Other possible chords within the key

In the key of C the basic chords are C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim. But those are certainly not the only possibilities. While still staying within the limits of the C major scale there are other chords that can be built from each degree of the scale. Below are some of the possibilities.

Check out the chord library for some different ways to play these chords. You can of course transpose these to any major key.

Often a song that is in a major key will "borrow" chords built from other scales. So if you are writing a song in a major key you are not limited to just the chords that are built from the major scale. But the chords built from the scale will certainly be the most important in creating the sound of a major key. Those extra chords that are not built from the scale are just used as decorations, or chords to add a little more color to the diatonic chords. We will look at some of these possibilities in other lessons.

Page 4, A visual relationship of the chords in a major key, I chord on the 5th string

Page 1, How the chords function in the key