Every possible Chord Symbol EXPLAINED

📌EDIT: The chords you hear during the "name the chord" section at the end are actually the wrong audio clips. I managed to muddle them up! I've cut a couple clips out of the last segment of this video accordingly but YouTube's rubbish online editor isn't working properly so I can't seem to edit them all out. Sorry for any confusion!

Chord symbols can often come with little rules and conventions that can be hard to understand or remember. So today I'm going through every single chord symbol you could possibly encounter so you know what to do when you're learning your next song!

And, an extra special thanks goes to Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇

0:00 Introduction
0:19 Triads
1:35 Suspended chords
1:54 Seventh chords
2:54 Diminished sevenths
3:49 Upper chord extensions
5:02 Omit chords
5:31 Upper chord alterations
6:16 Major 9th, 11th & 13th
7:01 Tomplay
7:48 Power chords
8:11 Sixth chords
9:12 Altered chords
9:42 Slash chords
10:34 Miscellaneous chords
11:05 NAME THAT CHORD! (Round 1)
12:20 NAME THAT CHORD! (Round 2)

[DavidBennettPiano]

📌 Also, at 5:45 there is a typo... there shouldn't be a flat next to the note C. It should be a C natural, not C flat. Sorry for any confusion and thanks to the commenters who pointed that out 😅😊

[voyteq]

this video is like having all the pieces of a puzzle suddenly all coming together. one of the most informative videos on this topic, amazing work!

[Mswordx]

1:46 Even people with the greatest willpower on Earth wouldn't be able to resist making this joke.

[MusicalBasics]

I wish you were alive when I was learning music! It took me years to figure out all of these chord symbols, and here you are giving out all this precious info in 16 minutes 🤣

[spky_guy]

This is absolutely the best music theory channel out there, straight to business, extremely clear descriptions and visuals, and ordered perfectly for anyone to learn piece by piece. I feel like my knowledge has increased immensely since subscribing, and this is coming from someone who hasn't studied theory from year 9.

[cjfuqqb]

the last chord you showed is a very jazzy indeed

[cohoseco]

Man you can't know how much useful this video will be, I've always wanted to look at the subject but never had the motivation neither found a good video about it ; you're definitely gonna change that, thanks a lot!

[ivankolobov]

It’s insane how a year ago I barely knew any music theory and now I’m actually able to understand everything in this vid.

[mordy]

4:59 in jazz terminology it is worth to keep in mind that you will NEVER omit the third unless very clearly specified. The third and seventh is pretty much seen as the essence and charcter of the chord to the point where you can manage with those two notes alone (if you play with a bass player that will play the root) in the case of the C13 in jazz you would omit the 11’th for reasons i will explain below. I know in some music (mainly pop and soul) you might see C11 and C13 understood as a Bb/C and Bb^7/c like David did here. However in jazz this Bb/c would be considered a sus chord. So C7sus11 and the Bb^7/c would be considered a C7sus13. Also in traditional jazz you would never use a major or dominant 11 chord due to the clash between the 11 and the major third of the chord which creates a dissonant b2/b9 interval - therefore you will often sharpen the 11th to get a more consonant M2/M9 interval to avoid this clash. Hence the reason that the third is omitted when writing a C11 in pop/soul. This is not a problem with minor chords why you will more often find m11 chords. In more modern jazz, more open voicings, clusters and dissonance are more accepted so here you will se major and dominant 11 chords that have both the 11th and major third of the chord.

So to sum up

Bb/c = C11 in pop = C7sus11 in jazz (C11 in modern jazz refer to a chord with have both 11th and major third)

Bb^7/c = C13 in pop = C7sus13 in jazz

[jandy]

1:47 that sussy among us character appearance absolutely cracked me up

[panplayer]

As a person with years of classical training, who is now deep into jazz on steel pan, this was SUPER helpful. Thank you!

[the_venomous_viper]

“A Cmaj11, which for fun we’ll put as a triangle” direct quote from musicians making their notation as indecipherable as possible

[eyvindjr]

For 13 chords, the most standard practice is to omit the 11th and/or 5th, not the 3rd. For major 11-chords, the 3rd is typically omitted, but to avoid confusion, this chord is now taught as "9sus4" in the US.

[aintnocapinhere]

Thanks Mr Bennett, I needed this for reading more difficult jazz charts!

[marcpatzelt]

I'm actually a drummer but I'm also a music theory nerd so I really like this!

[mustuploadtoo]

honestly thanks david. understanding certain chord sequences was something i struggled with but i sort of learned to live with. it is amazing that i finally understand them now and use the correct notes without guessing lol

[captainaryel]

It's worth mentioning that sometimes minor chords are not written as uppercase with "m", but as lowercase letters :)
For example here in Poland we commonly write minor chords like that.

[filux]

I have also stumbled upon minor chords being symbolised by a lowercase letter, so basically D Minor just written as d

[PANTECHNICONRecordings]

That last one could also be spelled as a polychord (F over Em with a horizontal, not diagonal slash), but you’re right, you’d pretty certainly have to write the actual voicing out to get what you wanted.

[smoorej]

Absolutely brilliant. An entire topic delivered concisely, nothing omitted, in a clear, easy to understand format, with examples that help reinforce the concepts. Every question I ever had about chord notation has been answered. This is why I love your channel and your content.