Chords are Based on Scales

(This post is part of an ongoing series about the importance of learning scales, which started with this post here: Why You Should Learn Your Scales)
Every chord that you can play on guitar and ukelele (and on rare occasions, bass) is based on a scale. Yes, here is yet another reason to learn your scales! If you know all of your scales, then you can figure out how to play any chord you want. Allow me to demonstrate.

Various C Chords

C scale: C D E F G A B C

C Major chord (1st, 3rd, 5th note of scale): C E G
CMaj7 (major 7th) chord (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th note of scale): C E G B
C 7th chord (1st, 3rd, 5th, b7th note of scale): C E G Bb
Csus4 chord (1st, 4th, 5th note of scale): C F G
Csus2 chord (1st, 2nd, 5th note of scale): C D G
C6 chord (1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th note of scale): C E G A

There are many more, but you get the point. Let me give another example:

Various Bm (B minor) Chords

B minor scale: B C# D E F# G A B

Bm chord (1st, 3rd, 5th note of scale): B D F#
Bmin7 (minor 7th) chord (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th note of scale): B D F# A
Bmsus4 chord (1st, 4th, 5th note of scale): B E F#
Bmsus2 chord (1st, 2nd, 5th note of scale): B C# F#

(Note: It actually makes a lot more sense when figuring out some minor chords to refer to the major scale rather than the minor scale, but that's a lesson for another day. The point is that if you know your scales, you can easily figure out the chord.)


"Can't I just look up all of these chords?"

Yes, you could, if you really needed to. But if you knew your scales and what chords contain what notes, you'd never have to. You wouldn't have to be glued to your computer screen (or wasting your cell phone's data and/or battery) trying to find the answer. You could just play the chords quickly and easily!

I always know how to play any chord I want, pretty quickly, because even when I forget exactly how I was taught to play it, I know enough about my scales and chords to very quickly figure them out again.

Yet another great benefit to learning scales!