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Chord Formulas

The formula for every common chord — scale degrees, intervals in semitones, and the notes spelled in C. Triads, sixths, sevenths, extensions and altered chords.

ChordSymbol (in C)Scale degreesIntervalsNotes in C
MajorC1 3 50, 4, 7C E G
MinorCm1 ♭3 50, 3, 7C E♭ G
DiminishedCdim1 ♭3 ♭50, 3, 6C E♭ G♭
AugmentedCaug1 3 ♯50, 4, 8C E A♭
Sus2Csus21 2 50, 2, 7C D G
Sus4Csus41 4 50, 5, 7C F G
Power chord (5)C51 50, 7C G
SixthC61 3 5 60, 4, 7, 9C E G A
Minor sixthCm61 ♭3 5 60, 3, 7, 9C E♭ G A
Dominant 7thC71 3 5 ♭70, 4, 7, 10C E G B♭
Major 7thCmaj71 3 5 70, 4, 7, 11C E G B
Minor 7thCm71 ♭3 5 ♭70, 3, 7, 10C E♭ G B♭
Minor major 7thCmMaj71 ♭3 5 70, 3, 7, 11C E♭ G B
Half-diminished 7thCm7♭51 ♭3 ♭5 ♭70, 3, 6, 10C E♭ G♭ B♭
Diminished 7thCdim71 ♭3 ♭5 60, 3, 6, 9C E♭ G♭ A
Add9Cadd91 3 5 90, 4, 7, 14C E G D
Dominant 9thC91 3 5 ♭7 90, 4, 7, 10, 14C E G B♭ D
Major 9thCmaj91 3 5 7 90, 4, 7, 11, 14C E G B D
Minor 9thCm91 ♭3 5 ♭7 90, 3, 7, 10, 14C E♭ G B♭ D
Dominant 11thC111 3 5 ♭7 9 110, 4, 7, 10, 14, 17C E G B♭ D F
Dominant 13thC131 3 5 ♭7 9 11 130, 4, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21C E G B♭ D F A

Get any chord on any root with the interactive chord finder.

How to read this

Chords are interval sets measured in semitones from the root:

major 0 4 7        minor 0 3 7
dim   0 3 6        aug   0 4 8
maj7  0 4 7 11     dom7  0 4 7 10
min7  0 3 7 10     m7♭5  0 3 6 10
sus2  0 2 7        sus4  0 5 7

Extensions keep stacking thirds above the seventh — 9th, 11th, 13th.

Notes & gotchas

Related

Chord finderChord identifierDiatonic chords

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