# CHORD SYMBOLS EXPLAINED: SUS, ADD9, MAJ7 AND SLASH CHORDS. read it left to right > Chord symbols explained: what m, 7, maj7, sus2, sus4, add9, dim and slash chords mean, the notes in each, and the plain chord to play when one is hard. Source: https://chordlens.app/guides/chord-symbols-explained Chords and keys · 06 of 07 - Any instrument - Beginner - 9 min read - Updated Oct 2026 - Chord Lens Team The short answer A chord symbol reads left to right: the root letter, then the chord’s type, then an optional bass note after a slash. A letter alone is major, m is minor, 7 adds the flat seventh, maj7 the major seventh, sus swaps the third for the second or fourth, add9 adds the ninth, and /F♯ puts F♯ in the bass. 01 / 09 · HOW TO READ ## Three parts, read left to right. Every chord symbol, however long, has the same three parts. First the root: a letter from A to G, maybe with a sharp or a flat. Then the quality: what kind of chord is built on that root. Last, sometimes, a slash and a second letter: the note to play in the bass. So in F♯m7/E, the root is F♯, the quality is m7, and E goes in the bass. In Cadd9, the root is C and the quality is add9, with no slash. In plain G, the root is G and there is nothing else, which by convention means a major chord. The numbers in a quality are scale steps counted up from the root. Count the root as 1. In C, D is 2, E is 3, F is 4, G is 5, A is 6 and B is 7. Numbers past 7 go round again an octave higher: 9 is the 2, 11 is the 4 and 13 is the 6. That one idea decodes almost every symbol you’ll meet. Most of what follows is a table in words. You don’t need to memorise it. Learn the handful you see most, major, minor, 7, maj7, m7, sus and slash chords, and the rest follow the same logic. 02 / 09 · METHOD ## Decode any chord symbol in five steps. When you meet a chord you don’t know, don’t reach for a chord dictionary straight away. Take it apart. Five quick questions get you the notes, and from the notes you can find a shape on any instrument. In the screenshot the demo song Coming Home plays the bridge on guitar. The Live chords bar draws a shape for every chord, with the one playing now held large, and Simplify sits beside the instrument menu for when a chord is too much. 1. **Find the root** Read the letter and its sharp or flat. That note is the chord’s home and usually its lowest note. 2. **Major or minor** No m means a major third, four semitones up. An m means a minor third, three up. A sus chord has no third at all. 3. **Add the seventh** A 7 on its own means the flat seventh. Maj7 means the major seventh, one semitone below the root. 4. **Add the extras** Add9, 6, 9, 11 and 13 add notes on top. 9, 11 and 13 also include the flat seventh; add9 and 6 do not. 5. **Check the bass** If there is a slash, play the note after it as the lowest note. The chord above it stays the same. ![The Chord Lens Studio’s Live chords bar for the demo song Coming Home on guitar: a shape for each chord in time, the B chord playing now drawn large, with the Guitar menu, the Simplify switch and the Sharps and Flats spelling above.](https://chordlens.app/assets/guides/chord-symbols-explained/studio-chord-shapes.webp) The chord now Your instrument Simplify Sharps or flats 03 / 09 · THE BASICS ## Major, minor and the three sevenths. **C** is a C major chord: the root, the major third and the fifth, C E G. **Cm** (also written Cmin or C−) is C minor: C E♭ G, the third lowered a semitone. Those two cover most of the chords in most songs. **C7** is the dominant seventh: C E G B♭. It adds the flat seventh, a whole tone below the root, and has a pull that wants to move on, usually to the chord a fifth below. G7 going to C is the most common move in Western harmony. When people say “a seventh chord” without saying which, they mean this one. **Cmaj7** (also written CM7 or CΔ) is C E G B: the major seventh, only a semitone below the root. It sounds soft and settled, not restless. The difference between C7 and Cmaj7 is one note, B♭ or B, and you hear it at once: try both over a C bass. Mixing them up is the most common chord-reading mistake there is. **Cm7** is C E♭ G B♭: a minor chord with the flat seventh. It’s mellow and very common in soul, jazz and pop. **Am7** is A C E G, which on guitar is an open A minor with one finger lifted. 