Other chord types
Other keys: Circle of fifths · Other chord types · Every chord, every key
You already know major, minor, and the seventh. A chart that writes Csus4, C6, Cmaj7, or C9 is one of those, with a note added, swapped, or moved. Each row below is one recipe, spelled on C. Pick a root and hear the same recipe somewhere else.
Hear any chord
Pick a root, then tap Play on any chord below to hear it and see its notes. Your choice also fills the “On C” column in every table, right next to On C. Try the same root across categories to feel how each color differs.
Pick a chord…
Triads (3 notes)
The four basic three-note chords — the foundation of everything else.
| Chord | Symbol | Degrees | On C | On C | Feel |
|---|
Suspended & power
Replace the 3rd (sus) or drop it entirely (power) — no major/minor, so they feel open and unresolved.
| Chord | Symbol | Degrees | On C | On C | Feel |
|---|
Sixth chords
A triad with the 6th added — sweet and vintage.
| Chord | Symbol | Degrees | On C | On C | Feel |
|---|
Seventh chords (4 notes)
Stack one more third on a triad to add the 7th. These are the workhorses of jazz, blues, gospel and soul.
| Chord | Symbol | Degrees | On C | On C | Feel |
|---|
Extended: 9ths, 11ths, 13ths
Keep stacking thirds past the 7th. The 9th, 11th and 13th are just the 2nd, 4th and 6th an octave up.
A full C13 is seven notes: C E G B♭ D F A. That does not fit in one hand. Drop the 5th first. G is also in C, Cm, and C7, so it does not tell you which chord this is. The 3rd and the 7th do. Then drop the 11th when the chord has a major 3rd. F sits a half step above E, and the two fight. A minor chord can keep the 11th, because E♭ and F are a whole step apart. The C11 row makes the other trade: it keeps F and leaves E out.
What is left of C13 is C E B♭ D A. Still five notes. Your left hand plays the root, C. Your right hand plays E B♭ D A. The left hand already has C, so the right hand leaves it out. If E up to A is a wide stretch, tuck them together: E A B♭ D. A 9th uses the same split. Left hand on C, right hand on E B♭ D, and G stays out. The notes in the table are this smaller shape, not the full stack.
| Chord | Symbol | Degrees | On C | On C | Feel |
|---|
Added-tone chords
Add a color note to a plain triad without stacking a 7th first — common in pop and film.
| Chord | Symbol | Degrees | On C | On C | Feel |
|---|
Altered dominants
A dominant 7th with a raised or lowered 5th/9th. Maximum tension — they pull hard back to the tonic, the spice of jazz.
| Chord | Symbol | Degrees | On C | On C | Feel |
|---|
Every chord, every key
You know the name. The appendix spells it. Every recipe above, in all twelve keys, each with a mini-keyboard of the keys to press. Click a row to hear it, or filter to one key.