Chord Formulas
Every chord has a formula. This formula indicates which notes of the major scale are in the chord. In the table below you will see that a major chord uses the I, III and V (1st, 3rd and 5th) notes of the major scale. Below the table of chord formulas you will see a table showing the notes of the major scale in all 12 keys.
Example - just say we want to know the notes in the chord Dmaj7. We would look up 'Major 7' in the table below and see it uses the I, III, V and VII (1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th) notes of the major scale. Because it is Dmaj7 we are talking about the D major scale. If you look at the notes of the D major scale (in the table at the bottom of this page) you will see that the I, III, V and VII notes are: D, F#, A and C#. Therefore the Dmaj7 chord uses the notes: D, F#, A and C#.
| Chord | Formula |
|---|---|
| Major | I - III - V |
| Major 6 | I - III - V - VI |
| Major 6 add 9 | I - III - V - VI - IX |
| Major 7 | I - III - V - VII |
| Major 9 | I - III - V - VII - IX |
| Major 7(#11) | I - III - V - VII - IX - #XI |
| Major 7(13) | I - III - V - VII - XIII |
| Major 7(9,13) | I - III - V - VII - IX - XIII |
| Major 7#5 | I - III - #V - VII |
| Major 7#5(9) | I - III - #V - VII - IX |
| MinMaj 7 | I - bIII - V - VII |
| MinMaj 7(9) | I - bIII - V - VII - IX |
| 7b5 | I - III - bV - bVII |
| 7 | I - III - V - bVII |
| 7 b10 | I - III - V - bVII - bX |
| 7 aug5 | I - III - #V - bVII |
| 7 sus4 | I - IV - V - bVII |
| 7 (9) | I - III - V - bVII - IX |
| 7 (b9) | I - III - V - bVII - bIX |
| 7 (#9) | I - III - V - bVII - #IX |
| 7 (13) | I - III - V - bVII - XIII |
| 7 (b13) | I - III - V - bVII - bXIII |
| 7 (9,13) | I - III - V - bVII - IX - XIII |
| 7 (b9,13) | I - III - V - bVII - bIX - XIII |
| 7 (#9,13) | I - III - V - bVII - #IX - XIII |
| 7 (b9,b13) | I - III - V - bVII - bIX - bXIII |
| 7 (#9,b13) | I - III - V - bVII - #IX - bXIII |
| 7 (9,#11) | I - III - V - bVII - IX - #XI |
| 7 (9,#11,13) | I - III - V - bVII - IX - #XI - XIII |
| 9 sus4 | I - IV - V - bVII - IX |
| 11 | I - III - V - bVII - IX - XI |
| 13 | I - III - V - bVII - IX - XI - XIII |
| b5 | I - III - bV |
| Minor | I - bIII - V |
| Minor 6 | I - bIII - V - VI |
| Minor 6 add 9 | I - bIII - V - VI - IX |
| Minor 7 | I - bIII - V - bVII |
| Minor 7b5 | I - bIII - bV - bVII |
| Minor 7 (9) | I - bIII - V - bVII - IX |
| Minor 7 (9,11) | I - bIII - V - bVII - IX - XI |
| Minor add9 | I - bIII - V - IX |
| Augmented | I - III - #V |
| Augmented 7 | I - III - #V - bVII |
| Diminished | I - bIII - bV |
| Diminished 7 | I - bIII - bV - VI |
| Suspended 4 | I - IV - V |
| Suspended 2 | I - II - V |
| Add 9 | I - III - V - IX |
| Key | I | II or IX | III | IV or XI | V | VI or XIII | VII | Octave |
| A | A | B | C# | D | E | F# | G# | A |
| A# | A# | C | D | D# | F | G | A | A# |
| B | B | C# | D# | E | F# | G# | A# | B |
| C | C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
| C# | C# | D# | F | F# | G# | A# | C | C# |
| D | D | E | F# | G | A | B | C# | D |
| D# | D# | F | G | G# | A# | C | D | D# |
| E | E | F# | G# | A | B | C# | D# | E |
| F | F | G | A | A# | C | D | E | F |
| F# | F# | G# | A# | B | C# | D# | F | F# |
| G | G | A | B | C | D | E | F# | G |
| G# | G# | A# | C | C# | D# | F | G | G# |