Major chords:

If you wanted to substitute a different chord for ‘C’ major you could use any of the following chords.

C = C6; Cmaj7; Cmaj9; C6/9; Cmaj7/9

Alternatively, you could use this chart to simplify the chords of a song e.g., if the music chart contained a Cmaj9 you could play ‘C’ (or any of the other chords listed above).

See how this information frees your playing up and allows you to develop your own sound and style of playing?

Minor chords:

In the same fashion the minor chord and be substituted in the following manner like this:

Cm = Cm6; Cm6/9; Cm7; Cm9; Cm11

Another key point to keep in mind is that our chart works both ways.

For example, if you need to simply or try a different sound you can use any of the chords listed.

With this in mind let’s take a look at the dominant 7th chord.

Dominant seventh chords:

C7 = C9; C13; C9(11+); C11+

The (11+) refers to a sharpened eleventh

As a further illustration of the chord simplification process here is an example of simplification using Augmented chords.

Augmented chords:

C+ = C7+; C7(+5); Caug7; C9+; C9(+5); C+9

The (+) refers to a sharpened fifth (1-3-#5)