; the notes keep repeating themselves each
time an octave higher. It is this very principle that will be our guide to
learning our chord extensions. This topic may seem complicated to some
musicians but you will soon see that by investing a small amount of time
reviewing the following pages you will be able to add extensions to your
voicings making them more harmonically complex. In the next section
we will use the two octave scale in order to be able to introduce 9th, 11th
and 13th chord extensions.
Two octave C major scale

C D E F G A B
R
C D E F G A B
8o 9o 10o 11o 12o 13o 14o
1st octave
2nd octave
114
9ths
The first extension we are going to learn is the 9th which appears on the
second half of the two octave scale. Chord extensions do not necessarily
have to be based on 7th chords, meaning that they can be composed of
the root, 3rd, 5th and the 7th degree may or may not be included
depending on the information included in the chord symbol.
Adding the 9th

Lets add a 9th to a C major 7 chord by first laying out a two octave scale
and finding the chord tones based on the formula.
C 7/9 Formula
Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th
C D E F G A B
R
C D E F G A B
8o 9o 10o 11o 12o 13o 14o
C major 7
Chord
extensions
115
Chord Construction
C 7/9
C 7/9 = C/E/G/B and D
* You may see the symbol add9 in some
books and chord charts; all this means
is to add the 9th to the chord
A C/9 chord unlike the previous example does not include the 7th degree
and is comprised of the following notes:
C/9 Formula
R
3o
5o
9o
C/9
116
11ths
The next extension is the 11th and by now you have realized how easy it
is to build chords using this method.
C D E F G A B
R
C D E F G A B
8o 9o 10o 11o 12o 13o 14o
C major 7
Chord
extensions
C 7/11 Formula
C 7/11
*in this example the
9th is omitted
117
Chord Construction
13ths
Our next extension is the 13th and by now we have covered every
possible note in the two octave major scale.
C D E F G A B
R
C D E F G A B
8o 9o 10o 11o 12o 13o 14o
C major 7
Chord
extensions
C 7/13 Formula
C 7/13
118
You may be asking yourself why we did not include 10 ths or 12ths in
the chord extension section or if we were dealing with a 3 octave scale
would you have 18ths or 20ths? If you look at the two octave major
scale you will notice that the 10th degree is nothing more than a 3rd
played an octave higher and it is part of a basic triad and not considered
to be an extension.
1st octave
2nd octave
C D E F G A B
R 2
C D E F G A B
8o
9o 10o 11o 12o 13o 14o
The 3rd and the 10th are

the same note ( E )
As you can see the 3rd and the 10th are both E. I do want to mention the
fact that piano players use the term tenths when describing certain
musical ideas about piano playing, but when dealing with guitar the term
is almost never used.
119
Chord Construction
Closing words on extensions

Extensions are nothing more than the same notes that fall in between the
chord tones when dealing with the one octave scale. It is important that
we understand that extensions can be added to major, minor, dominant 7
or any chord you can think of. Having said this I would like to
recommend that you take the time to add extensions to every chord you
know in order to get used to this simple process and to expand your
harmonic vocabulary. Chords can be based on any scale or mode, but I
find it easier to construct chords from the major and minor scales and
any variation from those scales can be analyzed as a chord alteration
which we will discuss in the following pages
120
Chord alterations
Any chord tone that is modified into becoming either a sharp () or flat
( ) is considered to be a chord alteration which is sometimes notated as
alt such as in alt9. Since using this symbol does not give you any
information to whether the note is flat or sharp I try not to use it at all.
Because I am of the idea that too many different symbols or too many
ways of notating a musical idea can lead confusion I prefer to provide as
much detailed information as possible about how a chord is to be played.
For instance I would notate a C dominant 7 with a flat 9 as such:
C7b9 and not as C7alt9 because the alt symbol does not give information
to whether the 9th is sharp or flat.
Common chord alterations

Sharp or flat 5
Sharp or flat 9
Sharp or flat 11
Sharp or flat 13
121
Chord Construction
Flat 5
The flat five is more commonly found in minor 7 chords especially in
jazz harmony but can be added as an alteration to a major 7 chord as
shown in the following example.
C maj7b5 or C
7b5
Sharp 5
A sharp five alteration is only applicable to major chords due to the
minor 6th being the same note as a #5. The sharp five is also known as
the augmented chord which we will look at in greater detail in the
following pages.
C maj7#5
122
Flat 9
Flat ninths can be used in both major and minor chords without them
overlapping with other chord tones. Illustrated in the next example is the
flat 9 applied to a C major 7 chord.
C maj7b9
Sharp 9
To my ears that sharp 9 sounds better when used on dominant 7 chords
but it can be used on any chord you like such as Cmaj7#9 shown in the
following example.
C maj7#9
123
Chord Construction
Flat 11
In a major chord a flat 11 is the same note as a 10th or major 3rd,
therefore the alteration does not add any color to the chord. On the other
hand you may have a flat 11 in a minor chord which can give it a
major/minor quality.
C maj7b11
Sharp 11
A sharp 11 is really a flat 5 played an octave higher, however there are
times when a chord may have a perfect 5th (natural 5) but the 11th degree
may be sharp which can create a very peculiar sound or color making it
harmonically more interesting. Keep in mind that sometimes guitar
players avoid playing the 5th in order to accommodate certain fingerings
and having a sharp 11 implies a flat 5 sound (half diminished chord)
played an octave higher.
C maj7#11
124
Flat 13
The flat 13th is the same note as a sharp 5 played an octave higher and
when the fifth degree is avoided its sound is that of an augmented chord.
The following example is a C major 7 chord that includes the fifth
degree.
C maj7b13
Sharp 13
The sharp 13 is the same note as a dominant 7th however it is possible to

