How Many Chords Are There, Anyway?

Since chords (the main component of harmony) are one of the three most vital elements of music the others being melody and rhythm it would be useful to know how many chords there are. And it doesnt matter whether you play piano or guitar or some other instrument chords are chords.

Its certainly not necessary to learn all the chords in the whole wide world, but it is necessary to learn some of them at least enough to allow you to harmonize the songs you would like to play.

But meanwhile, there are 3 chords -- just 3 -- that you absolutely, positively have to know. If you don't know these three, there's hardly a song in the whole world that you could play. But by knowing just 3 chords, you can play hundreds, if not thousands of songs! And those chords are simply the primary chords in any given key:

The I chord (the chord built on the 1st degree of the scale)
The IV chord (the chord built on the 4th degree of the scale)
The V chord (the chord built on the 5th degree of the scale)

For example, if you were playing in the Key of C, the I chord would be C (c, e, g), the IV chord would be F (f, a, c), and the V chord would be G (g, b, d).

But as you probably know, there are thousands of other chords, so it would be helpful to at least know of their existence and maybe someday learn them.

So here goes:

Since there are 12 major keys one can play in (not counting enharmonic keys keys that sound the same but are written differently), there are:

12 major triads (a triad is a 3 note chord)
12 minor triads
12 diminished triads
12 augmented triads
12 diminished 7th chords (4 note chords)
12 major 6th chords
12 minor 6th chords
12 dominant 7th chords
12 major 7th chords
12 minor 7th chords
12 half-diminished chords
12 9th chords
12 flat 9th chords
12 9th/major 7th chords
12 9th/minor 7th chords
12 11th chords
12 13th chords
12 suspensions
12 flat 5th chords
12 flat 5th maj 7th chords

If thats not enough chords for you, remember that each chord can be inverted turned upside down. So multiply all the triad chords by 3, and all the 4 note chords by 4, and all the 5 note chords by 5.

Then there are:

poly-chords chords that combine two or more other chords, and
voicings the way chords are positioned on the piano keyboard

And thats just in one octave. A standard piano has 7 octaves, so multiply all that by 7 and you get the answer to how many chords there really are:

More than you can count.

But again, you dont need to know them all. Just master enough so that you can play the songs you want to play, then gradually over time learn more and more chords. Your musical world will continue to grow and maturity as a musician will become obvious to others.

About The Author

Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music courses for adults. His low-cost CD ROM software titled http://www.playpiano.com/ "Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions" with over 60,000 current subscribers.

duane@playpiano.comAn Interview with Angus Young of ACDCSteven Rosen

Discusses his Gibson SG and other Gear.

SR: Maybe more than any other guitarist ever, youre inextricably linked to the Gibson SG? What was the evolution that brought you to this particular instrument? AY I started playing on banjos and re-strung them up with six strings. [But] an acoustic guitar, an old bang up little ten-dollar job, that was probably the first thing I started playing on. Me brother Malcolm got a Hofner off of one of me other brothers and he got a Gretsch and passed the Hofner on to me after much squabbling. It was semi-acoustic and had all been packed with cotton. But I never used to really take it as a serious thing; I just used to fool around with it. When I was about 14 was when I really started playing it seriously. I got an amplifier for about sixty bucks that used to distort all the time. It was a Phi-Sonic. After that I got out and got a Gibson SG that I played until it got wood rot because so much sweat and water got into it. The whole neck warped. I bought it second-hand, it was about a 67. It had a real thin neck, really slim, like a Custom neck. It was dark brown. After about a year, you lose about half the power in the pickups so you either get them re-wired or put new ones in. Just ordinary Gibsons.

SR: Did these early instruments still have that tremolo arm attached?

AY: They did but I took it off. I used to fool around with them but you begin sounding like Hank Marvin.

SR: And why did you remain loyal to the Gibson SG for the remainder of your career?

AY: It was light [weight-wise]. Id tried the other ones, Fenders, but youve really got to do a number on em. Theyre great for feel but the wiring just doesnt got the balls. And I dont like putting those DiMarzios and everything because everyone sounds the same. All the other sort of Gibsons I tried like the Les Paul was too heavy. Hip displacement.

When I first started playing with the SG there was nothing to think about. I dont know how this came about but I think I had a lot thinner neck. Someone once said to me they [Gibson] make two sized necks, one was 1 and one was 1 and this was like 1 , thin all the way up. Even now I still look all over and I still havent found one; Ive been to a hundred guitar shops and I found the same guitar [model] but with different necks.

SR: Did you ever experiment with the Gibson SGs when they were called Les Pauls [Eric Claptons graphically appointed Cream-era guitar is probably the most famous representative of this model]?

AY: Yeah, I had a really old one I bought, a 1962. But it had a very fat neck; it was good to play but it felt heavier than all the other ones. Thats why I stopped using it. And when youre running around a lot, it weighs you down.

SR: So from High Voltage on its always been the SG. Have you ever tried using more modern types of instruments?

AY: Yeah, I tried a Hamer but I wouldnt buy an expensive guitar especially in my case. Its always getting beaten around. With the SG, you can do plenty of tricks with them.

SR: And youve been faithful to Marshall amplifiers as well?

AY: Ever since Ive been in this band Ive been using Marshalls. Ive tried Ampeg and they werent too good for the sound I wanted.

On stage I have four stacks going, all hooked up with splitter boxes. 100-watt stacks its good for your eardrums. I use a real lot of volume, I turn that up; I turn the treble and bass on about half and middle, the same. I dont use any presence. If I dont think its putting out enough top, I will kick up the presence.

With Marshalls, if youre using a fair bit of volume, if you whack the treble and bass at half, thats where theyre working. We get them from the factory, thats what we do. We go down there and try them out and fool around with amps and tell them what we want and they doctor them up. At the moment, theyre all back to the old style of Marshalls, theyre very clean. They dont have these master or preamp settings.

SR: You have entered the modern age of electronics in your use of a wireless system.

AY: Yeah, I use the Schaffer-Vega. Ive been using that since 77. On the receiver youve got like a monitor switch you can boost the signal and in the transmitter youve got the same sort of thing. You can really give a guitar hell with em. I have used the remote in the studio and it worked really good. I dont believe Ive ever had a wah-wah or a fuzz box. Its just the guitar and the amp and if I need anything, if someone says they want a different approach to the sound, then Ill get it with the guitar.

About The Author

Steven Rosen is a Rock Journalist. Since 1973 he has accumulated over 1000 hours of audio content and 700 articles and interviews...all now available for licensing or purchase.

Contact Steven Rosen for more information and review more of Steven's published interviews at http://www.classic-rock-legends-start-here.com/classic-rock-interviews.html

More Classic Rock Legends Bios, Discographies, Top Ten Albums and more at http://www.classic-rock-legends-start-here.com/index.html