ESSENTIAL

HIPHOP
CHORDS
Introduction_______ Pg. 4
Minor Chords______ Pg. 7
Major Chords______ Pg. 12
Sus Chords________ Pg. 17
Specialty Chords__ Pg. 21
Chord Progressions Pg. 23
Index______________ Pg. 24

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All rights reserved. No part of this ebook may be distributed or
reproduced by any means including electronic, photocopying,
mechanical, recording or otherwise without
the prior written permission of the publisher.

Some content of this ebook is subject to change based on the

evolution of technology. Product names identified in this ebook
are used in editorial fashion only and Nusong Productions LLC
is not associated with any product mentioned.

This ebook © Copyright 2013 by Nusong Productions LLC

written by JayJay Johnson aka JFilt

cover design by J. Johnson

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 Introduction
Many beat makers are not musicians but choose to
sample musicians thru vinyl, mp3’s, ect. Others may hire
musicians to play out their ideas on various instruments.
Some high profile producers do this, but everyone
cannot afford to.
This is where this ebook comes in handy. Now you
will have access to operating like a musician. How???
By using your 16 pad drum machine as a keyboard. As
you continue thru these pages, you will find an essential
vocabulary of chords to use for the creation of sample
free hiphop music.
Serving as a reference guide for the use of your drum
machine as a keyboard, this FIRST of its KIND ebook will
help ALL beatmakers excel to the next level. For more
info visit www.howtomakeverysickbeats.com.

Key Factors
- Must have midi 16 Pad drum machine

- Applies to all skill levels

- No musical training required

- Easy to read 16 Pad diagrams

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4
 Terminology

Its important to note that there are a few terms that may
not be familiar and need explaining so here it is.

Chord- a group of notes played at the same time

Inversion- the arrangement of notes of a chord being

played in a different order
(For example, C major 1st inversion is in this order: E,G,C instead of the
original C,E,G)

Major- type of chord that sounds happy or feel good

Minor- type of chord that sounds dramatic or dark

Root- original chord with the 1st note being the bass

Shape- a pattern used to give a specific form or look

Suspension- type of chord that sounds jazzy

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5
The Technique
After programming your drum machine to play notes
chromatically from Pad 1 to Pad 16, (check your manual to
do this). Assign Pad 1 to the key of C and follow the
diagrams. Each diagram represents a chord defined by the
darkened pads in conjunction with Pad 1 starting at middle
C like on a piano. Just simply look at the diagram and
press ONLY the darkened pads on your drum machine.

Requirement
Virtually all drum machines with 16 pads in a 4x4
formation and has midi capabilities. Examples: All NI
Maschine models, Roland MV8000/MV8800, all Mpc’s
except for the 500, and any midi drum machine
controller in the following style...
Pad Key Pad Key

1 C 9 Ab/G#

2 C#/Db 10 A
13 14 15 16
3 D 11 Bb/A#
9 10 11 12
4 Eb/D# 12 B

5 E 5 6 7 8 13 C

6 F 14 C#/Db
1 2 3 4
7 F#/Gb 15 D

8 G 16 Eb/D#
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 Minor Chords
Ab min

E min
Minor Root
SHAPE 1

C min

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 Minor Root
SHAPE 2

C# min D min

Eb min F min

F# min G min

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 Minor Inversion 1
SHAPE 1

Eb min B min

D min Bb min

C# min A min

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 Minor Inversion 2
SHAPE 1

B min G min

Bb min F# min

A min F min

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 Minor Inversion 1
SHAPE 2

C min

Minor Inversion 2
SHAPE 2
Ab min

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 Major Chords
Ab maj

E maj
Major Root
SHAPE 1

C maj

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 Major Root
SHAPE 2

F maj C# maj

F# maj D maj

G maj Eb maj

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 Major Inversion 1
SHAPE 1

Eb maj B maj

D maj Bb maj

C# maj A maj

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 Major Inversion 2
SHAPE 1

B maj G maj

Bb maj F# maj

A maj F maj

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 Major Inversion 1
SHAPE 2
Ab maj C maj

Major Inversion 2
SHAPE 2
Ab maj

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 Suspension Chords
C sus

E sus
Suspension
SHAPE 1

Ab sus

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 Suspension
SHAPE 2

F sus F# sus

C# sus D sus

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 Suspension
SHAPE 3
G sus Eb sus

Suspension
SHAPE 4
B sus

G sus Eb sus

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 Suspension
SHAPE 5

A sus Bb sus

F sus F# sus

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 Specialty Chords
Cm7

All specialty chords are in the

key of C, but can be
transposed to any key you
like as long as each note is in Cm7 (b5)
chromatic order. For
instance, if Pad 1 on your
drum machine is the key of
‘F’(see below), then Pad 2
should be F#, Pad 3 should
be G and so on. All of these
specialty chords would be in
the key of F(Fm7, Fm9,
ect...).
Pad 2 Cm9

Pad 1 Pad 3

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 C maj7 C7

C maj9 C7(b9)

C diminished C7(#9)

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 Chord Progressions
A chord progression is a combination of chords that can be
used to make your beats with. The sky is the limit when it
comes to creating your own combinations. There are no rules
to how many bars a chord has to have or how many chords
you have to use for a beat. Do you and have fun!
Examples of chord progressions to play with...
EX. 1
Bb min C diminished

EX. 2
C7(#9) F min Bb min

EX. 3
E min D maj F# min G maj

EX. 4
C# maj Ab maj Eb maj Bb maj C min

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N = inversion
S = shape
R = root Index
Chord Page Chord Page

C Minor RS1 7 Eb Major N1S1 14

C Minor N1S2 11 Eb Sus S3/S4 19

C Major RS1 12 E Minor RS1 7

C Major N1S2 16 E Major RS1 12

C Sus S1 17 E Sus S1 17

Cm7 21 F Minor RS2 8

Cm7 (b5) 21 F Minor N2S1 10

Cm9 21 F Major RS2 13

C7 22 F Major N2S1 15

C7 (b9) 22 F Sus S2 18

C7 (#9) 22 F Sus S5 20

C Major 7 22 F# Minor RS2 8

C Major 9 22 F# Minor N2S1 10

C Diminished 22 F# Major RS2 13

C# Minor RS2 8 F# Major N2S1 15

C# Minor N1S1 9 F# Sus S2 18

C# Major RS2 13 F# Sus S5 20

C# Major N1S1 14 G Minor RS2 8

C# Sus S2 18 G Minor N2S1 10

D Minor RS2 8 G Major RS2 13

D Minor N1S1 9 G Major N2S1 15

D Major RS2 13 G Sus S3/S4 19

D Major N1S1 14 Ab Minor RS1 7

D Sus S2 18 Ab Minor N2S2 11

Eb Minor RS2 8 Ab Major RS1 12

Eb Minor N1S1 9 Ab Minor N1S2 16

Eb Major RS2 13 Ab Sus S1 17

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N = inversion R = root
S = shape

Chord Page

A Minor N1S1 9

A Minor N2S1 10

A Major N1S1 14

A Major N2S1 15

A Sus S5 20

Bb Minor N1S1 9

Bb Minor N2S1 10

Bb Major N1S1 14

Bb Major N2S1 15

Bb Sus S5 20

B Minor N1S1 9

B Minor N2S1 10

B Major N1S1 14

B Major N2S1 15

B Sus S4 19

Chord Progressions 23

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