have a major 7 and a sharp 13 within the chord as shown in the
following example.
C maj7#13
125
Chord Construction
Other Chord types
Diminished chords
Half diminished chords (also known as flat 5)
Augmented chords
Suspended chords ( sus 2 and sus 4)
6 chord
There are some chords that seem mysterious to some

musicians mainly because of the lack of information on
the subject of chord construction and harmony. Now that
you have a solid understanding of basic triads and
dominant 7 chords we will learn other types of chords that
are equally useful but widely misunderstood.
Diminished Chords
The first of these chords we will learn is the diminished chord which is
represented by the symbol o, for instance a C diminished chord would be
notated as Co. Having a full understanding of this chord has several
advantages that may not be so obvious to most musicians. One of these
advantages is that this chord can be used as a substitution for dominant 7
chords which we will be discussing in the substitution section of this
book. Another advantage is that from it can branch out four dominant
chords; one dominant 7 and 3 inversions of different seventh chords
without having to switch positions. Before we talk more about the
advantages of learning this chord, I would like to teach you how to build
diminished chords and how to play them on the guitar neck.
126
Diminished Chord
Formula
Lets start by building a Co. the C diminished chord is constructed by
stacking minor 3rds on top of each other. If we start at C the first step is
to find its minor third which is Eb or D# (the minor 3rd is located 3 half
steps above the root) we do this by using the chromatic scale as a
reference as shown in the example below:
Minor 3rd
C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C
D# is the same as Eb
1/2
1/2 step
1/2 step
The next step is to find the minor third starting on Eb, we do this by
moving up the chromatic scale 3 half steps and landing at F# (Gb).
Minor 3rd
127
Chord Construction
The final step is to find the next minor third starting at F# (Gb) and
jumping 3 half steps in order to arrive at A and complete our Co chord.
3 half step leaps
C C# D D# E F
F# G G#
A A# B C
Minor 3rd
Co= C, Eb,Gb and A.
C diminished
*In the following pages we will learn how to play this chord on the
guitar neck and we will also learn a very useful technique that will help
you take full advantage of the fingerings presented in the examples.
128
The Diminished chord as played on the

guitar
The following patterns are for a C diminished chord played on 3
different areas of the neck.
3rd fret
8th fret
10th fret
129
Chord Construction
In the previous examples we must play Eb an octave higher in order to

make it possible to play all four notes of the diminished form on the
guitar neck.
One peculiarity about this chord is that any note can be the root. If you
take a Co chord spelled C, Eb, Gb and A you have a Co as well as an
inversion of Eb dim, an inversion Gb dim and an inversion of A
diminished. This chord can be either C dim, E flat dim, G flat dim or A
dim! This phenomenon occurs when minor thirds are stacked on top of
each other.
If we take the same Co and invert it by moving the C to the top of the
chord making Eb the lowest note followed by Gb, A and C, the intervals
remain minor thirds all the way thru. Eb to Gb is a minor 3rd, Gb to A is a
minor 3rd and A to C is another minor third.
Co
C,
Minor 3rd
Eb,
1st inversion
Gb ,
Minor 3rd
Eb,
Minor 3rd
Minor 3rd
2nd inversion
C,
Minor 3rd
Eb,
Gb ,
Minor 3rd
Gb,
A,
Minor 3rd
Minor 3rd
3rd inversion
Eb,
Minor 3rd
Minor 3rd
130
Gb,
A,
Minor 3rd
Minor 3rd
Diminished Chord Trick

Next I will teach you a useful trick to help you exploit the diminished
chord to its fullest potential. As Ive mentioned in the previous pages
there are 4 different dominant 7 chords hidden within the diminished
chord that can come in handy during a chord progression or used as
substitutions to the original chord. This can easily be accomplished by
lowering any of its notes by a half step. Lets refer to the C o chord one
more time and lower the C by a half step in order to get the following
notes: B, Eb, Gb and A which make up a B7 chord.
C diminished to B7 conversion
Step 1
8th fret
Co
Start with any diminished chord.

In this case we have C dim.
Co = C, Eb, Gb, A
131
Chord Construction
8th fret
Step 2
B7
C is lowered by a half step so that

it becomes B.
Co = C, Eb, Gb, A
Becomes
B7 = B, Eb, Gb, A
This can be done to any of the notes in the diminished chord regardless
of where you play it on the neck. Knowing this trick opens up the
possibility of having at least 5 chords within a very small area of the
guitar. In the following pages we will continue with this process in order
to discover what other chords can be born out of C diminished.
132
C diminished to D7 conversion
Step 1
8th fret
Co
8th fret
D7
We first start with the C dim

chord and lower the next note
which is E flat
Co = C, Eb, Gb, A
Step 2
Eb is lowered by a half step so that
it becomes D.
Co = C, Eb, Gb, A
Becomes
D7 = C, D, Gb, A
*keep in mind that the example
illustrates an inversion of a D7
133
Chord Construction
C diminished to F7 conversion
Step 1
8th fret
Co
8th fret
F7

chord and lower G flat by a half
step.
Co = C, Eb, Gb, A
Step 2
Gb is lowered by a half step so that
it becomes F.
Co = C, Eb, Gb, A
Co Becomes an inversion of F7
F7 = C, Eb, F, A
134
C diminished to G#7 conversion

Step 1
8th fret
Co
8th fret
G#7

step.
Co = C, Eb, Gb, A
Step 2
A is lowered by a half step so that
it becomes G#.
Co = C, Eb, Gb, A
Co Becomes an inversion of G#7
G#7 = C, Eb, Gb , G#
135
Chord Construction
C diminished to C7 conversion
Step 1
8th fret
Co
8th fret
G#7

step.
Co = C, Eb, Gb, A
Step 2
A is lowered by a half step so that
it becomes G#.
Co = C, Eb, Gb, A
Co Becomes an inversion of G#7
G#7 = C, Eb, Gb , G#
136
The half Diminished Chord

