![\"Fsus2maj7\/C\"](\"https:\/\/drc0fhsrp02et.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Screen-Shot-2016-03-31-at-10.26.30.png\")
<\/p>\nWe recently had a customer pose a very good question. They\u2019d been looking at the song \u2018How He Loves\u2019 and had a number of different chord charts for it, some aimed at guitar and some aimed at piano. Some were from official paid-for channels, others were freebies comped off the internet. The thing was, although the song\u2019s basic chords are C, Am, G and F all the way through, each chart had different chord names. One piano version used C, Am7, C\/G, Fmaj7. Another sometimes substituted the Fmaj7 for an F2 or F5. Then various guitar versions used C, Am, Gsus, F2. Or C, F2\/A, Gsus, F2. Or C, Dm7\/A, Gsus, F2. And one even used C, F2\/A, D, F\/A.<\/p>\n
So the obvious question was – which one\u2019s right?<\/p>\n
Now there are various things going on here. Firstly, lots of free charts from the web are put together by enthusiastic people with varying degrees of music theory understanding, so sometimes the chords are simply wrong, but at other times chords come out with quite different names purely depending on which instrument is transcribing them. This is especially true for songs written on guitar but then transcribed on piano where the pianist tries to imitate the exact notes played in every guitar chord shape. Broadly speaking most guitarist\u2019s learn chords by shapes that fall nicely to hand with and move from one chord to the next by moving as few fingers as possible. Those shapes work very nicely over basic chords and so they will give that shape a basic name, or a name that they\u2019ve seen in a chord diagram. Those names are often abbreviated for the sake of easy learning and brevity. However keyboard player have to learn chords by the proper notes and not shapes. So if a keyboard tries to replicate and transcribe those exact notes it can come out with either a very long-winded and confusing name or describe a chord that gives a very different sound to the one intended. \u00a0Of course those proper names are technically precise but not very applicable in the real world.\u00a0 Cmaj9add4add6(b13)(b5) anybody?<\/p>\n
Conversely chord sequences can look incredibly complex on a chart if they are trying to replicate moving bass lines or particular arpeggios played on piano. This especially true for hymns and carols where the chord can seem to change on every beat and frighten the life out of an unsuspecting guitarist!<\/p>\n
As an example the shape below is a beautiful sounding chord that many guitar players use over an F chord.<\/p>\n
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The notes in a basic F chord are F, A and C, but using this shape the guitarist is actually playing the note C, F, G, C and E.<\/p>\n
So as the lowest note is a C you could describe it as a Csus4 or more technically a Cadd11. But that\u2019s not the right sound at all, as the implied bass note needs to be an F, (it\u2019s just the guitarist\u2019s fingers aren\u2019t bionic and cant get there)<\/p>\n
And to be technically correct, as the C is the lowest note we\u2019d have to describe it as an F\/C something, but there\u2019s the open G so it\u2019s an Fsus2\/C and of course the top open E string so we\u2019d perhaps call it an Fsus2maj7\/C.\u00a0 The problem now is not only the long-winded and pedantic chord name, but also because we\u2019ve named it a major7 chord.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maj7 chords have a very distinct dark, jazzy sound and that guitar chord doesn\u2019t sound like a maj7. That top E is really droning an octave above where most of the bass notes placed in those type of guitar chord shapes, it\u2019s just in that particular shape unless you use your thumb to play that low F bass note the bass is implied rather than played. So what we really want is an Fsus2add15\/C(no 1st). But that\u2019s not a proper chord name, AND I\u2019ve sent you all to sleep!<\/p>\n
The watchword here on both is PRAGMATISM. It\u2019s great to understand the make up of chords but don\u2019t get too hung up on the details if it\u2019s not helpful to all. In the case of the chord diagram I\u2019d simply call it an F chord and let everyone worry about their own voicings. Chances are that many players will probably turn major chords into suspended seconds and minor chords into minor 7ths without realizing it.<\/p>\n