Chord Naming Conventions
There are a lot of chords you may end up needing to play: major, minor, augmented, diminished, half-diminished, seventh, sixth, etc. And there are multiple ways to write out a chord. The table below will show many of the ways chords are written, as well as show the scale degrees so that you can apply it to any key. The chart is based of root C, so that alterations are easy to see.
| Short Symbol | Long Symbol | Notes | Scale Degrees | Chord Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Cmaj | C - E - G | 1 - 3 - 5 | Major Triad |
| Cm | Cmin | C - E♭ - G | 1 - ♭3 - 5 | Minor Triad |
| C+ | Caug | C - E - G# | 1 - 3 - #5 | Augmented Triad |
| C° | Cdim | C - E♭ - G♭ | 1 - ♭3 - ♭5 | Diminished Triad |
| C7 | Cdom | C - E - G - B♭ | 1 - 3 - 5 - ♭7 | Dominant Seventh (Major-Minor Seventh) |
| CM7 | Cmaj7 | C - E - G - B | 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 | Major Seventh |
| Cm7 | Cmin7 | C - E♭ - G - B♭ | 1 - ♭3 - 5 - ♭7 | Minor Seventh |
| CM6 | Cmaj6 | C - E - G - A | 1 - 3 - 5 - 6 | Major Sixth |
| Cm6 | Cmin6 | C - E♭ - G - A | 1 - ♭3 - 5 - 6 | Minor Sixth |
| C+7 | Caug7 | C - E - G# - B♭ | 1 - 3 - #5 - ♭7 | Augmented Seventh |
| C°7 | Cdim7 | C - E♭ - G♭ - B𝄫 | 1 - ♭3 - ♭5 - 𝄫7 | Diminished Seventh |
| Cø7 | C half-dim | C - E♭ - G♭ - B♭ | 1 - ♭3 - ♭5 - ♭7 | Half-Diminished Seventh |
| CmM7 | CmMaj7 | C - E♭ - G - B | 1 - ♭3 - 5 - 7 | Minor-Major Seventh |