Or flat 5 chord
The half diminished chord (also known as the flat 5 chord) is
represented by the symbol O and its very similar to the diminished
chord with the exception of one note. Rather than stacking minor 3rds to
try figuring out which note is supposed to be different I find it easier to
think of it as a minor 7 chord with a flatted fifth degree.
Half Diminished Chord

Formula
O = R, b3, b5, b7
Co= C, Eb, Gb, Bb
Co or Cm7b5
* The flat 5 chord is very important in jazz but can be found in almost
every popular style of music.
137
Chord Construction
The Half Diminished chord as played

on the guitar
These three patterns are for half diminished chords that can be moved to
Half diminished
Half diminished
Half diminished
138
The Augmented Chord

The augmented chord is perhaps the most ambiguous of them all and
most beginning music students havent even heard the term augmented
mainly due to the lack of information about this mysterious chord. Just
like the diminished, the augmented has some chords hidden within but
unlike the diminished; this chord is only a triad (3 note chord) therefore
only three chords can be branched out from it. Represented by the
symbol + the augmented chord is built by stacking major thirds on top
of each other and any of the notes within can be considered to be the
root.
Augmented Chord
Formula
We will begin building a C augmented chord which is notated by the
symbol C+ by first finding its major third. We know that the major 3rd is
found 2 whole steps away from the root and to better illustrate this we
will use the chromatic scale as reference.
Chromatic scale:
Whole step Whole step

#1
Major 3rd
#2

139
Chord Construction
The first two notes of the C augmented chord are C and E. lets find the
next major 3rd starting from E.
From E we jump 2 whole steps using the chromatic scale landing on G#
Chromatic scale:
Major 3rd
Whole step Whole step

#3
#4
C + = C, E and G#
C+
Next we C augmented played on 3 different areas of the guitar neck...
140
The Augmented chord as played on the

guitar
These three patterns are for augmented chords that can be moved to
Augmented chord
Augmented chord
Augmented chord
141
Chord Construction
Augmented Chord Trick

By simply raising any of the notes in the augmented chord by a half step,
the chord instantly becomes a minor triad (3 note chord) or an inversion
of a minor triad depending on the note that is raised.
Lets see what minor chords can be found within a C augmented chord.
C + = C, E and G#
If we raise C by a half step we get the following notes: C#, E, G# these
notes are what a C sharp minor (C#m) chord is made of.
C + = C#m conversion
3rd fret
Step 1
C+
Start with any augmented chord. In

this case we have C +. If we raise
C to C# we get a C#m chord as
shown in step 2
C+ = C, E, G#

142
Step 2
By eliminating the C and replacing
it with C# we get the notes in a
C#m triad
3rd fret
C#m
C#m= C#, E, G#
Keep in mind that this process works for any of the augmented chord
patterns and it also works just about anywhere on the guitar neck. Next
we will learn how to get an F minor chord from a C augmented.
C + = Fm conversion
3rd fret
Step 1
C+
The first step is to take the same

C+ chord we have been working
with and raise the E by a half step
landing on F. (this pattern can
also be analyzed as an inversion
of E+)
C+ = C, E, G#
143
Chord Construction
Continued from previous page
3rd fret
Step 2
Fm
By eliminating the E and replacing

it with F we get an inversion of F
minor with very little effort.
Fm =F, G#, C
Although this is the second inversion of F minor it is an acceptable way

of playing an F minor chord and works well as a substitution. Since any
of the notes within the chord can be the root there are 6 chords, or to be
more specific 2 root chords and 4 inversions that can be derived from
any augmented chord. So far we have done two conversions from
augmented to minor, lets work on the last conversion.
144
C + = Am conversion
The last note in the C augmented is the G# and in order to extract the
last minor chord form C+ we must raise the G# by a half step as shown
in the following example.
3rd fret
Step 1
C+ to Am
Starting with C augmented we can

raise G# by a half step to A
C+=C, E, G#

145
Chord Construction
C + = Am conversion
3rd fret
Step 2
By raising the G# we get the first
inversion of an Am minor triad
also notated as C/Am
Am= C, E, A
146
Am
Suspended chords
If you play open chords chances are that you may already be playing
some type of suspended chord. There are 2 types of Sus chords, Sus 2
and Sus 4. Rather than teaching you a ton of fingerings for both of these
chords, I will teach you a chord construction formula so that you may be
able to create Sus voicings anywhere on the guitar neck without having
to memorize too many chord patterns.
The note that determines whether a chord is major or minor is the 3rd,
but in the suspended chord the third degree is replaced by either the 2nd
or 4th degree creating a more open sound. The Sus chord can still have a
major or minor sound by the use of extensions such as the tenth degree
which is the same note as a 3rd. In theory this may seem incorrect but in
reality because of the way sus chords are played on the guitar they may
include a major or minor third played an octave higher. The inclusion of
either the 2nd or 4th degree is what gives it its Suspended color.
In the following pages we will take a look at the formula used to create
suspended 2 and suspended 4 chord forms and we will also learn a few
patterns to get you started in exploring this beautiful sound.
147
Chord Construction
Sus 2 Formula
In the suspended chord the 3rd degree is omitted and the 2nd degree is
played in its place as shown in the example below.
Formula
Sus 2 = R, 2o and 5o
C Sus 2 = C, D and G
C Sus 2
In the next few pages I will provide you only with the most obvious
ways of playing suspended patterns in order to stimulate you to find
creative ways of voicing these Sus chords. This is where you will
appreciate the value of learning chord construction techniques that are so
effective in providing you with dozens of chords by learning one simple
formula rather than having to memorize a ton of fingerings from a chord
book or the so called chord bibles. Soon you will discover chord
voicings that are not shown in this book simply by applying these chord
construction formulas.
148
The Sus 2 chord as played on the guitar

