Complex Chords Demystified - December 2016 - Matt Smith 
 

For many years I have taught students heading into Jazz Ensembles how to read Chord charts 

and the “shorthand” used in the Real Book and other jazz notation. 

For example, a small triangle signifies Major, a minus sign signifies minor, a “degree” signifies 

diminished and a plus sign signifies augmented. 

For example: C-7 = C minor7, C+7 = C augmented7, etc. 

Chords tell a student exactly what they contain. It's important to note that every chord contains 

information from the Major scale of the letter root of the chord. Chord formulas are as follows: 

Major = 1, 3 and 5, referring to the first, third and fifth notes of the major scale of the root of 

the chord. 

Minor = 1, b3 and 5 

Diminished = 1, b3 and b5 

Augmented = 1, 3 and #5 

From there, 7 th chords are 

Maj 7 = 1,3,5,7 

Min7 = 1,b3,5,b7 

Dominant7 = 1,3,5,b7 

Min7b5 = 1,b3,b5,b7. Here we have an example of how a chord explains itself. It's simply a 

minor 7 chord as described above with the 5 th flatted. 

From here, a student should be informed that since 8 is the octave of 1, 9 is the octave of 2, 11 

is the octave of 4 and 13 is the octave of 6. 

So, Amaj(triangle)7#11 would simply be Amaj7 (1,3,5,7) with an added #11 ( an octave above 

#4) 

Using this logic, C7#9b5 would be described as C dominant 7 with a raised 9 (2) and a lowered 5 

1,3,b5,b7,#9 

This is also important for bass line construction, as it tells the player the component notes of 

the chord. It's all about understanding the Major scale, and then the chord name gives you all 

you need to know!