One common question that many students ask at some point or another is "How many chords are there?" While that seems like a relatively straightforward question, the answer is quite complex. For those that don't know, the most loose definition of a chord is "three or more notes played simultaneously." It would seem then that the answer is as simple as finding out how many different combinations of three, four, five, etc.

notes can be played at the same time using the 12 tones in the Western tuning system. In a sense, this number (which I'll leave to you to figure out) would yield a relatively solid answer to "How many chords are there?" This number would also leave out some of the most important information about chords such as the all important notion of how chords are used. To the end of demystifying some of the left-out information, let's examine a few properties of chords as they're used in most popular (and most classical) music.

Inversion

One of the key conundrums in the quest to figure out every single chord is the concept of inversion. Inversion simply means that the lowest note in a chord isn't the root. There's a fairly complex system of naming chord inversions that's based on the Baroque practice of figured bass that's way outside of the scope of this post (if I ever do a post on Bach or Starting a Baroque Guitar Ensemble I'll cover it there, but don't count on it. The truly adventurous and curious can look into any major book on western harmony, it should be within the first 10 chapters). While inverted chords themselves shouldn't pose much of a problem in determining how many chords there are, after all C-E-G is always a C major triad, things get a bit complicated when we move outside of the realm of stacked thirds. One of my favorite modern jazz voices is D-G-C-F played in fifth position. As you'll notice, this chord is arranged in fourths instead of thirds and is perfect for any modal jazz setting. Naming it can be a bit tricky: that same combination of four notes can be called D-7(11), G7sus4, Csus4(add9), or Fadd9(add13,no 3rd). With a chord like this, it's going to be dependent upon the bass player to double one of the notes of the chord to give it a harmonic foundation.

Voicing

The other big problem with the mathematical answer to "How many chords are there?" is that it tells us nothing about how the notes of the chord are spread out. An old story about the great guitarist Pat Martino says that he used to carry a copy of the I Ching with him to every masterclass he did. When he was prompted with a question of chord voicings, Pat would refer to the 64 hexagrams of the book. Anyone who has ever looked at the I Ching long enough can start to notice how much the hexagrams look like guitar strings and get a lot of ideas about chord voicing from that. If either Pat Martino or the I Ching are new to you, I'd seriously recommend either of them as a wonderful source of inspiration. At its simplest, chord voicing is simply the arrangement of notes on the guitar strings. Of course, it'd be possible to figure out how many ways one can spread out the notes of every chord but in my opinion that's missing the point of voicings entirely. You see, voicings (like almost everything else in music), are almost completely contextual. A spacious, open voicing that works really well on a ballad probably won't work as well in the context of a driving heavy metal song and vice versa.

The C.A.G.E.D System

The C.A.G.E.D system is a relatively simple way to get started with learning new chord voicings. This system assumes that you already know the open position voicings for the chords C major, A major, G major, E major, and D major (hence the name). These voicings are posted on Example 1 in case you need a refresher.

Example 1

Example 2 shows a C major chord in each of the five positions of the C.A.G.E.D system.

Example 2

Notice how each position gets its name. The "A Position" looks just like an A major chord played at the third fret. One thing that I tell my students is to picture their first finger (which is often used as a barre in these voicings) as a capo. This makes each voicing a lot easier to learn. As you practice these voicings, notice how each of their sounds makes them unique. The "G position" is full and rich while the "D position" is brighter and more top-heavy. Hopefully you're starting to understand a few instances in which one choice would be better than others. To practice these voicings, first learn them in every key and then try to mix them up. Play through chord progressions using the same position for every voice or try to voice-lead them by moving successive chord to the closest position to the one that you're playing. Examples 3 and 4 show both of these systems using a simple chord progression.

Example 3

Example 4

Conclusion

I hope that this post has given you the curiosity to experiment with new chord voicings. For the next post, we'll look at a completely different set of chord voicings known as drop sets. Until then, practice the C.A.G.E.D voicings and see what sort of ideas you can come up with using them.