Sus 2 chord
Sus 2 chord
In this example we have a Sus 2
Sus 2 chord
with a major 7
Sus 2 played with the 10 and 13
149
Chord Construction
The Suspended 4 chord

In the Sus 4 chord the 3rd degree is omitted and replaced by the 4th
degree of the scale creating a very interesting sound. This chord may
have a major or minor quality by adding either the major or minor 10 th
but can be played without it. It is up to you to venture into the sound
possibilities the Sus chords have to offer and although I will provide
you with some patterns I encourage you to explore other fingering
options such as the use of open strings and extensions.
Formula
Sus 4 = R, 4o and 5o
The 3rd is omitted and replaced with the 4th
C Sus 4 = C, F and G
C Sus 4
150
The Sus 4 chord as played on the guitar

Sus 4 chord
Sus 4 chord
Sus 4 chord
Sus 4 played with the 10th
151
Chord Construction
The 6 chord
One chord you will often find in some chord charts and fake books is the
6 chord as in C6, E6, Dm6 etc.. This chord is usually composed of the
root, the third, the fifth, and the sixth degrees of either the major or
minor scales. When played on guitar, the fifth degree is commonly
omitted to allow for the chord to be voiced comfortably.
Major 6 Formula
Minor 6 Formula
R, 3o, 5o, 6o
R, b3o, 5o, b6o
C6= C, E, G and A
Cm6=C, Eb, G and Ab
The 6 chord as played on the guitar

1st fret
C6
6th fret
152
Cm6
Chord Substitutions
There are a number of benefits to using chord substitutions and there is a
number of different ways of obtaining them all of which will be
discussed thoroughly in this section. Sometimes musicians will favor
one method over another based on the style of music they are playing,
however there are no rules that indicate that you must use one principle
instead of another when paying rock jazz or any style of music. Most
musicians do not have enough understanding of music theory to be able
to substitute a chord for a completely different one and still make sense
and sound musical. Some of the more advanced players may know one
or two substitution principles which may be all they need to get by, but
this has its limitations. In the following pages we will examine several
different chord substitution principles and we will look at how they can
be applied.
Relative minor substitution principle

Tonic substitution principle
Tritone substitution principle
Diminished substitution principle
Augmented Substitution principle
Diatonic substitution principle
153
The VI chord in diatonic Harmony is commonly referred to as the

Relative minor due to the interval between the root of the VI chord on a
diatonic chord progression and its minor third. This is a widely used
term and most musicians learn this concept without having a good
understanding of diatonic harmony which allows you 6 different options
for substitutions instead of just the relative minor or VI chord. This is a
good way to get started on subs, but once you learn some of the other
substitution concepts that are explained in the following pages you will
think less in terms of the relative minor and will be able to play more
substitute chords at will. For the sake of simplicity we will continue to
work with the Cmaj7 chord and find its relative minor substitution.
Although by now you should have a good understanding of how the
Cmaj7 chord is constructed, we will analyze it and find the chord tones
within using the two octave C major scale in order to better demonstrate
the process of finding the relative minor Sub.
Relative minor formula

The relative minor substitution is found by taking any
major chord and building a minor chord staring on the 6th
degree of the scale that corresponds to the original chord

154
Chord substitutions
Step 1: is to spell the original chord using the 2 octave scale. In this case
our chord is Cmaj 7.
C D E F G A B C D E F G A B
1
10
11
12
13 14
Cmaj7= C, E, G, B
Step 2:
Next we locate the 6th degree of the same two octave scale and build
either a triad or a 7th chord from there. We do this by finding the chord
tones which is done by choosing a note, in this case A and skipping
every other note.
6th degree
C D E F G A B C D E F G A B
1
Relative minor
These 4 notes make an Am7 chord
Am7 = A, C, E and G
155
10
11 12 13
14
If you take a quick look at the Cmaj7 chord in the previous page you
will see that it has 3 notes in common with the Am7; C, E and G which
is why these two chords can be substituted for each other so effectively.
This creates a very nice contrast since Cmaj7 can be described as having
a happy quality as opposed to the more melancholic sound the Am7
produces. The formula in the previous pages should give you enough
information for you to be able to work out the relative minor substitution
in every key with minimal effort, however a quick reference chart is
provided below for convenience.
Relative minor reference chart

Original chord
Substitution
Relative minor
VI Chord
I Chord
Cmaj7
Gmaj7
Dmaj7
Amaj7
Emaj7
Bmaj7
F#maj7
Am7
Em7
Bm7
F#m7
C#m7
G#m7
D#m7
156
Chord substitutions
In western diatonic harmony the chords within a key center are

subdivided into three categories; Tonic, subdominant and dominant
groups. These subdivisions are based on the notes they have in common
and their harmonic function within a composition. Towards the end of
this section on substitutions we will explore diatonic harmony in detail,
but for now we will focus our attention only on the tonic group. The
chords that can be derived from the Root, the 3rd degree and the 6th
degree using only the notes in the major scale belong to the tonic group
and in the key of C major they would be Cmaj7 (key center), Em7 and
Am7.
Tonic substitution formula

The Root chord, the III chord and the VI chord
Chords that can be constructed starting on the Root, 3rd and 6th degrees
of the major scale can be substituted for each other and they all have the
same harmonic function.
157
C major diatonic chord progression
Cma7 Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 G7 Am7 Bm7(-5)

