Chord Tensions

Ready to really start adding some color to your sound? Using chord tensions in your chord voicings and melodies will make your sound much more sophisticated.

Now the word "tensions" is really short for "extensions" because they are an extension of the seventh chord. Remember, that a chord is really just a scale played every other note. For example, a C major scale is CDEFGABC with the notes numbered 12345678 but a C major 7 chord is CEGB with the notes numbered 1357 and the tensions then are DFA with the numbers 246. But since the tensions are an extension of the seventh chord, we give them the numbers 9, 11 and 13.

All you really need to know is:
9 is the same as the 2nd note of the scale
11 is the same as the 4th note of the scale
13 is the same as the 6th note of the scale

It's nice to play the tensions above the chord tones, though you can slip them between the chord tones as well.

On a major 7 you can use 9's and 13's to your own liking. You can also use #11's, but usually only on major 7's that are NOT the Imaj7 chord (use them on IVmaj7, bIImaj7, bIIImaj7, bIVmaj7, and bVIImaj7)

On a minor 7 you can use 9's and 11's and both sound awesome and really give a minor 7 a full sound. You can occasionally us a 13 on a minor chord but it will really stick out (which is sometimes a good thing).

You can also "alter" tensions by flatting or sharping the 9, sharping the 11, and flatting the 13. These altered tensions mostly occur on dominant 7 chords and are explained fully in Dominant V7 Chords .

Finally, when you see a chord symbol such as C-11 or C13 it means that you should play all the tensions below as well. So C-11 has the 1,b3,5,b7,9 and 11. But if you see something like C-7(11), then you should just add the one tension listed. So C7(13) has the 1,3,5,b7 and 13.