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string, we get F/A – a first inversion; if we hold down C on the fifth string – C F A C F – it's a second inversion. But
what happens if we play a G on the sixth string and mute the fifth string, so we have G (x) F A C F? We have F/G.
Depending on the musical context, we could stop thinking of the F chord as a chord in its own right and analyze it as
if G were the root note. If so, F becomes the flat seventh, A the ninth and C the 11th. (The third, B, and the fifth, D,
are both missing.) Strictly speaking, we need a third to tell us whether the chord is major or minor, but context might
do that. So this F/G could be used in either a major or minor context as a G dom11. This approach suggests the
following:
1 Take a major chord and add a bass note a tone (full step) above its root to make a passable dominant11th.
2 Take a major chord and add a bass note a fourth above its root to make a ninth chord (C under G B D = 1, 5, 7, 9).
Using Extended Chords
In most pop, rock and soul songwriting these more complex chords are not used very often. Fascinating as they are,
try not to get carried away with them. It is a fatal habit among keyboard players who write songs that because it is
easy for them to play extended chords they have to use them all the time. I have known keyboard players who
seemed incapable of playing a simple C Em Am G progression without turning it into C11, Emadd9b5, Am7b5 and
Gdom11 (no 3rd). This is as beside the point as guitarists who insist that every song has to have at least two long
guitar solos! Of course this stuff is interesting to play. But songwriting is not about giving yourself interesting things
to play. The individual instrumental parts of a song may be rather dull, or at least not taxing, but the magic of the
song is in the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.
So use extended chords carefully, just to add a touch of colour here and there. One ninth chord placed at a telling
position in a chord progression can add far more than half a dozen. One way to try this out is to take some of the
turnarounds in section 3 and change one of the chords into a more complicated form.
Now it is time to explore one of the most exciting areas of songwriting craft. Got your backpack, provisions,
suncream and maps? We are going travelling - into the world of key changes.