1o
2o
3o
4o
5o
6o
7o
Lets analyze these tonic chords and find the notes they have in common
I chord
Cmaj7
C E
G B
III chord
Em7
E G B D
VI chord
Am7
A C E G
E G B
C E G
The common notes between Cmaj7 (tonic) and Em7 (III chord) are the
E, G and B making these two chords almost the same and a very
effective substitution for each other. Cmaj7 and Am7 (VI chord) also
share 3 notes between them; the C, E and G. We know from the previous
section that the VI chord in a diatonic chord progression is known as the
relative minor and more importantly we have learned that based on the
Tonic substitution principle the VI chord belongs to the Tonic group of
chords that can have the same harmonic function.
158
Chord substitutions
The following illustration is for the tonic substitution principle through

the circle of fifths that will help you in the study of this principle and as
a quick reference guide to find the correct substitutions without in-depth
analysis of a key center.
Tonic substitution reference chart

Key Center
I Chord
T
Cmaj7
Gmaj7
Dmaj7
Amaj7
Emaj7
Bmaj7
F#maj7
Substitutions
III Chord
T
Em7
Bm7
F#m7
C#m7
G#m7
D#m7
A#m7
159
VI Chord
T
Am7
Em7
Bm7
F#m7
C#m7
G#m7
D#m7
The Tritone substitution principle is almost exclusive to Jazz, but I have

used it in other styles of music with very good results. In this section we
will learn the II-V-I chord progression in order to better illustrate how
the Tritone Sub works and how it can be applied. This particular concept
is not diatonic meaning that the substitution is not based on either the
major or minor scales, instead its based on the chromatic scale and
when applied to the II-V-I it creates an outside sound within the
progression. In order to find this sub all you need to do is take any
dominant 7 chord, jump 3 whole steps from the root and build another
dominant 7 chord starting from the target note. In the following example
we will take a C7 chord and find its tritone substitution.
Step 1
Start with a dominant chord; in this case we have C7.
C7 = C, E, G, and Bb
Step 2
Using the chromatic scale we jump 3 whole steps starting on the root of
the chord (C) in order to arrive at the tritone (F#) that will become the
foundation for our tritone substitute chord.
TRITONE
Whole step
#1
Whole step
#2
Whole step
#3
160
Chord substitutions
Step 3
From this tritone (F#) we build a dominant 7 chord which will render
our tritone substitution (F#7). We learned in the chord construction
section of this book that the formula for a dominant 7 chord is the root,
major third, fifth and flat 7th of a major scale. In this case it would be the
F# major scale.
Dominant 7 Formula = R, 3rd, 5th and flat 7
R
2o
3o
4o
5o
6o
b7o
F# G# A# B C# D# E
Chord tones
F#7 = F#, A#, C# and E

The tritone substitution for a C7 chord is F#7 as shown in the example
above. The reason this works is due to the notes they have in common.
Lets analyze these two chords and learn what notes they share.
C7 = C, E, G, and Bb (A#)
F#7 = F#, A#, C# and E
A# and E are the common tones in both of these chords and although
this may not seem enough at this time once you learn to apply it you will
hear how functional this substitution can be.
161
Before we can apply the tritone substitution it is important that we learn

the II-V-I chord progression that is often found in Jazz as well as other
styles of music. I would like to emphasize the importance of learning the
diatonic chord progressions in all major and minor keys which will help
you better understand this and other musical concepts. If we take a look
at the diatonic chord progression in the key of C major shown on page
187 we learn that the II chord is Dm7, we also learn that the VI chord is
G7 and that the I chord is Cmaj7 therefore a II-V-I in C major would be
Dm7 / G7 / Cmaj7 as shown in the following illustration.
II-V-I
2nd fret
Dm7
I Chord
In C major
2nd fret
2nd fret
G7
II Chord
Cmaj7
V Chord
The example above shows how this progression is often voiced in Jazz.
162
Chord substitutions
We know that the tritone sub works well over dominant 7 chords and
when used within a chord progression it creates a strong sense of
forward motion. In the case of a II-V-I in C major the V chord (G7) is
the dominant that will be substituted by the tritone.
To find the tritone sub for the dominant 7 chord in C major we start at
the root of the chord which we know is G7 and jump 3 whole steps using
the chromatic scale in order to arrive at C#
V Chord
G G# A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G
TRITONE
Whole step
#1
Whole step
#2
Whole step
#3
From this tritone we build a dominant 7 chord using the C# major scale
Dominant 7 Formula = R, 3rd , 5th and flat 7
R
2o
3o
4o
5o
6o
b7o
C# D# F F# G# A# B C#
C#, F, G# and B = C#7

163
The tritone substitution for a G7 chord is C#7, lets find the common
notes between them and how the chord progression is played with the
sunstitution.
Dominan 7 chord
Tritone sub
G7 = G, B, D and F
C#7 = C#, F,G# and B
F and B are the common tones

Replacing the V chord with the tritone substitution creates a nice
chromatic movement from Dm7 to Cmaj7 opening up a new world of
harmonic and melodic possibilities.
II-V-I
In C major with the tritone substitution
2nd fret
Dm7
I Chord
2nd fret
C#7
Tritone substitution
164
2nd fret
Cmaj7
V Chord
Chord substitutions
The diminished substitution principle is a great way to expand your

harmonic vocabulary and it can make a simple chord progression sound
more sophisticated. Diminished chords sound as if they need to resolve
to another chord making them a great option for creating motion within
a chord progression. Any time you have a major 7 chord you may
replace it with a diminished chord constructed one half step above. For
example a Cmaj7 chord can be replaced by a C# diminished chord based
on this principle.
Ex.1
Cmaj7 = C, E, G and B
C#dim = C#, E, G and Bb
Common notes = E and G
2nd fret
2nd fret
C# dim Sub
Cmaj7
165
In the section on chord construction we learned that the diminished

chord is capable of rendering 4 different dominant 7 chords by simply
lowering any of its notes by a half step, making it an obvious
substitution for dominant 7 chords as well.
Ex.2
Cmaj7 = C, E, G and Bb
C#dim = C#, E, G and Bb
Common notes = E, G and Bb
2nd fret
2nd fret
C7
C# dim Sub
Although in example 2 there are 3 common notes that are shared by the
two chords, I still prefer the sound of the major 7 leading into the
diminished chord one half step above as shown in example 1.
166
Chord substitutions
One way the diminished substitution principle is used effectively to

create motion is on a major II-V-I chord progression. In the key of C
major Dm7 and G7 are usually played for one entire measure each and
Cmaj7 is played for two measures
Ex.1
II-V-I in C major
Dm7
G7
Cmaj7
Cmaj7
.
By using the diminished substitution principle we can replace the last
Cmaj7 with the C# diminished chord creating a much more interesting
forward motion within the progression.
II-V-I in C major
Dm7
G7
Cmaj7
167
C#dim
We know that the augmented chord (also known as the sharp 5) is

constructed by stacking major 3rds and we also know that there are three
different minor triads that can be obtained from the sharp 5 by rising any
of its notes by a half step, making it a good substitution for minor
chords. The advantage of the augmented chord is that any of its notes
can be the root which means that one single augmented chord can be the
substitute for three minor triads. A Cm can be replaced by B+ and based
on augmented substitution principle; it can also be a substitution for Em
and G#m. Lets analyze these chords and find out why this principle
works.
Common notes
B+ = B, Eb, G
Eb and G
Cm = C, Eb, G
B+ = B, Eb, G
G and B
Em = E, G, B
B+ = B, Eb, G
B and Eb
G#m = G#, B, Eb
168
Chord substitutions
As you can see from the illustration shown in the previous page, the B+
shares two notes with each of the minor chords which is why this
substitution works so well over minor triads. There is more on this chord
in the chord construction section of this book.
Augmented substitution formula

Any minor triad can be replaced by an augmented chord
constructed a half step below.
169
Diatonic substitution principle

If you take a C major scale and construct a Chord starting on the root
and skip every other note in order to find the chord tones, you would get
the notes that correspond to a C major 7 chord. Next build a chord
starting on the 2nd degree of the scale (D) and find the chord tones by
skipping every other note using only the notes of the C major scale
which will render a Dm7 chord. If you build a chord for each of the
notes in the scale you get what is known as a diatonic chord progression.
I
II
III
IV
VI
VII
Cmaj7 Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 G7 Am7 Bm7(-b)

The chords in a diatonic chord progression are subdivided into three
categories based on the notes they have in common. The tonic group
consists of the I, III and the VI chords, the subdominant group is made
of the II and IV chords and finally the dominant group which is made of
the V and VII chords.
II
III
IV
VI
VII
Cmaj7 Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 G7 Am7 Bm7(-b)

T
SD
SD
These groups are also called tonal centers and each of them has a certain
harmonic function that can create either movement or stability within a
song or a larger composition.
170
The tonic group can create a sense of stability within a song and they
can be used to substitute each other. The Subdominant group can be
used to create moderate forward motion and they can also substitute
each other. The chord group that has the strongest forward motion feel is
the dominant group.
Harmonic function
Tonic
Subdominant
Dominant
= stability
= moderate motion
=
Strong forward motion
You may use these guidelines for chord substitutions as a starting point
for your own purposes but I encourage you to experiment with replacing
a chord for any other chord within the diatonic chord progression
regardless of tonal group which will allow you total harmonic freedom.
In the following pages you will find a reference chart for some major
and minor keys that should give you a better understanding of how
diatonic harmony works and will help you find relative chords with little
effort. The column on the left shows the chord and its roman numeral
that corresponds to the degree in the chord progression while the column
on the right shows the spelling of the chord tones for each diatonic
chord. Although you should be able to voice these chords anywhere on
the neck I have included plenty of examples on how these chord
progressions can be played on the guitar.
171
Chord substitutions
Diatonic Chord Progression Reference

Chart
172

Chart
173
Diatonic chord progressions

Chart
174

Chart
175

Chart
176

Chart
177

Chart
178

Chart
179

Chart
180

Chart
181

Chart
182

Chart
183

Chart
184

Chart
185
Diatonic Chord progressions

Next we will learn some common voicings for the major and minor
chords that we reviewed in the previous section with some examples
illustrating alternate voicings. Learning these diatonic chord
progressions will expand your harmonic vocabulary and will also help
you further develop your musical ear. An effective way of doing this is
to record yourself playing the I chord sustaining it for a few measures
and while it plays back you play the rest of the chord progression in
order to better hear the sound they create when played against each
other. This section will also become an invaluable tool when writing
songs in any style of music because now you will not be left wondering
what would be a good chord option for your song since you have all
chords laid out for you. For the keys that are not listed such as C#, Eb,
A# etc some simple transposing will be all you need to find the key you
may be looking for. This can be as simple as moving your hand up or
down the neck. Not only are these chord progressions harmonically
useful but they can also be a great way of improving your fingering
technique by practicing shifting from one chord to another.
186
*Key of C Major
2nd Fret
3rd Fret
3rd Fret
187
*Key of C Major
5th Fret
7th Fret
9th Fret
188
*Key of C Major
11th Fret
13th Fret
189
*Key of D Major
4th Fret
5th Fret
1st Fret
190
*Key of D Major
2nd Fret
4th Fret
5th Fret
191
*Key of D Major
7th Fret
3rd Fret
192
*Key of E Major
6th Fret
8th Fret
9th Fret
193
*Key of E Major
4th Fret
5th Fret
1st Fret
194
*Key of E Major
3rd Fret
5th Fret
195
*Key of F Major
1st Fret
1st Fret
3rd Fret
196
*Key of F Major
5th Fret
7th Fret
9th Fret
197
*Key of F Major
10th Fret
6th Fret
198
*Key of G Major
2nd Fret
4th Fret
1st Fret
199
*Key of G Major
2nd Fret
4th Fret
6th Fret
200
*Key of G Major
8th Fret
1st Fret
3rd Fret
201
*Key of A Major
4th Fret
1st Fret
1st Fret
202
*Key of A Major
4th Fret
6th Fret
3rd Fret
203
*Key of A Major
5th Fret
204
*Key of B Major
1st Fret
3rd Fret
5th Fret
205
*Key of B Major
6th Fret
8th Fret
10th Fret
206
12th Fret
*Key of B Major
Next we have the

E major diatonic chord progression played on the
upper strings
In order to get you familiarized with playing these chords on the upper
strings I have included the diatonic chord progression in the key of E
major played entirely on the upper strings.
207
*Key of E Major
1st Fret
3rd Fret
5th Fret
208
*Key of E Major
6th Fret
3rd Fret
8th Fret
209
*Key of E Major
10th Fret
12th Fret
210
*Key of C Minor
2nd Fret
4th Fret
5th Fret
211
*Key of C Minor
7th Fret
9th Fret
7th Fret
212
*Key of C Minor
7th Fret
12th Fret
213
*Key of D Minor
2nd Fret
6th Fret
5st Fret
214
*Key of D Minor
4th Fret
7th Fret
7th Fret
215
*Key of D Minor
th
9 Fret
11th Fret
12th Fret
216
*Key of D Minor
th
14 Fret
217
*Key of E Minor
4th Fret
1st Fret
2nd Fret
218
*Key of E Minor
3th Fret
5th Fret
7th Fret
219
*Key of E Minor
9th Fret
220
*Key of F Minor
1st Fret
1st Fret
3rd Fret
221
*Key of F Minor
5th Fret
6th Fret
8th Fret
222
st
10 Fret
*Key of F Minor
223
*Key of G Minor
2nd Fret
3rd Fret
5th Fret
224
*Key of G Minor
7th Fret
9th Fret
10st Fret
225
*Key of G Minor
7th Fret
226
*Key of A Minor
4th Fret
1st Fret
2nd Fret
227
*Key of A Minor
rd
3 Fret
6th Fret
7th Fret
228
*Key of A Minor
th
9 Fret
229
*Key of B Minor
1st Fret
3rd Fret
4th Fret
230
*Key of B Minor
th
4 Fret
1st Fret
2nd Fret
231
*Key of B Minor
4th Fret
232
Chord Inversions
We know that a triad is a chord composed of 3 notes, the Root or
tonic, the 3rd and the 5th degree of a scale. We normally spell the
triad in order with the root on the bottom strings, followed by the
3rd above the Root and the 5th above the 3rd degree; R, 3, 5.
Eventually you may want to rearrange the order of the notes to
create a different voicing so that instead of having the Root in the
bass, you may have the 3rd followed by the 5th degree and the Root
above that played on the higher strings; 3rd, 5, Root. This process is
referred to as an Inversion and can give a simple chord a whole
new sound which may be used as simple chord substitutions. There
are 3 types of inversions simply called first, second and third
Inversions that can be applied to any type of chord. In the
following examples we will learn a simple method for creating
chord inversions using the C major triad to illustrate the first and
second inversions and a Cmajor7 chord to create a third and final
inversion. Once you get familiar with inverting chords you will
find that there are a great number of possibilities to voice a chord
which is the reason I decided not to include any chord examples in
order to encourage you to try your own voicings.
233
In the following example the 3rd moves to the bass, the 5th to the
middle of the chord and the Root jumps to the top which is generally
played on the upper strings.
In the next example the 5th is in the bass, the root is in the middle
and the 3rd is in the upper strings.
234
Chord Inversions
Major 7 chord inversion

The third inversion occurs any time you have a dominant 7 or a
major 7 and you wish to re-voice it the chord. The process is
exactly the same except that you are dealing with a four note chord
instead of a basic triad.
In the third chord inversion the 7th moves to the bass and the rest of
the chord is spelled R, 3rd and 5th as shown in the next example.
Inversion reference chart

Major 7 chord
1st Inversion
2nd Inversion
3rd Inversion
=
=
=
=
R
3rd
5th
7th
235
3rd
5th
7th
R
5th
7th
R
3rd
7th
R
3rd
5th
Slash Chords
A slash chord is an easy way to represent an inversion in a chord
chart or whenever you want to quickly write an inversion without
having to spell the entire chord. To some musicians they may seem
complicated but, if you have a basic understanding of chord
inversions you should have no problem understanding what
symbols such as C/G or F/C mean. Now that we know what triads
and chord inversion are we can learn a simple method to decipher
slash chord symbols. If we take a C major triad and re-voice it to
its first inversion we get the notes of the triad rearranged in the
following order; E / G / C which is represented by the symbol C/E.
You may hear musicians call this C over E. Traditionally this
meant to play the triad as an inversion with the E on the bass
followed by G and C at the top of the chord, but over time it has
become acceptable to play a C/E chord not as a triad, but as a full
chord where you would play your regular folk C chord with an
added E played on the low E string. Illustrated in the next chart is
the traditional way of voicing slash chords.
C major triad
Triad
1st Inversion
2nd Inversion
=
=
=
C
E
G
E
G
C
G
C
E
C/E
C/G
If the 7th degree is added the chord will have a third inversion
3rd Inversion
=
236
C/B
Chord Inversions
In the following example we will look at the nontraditional way of

voicing slash chords that has become so popular amongst guitar
players.
C/E
X
This is simply a C major folk chord played with an open E in the
bass. The white circles represent the open stings to be played. The
X represents a muted string. Most likely this will be the kind of
voicing you will encounter in most modern music and in most
instructional books. This method allows for a great number of
harmonic possibilities were you can play any chord and add any
bass note you wish to add regardless of it being in key or not.
There is a simple way of knowing telling which letter represents
the bass note and which symbol represents the chord voicing.
237
Arpeggios
An arpeggio is nothing more than a chord played one note at a
time. Most people reading this book will be familiar with
arpeggios but I find that most guitar players lack the skills required
to execute arpeggios at higher speeds during the improvisation of
guitar solos. There are 2 main techniques for playing arpeggios on
the guitar. The most popular one of these techniques is when you
hold down the chord and pluck the strings one note at a time which
is more commonly done when playing ballads. Another way of
playing arpeggios is sweep picking which is more suitable for
guitar solos played at faster tempos. The easiest way to think of
arpeggios is to take any scale, start on the root note and play every
other note as shown in the following example.
*Note: Rather than writing dozens of patterns to

illustrate the different ways to play arpeggios on the
guitar neck I opted to show you just a handful of
examples that will serve as the foundation for all the
other patterns than can be worked-out, all you have to do
change the key is move your hand up or down the neck.
238
Arpeggios
Minor
Major Triad Arpeggio
Patterns
239
Minor
MajorTriad
7 Arpeggios
Arpeggio
Patterns
240
Arpeggios
Minor 7 Arpeggios
Patterns
241
242
Arpeggios
Major 7 Arpeggio Chart
243
Minor
Major 7 Arpeggio Chart
244
Arpeggios
The extended arpeggio concept

The extended arpeggio is more like two different arpeggios for the
price of one. Please note that this is not the traditional way of
playing them and to some classically trained musicians it may
seem like the wrong way. The reason for this is that in the classical
method, arpeggios are played using only the chord tones in the
scale, which are the root, 3rd, 5th, and when dealing with 7th
chords the 7th degree is included. So what about the 2nd, 4th and
6th degrees? These notes are sometimes called scale tones. If we
take these scale tones and build an arpeggio, and then combine it
with the original by playing it an octave above, we begin to hear
that suddenly our arpeggio sounds more colorful and much more
interesting. Of course this only works when dealing with 2 octaves
or more if played on the guitar neck.
The extended arpeggio concept sounds best played at faster tempos
and when played on guitar I favor the sweep picking technique.
245
Major Triad Arpeggio
3rd Fret
2 octave Arpeggio
In this example the notes in the arpeggio are repeated in the 2nd octave
which is the traditional way of playing arpeggios on the guitar. In the
following examples we will look at how the extended arpeggio concept
works and how it can make your solos more interesting.
246
Arpeggios
4th Fret
5th Fret
247
5th Fret
248
Arpeggios
4th Fret
This indicates to play

an octave higher.
8va
|
249
4th Fret
8va
|
250
Arpeggios
1st Fret
8va
|
251
Minor Triad Arpeggio
3rd Fret
3rd Fret
252
Arpeggios
4th Fret
5th Fret
253
7th Fret
8va
|
8th Fret
8va
|
254
Arpeggios
1st Fret
8va
|
255
Advanced Guitar
A step by step
guide to chord construction
Advanced chord
substitution techniques
Extended arpeggio
patterns
Diatonic chord
progressions
Advanced concepts for
scales and modes
Harmonic, melodic
and jazz minor scales
Chord inversions
Improve your song writing skills with the section on

diatonic harmony by
Improve your technique with dozens of fingering
exercises

Escalas Musicales

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Scales

Scales, Modes and Chord

Special thanks to:

Standard Music Notation..

Augmented substitution principle....

The Extended Arpeggio Concept..

6th string low E

1st string high E

Natural Notes on the Guitar Neck No Sharp or Flats

Lets take a look at the Flat notes on the Freeboard

Standard Music Notation

Standard Music Notation

Common time signatures

The whole note

The whole note = 4 beats

The Half note

Standard Music Notation

The Quarter note

The Quarter note = 1 beat

The duration of a Quarter note is only half the duration of a

The 8th note = of a beat

The eighth note is written almost like a quarter note but

The 16th note

The 16th note = of a beat

The 32nd note

The 32nd note = 1/8 of a beat

Standard Music Notation

Silence as written in music notation

The whole note rest

The whole note rest = 4 beats

The whole note rest represents silence for an entire measure. (4

The Half note rest

The Half note rest = 2 beats

The Quarter note rest

The Quarter note rest = 1 beat

The 8th note rest

The 8th note rest = of a beat

The eighth note rests represents a short silence of only 1/2 of a

Standard Music Notation

The 16th note rest

The 16th note rest = of a beat

The 32nd note

The 32nd note rest = 1/8 of a beat

1/2 count or beat

1/4 count or beat

1/2 count or beat

1/4 count or beat

1/8 count or beat

Standard Music Notation

Continued on next page

Continued on next page

W= whole tone interval or whole step jump within the chromatic

Major and minor scales

Major scale formula = W, W, H, W, W, W, H

C Major scale = C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C

Minor scale formula = W, H, W, W, H, W, W

C Minor scale = C, D, D#, F, G, G#, A# and C

Major and minor scales patterns

C Major scale = C, D, E, F, G, A, B and C

C Minor scale = C, D, D#, F, G, G#, A# and C

Before we move on to the next section I would like to teach you

C minor = C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C

Major and Minor scales

Major Scales in 1st Position