04 / 09 · SUS AND ADD ## Sus and add chords: swap a note or add one. **Sus** means suspended: the third is taken out and replaced. **Dsus4** is D G A, with the fourth (G) instead of the third (F♯). **Dsus2** is D E A, with the second (E) instead. A plain **sus** means sus4. With no third, a sus chord is neither major nor minor, which is why it sounds open and unresolved. Songs often play Dsus4 and then drop to D, so the fourth falls to the third and the chord resolves. **7sus4**, written D7sus4 or Dsus7, adds the flat seventh to a sus4: D G A C. It is a softer way into the next chord than a plain D7. **Add9** keeps the third and adds the ninth on top. **Cadd9** is C E G D. Compare it with Csus2, which is C D G: the same D, but with the E taken out. Add9 keeps the major (or minor, in Cmadd9) sound; sus2 loses it. On guitar, Cadd9 is the popular shape where the third finger sits on the B string at the third fret. Add9 has no seventh. **C9** does: C E G B♭ D, a dominant seventh with the ninth on top. **Cmaj9** is C E G B D. The rule is simple: a bare 9, 11 or 13 implies the flat seventh underneath, and “add” means no seventh. **C6** is C E G A: a major chord with the sixth added and no seventh. **Cm6** is C E♭ G A. Stuck on a sus or an add chord in a hurry? Play the plain major or minor chord on the same root. It won’t sound quite like the record, but it won’t clash. 05 / 09 · SLASH CHORDS ## Slash chords: the chord over a bass note. A slash chord tells you which note goes at the bottom. **D/F♯** is a D chord, D F♯ A, played with F♯ as its lowest note. Read it as “D over F♯”. The chord name before the slash is what you play; the letter after it is the bass. When the bass note is already in the chord, the slash chord is an inversion. D/F♯ has the third in the bass, which is called first inversion. **C/G** has the fifth in the bass: second inversion. These sound smoother than root-position chords in a moving line. The classic is a walking bass: C, then G/B, then Am, so the bass steps down C, B, A. The bass note doesn’t have to be in the chord. **Am/G** puts G under A minor, which is really Am7 with the seventh in the bass, and a descending line such as Am, Am/G, F is everywhere in pop. In **D/C**, the C under the D chord gives a tense sound that wants to resolve, often to G/B. On guitar you play the bass note on the lowest string you strum and leave out any string below it. For D/F♯, many players wrap the thumb over the neck to fret F♯ at the second fret of the low E string. In a band, a slash chord is often the bassist’s job: the guitarist can play plain D and the bass player plays F♯. 06 / 09 · DIM AND AUG ## Diminished, augmented and the rest. **Bdim** (or B°) is B D F: a minor third and a diminished fifth. It sits on the seventh step of a major key: in C major, B D F. **Bdim7** (B°7) adds a diminished seventh: B D F A♭. **Bm7♭5**, also written Bø, adds a flat seventh instead: B D F A. Bm7♭5 is often called half-diminished. **Caug** (or C+) is C E G♯: a major third and a raised fifth. It sounds unresolved and dreamy, and often leads from one chord to the next in passing. Two habits trip readers up. A minus sign can mean minor (C−) or a flat note (C7−9 means C7 with a flat ninth), and the context tells you which. And a triangle (CΔ) always means major seventh, never a plain major chord. 07 / 09 · IN CHORD LENS ## See each symbol as a shape. In the Chord Lens Studio, [Chord Shapes](https://chordlens.app/chord-shapes) draws every chord in a song for guitar, bass, ukulele, mandolin or piano, lit in time with the music. Major, minor, 7, m7, maj7, sus2 and sus4 chords each get their own diagram. A bigger chord is drawn as the nearest of those, a 9 as its 7 and an m9 as its m7, while the name above it keeps the full symbol. Diminished and augmented chords show their name with no diagram. A slash chord keeps its bass in the name, so D/F♯ reads D/F♯. On bass, the diagram starts from that slash note and shows the chord tones around it by interval. On guitar and the other fretted instruments, the diagram is the chord’s usual shape, so add the bass note yourself or leave it to the bass player. Turn on Simplify and every chord becomes the basic chord under it: G♯m7 plays as G♯m, Bsus4 as B, D/F♯ as D. It’s the tip above, done for the whole chart at once, and you can switch it off again when you’re ready for the real thing. The chord names follow the switch, the sheet included. If a chart reads strangely, check the spelling. Auto spells the chords for the song’s key, and Sharps or Flats force one or the other, so you can read A♯ as B♭ if that’s how your band writes it. Our guide to [common chord progressions](https://chordlens.app/guides/common-chord-progressions) shows how these chords fit together in real songs, and [how to find the chords of a song](https://chordlens.app/guides/how-to-find-chords-of-a-song) covers working them out by ear. 08 / 09 · Do it in one click ## Chord Shapes Every chord in the song drawn for guitar, bass, ukulele, mandolin or piano, lit in time, with Simplify for hard ones. [Open Chord Shapes](https://chordlens.app/chord-shapes) [Open the Studio](https://chordlens.app/studio) 09 / 09 · Quick answers ## Quick answers. the short answers ### Still stuck? Open the Studio and send us a note with Feedback in its sidebar. A person reads every one. [Send feedback](https://chordlens.app/studio?feedback) ### What is the difference between C7 and Cmaj7? One note. C7 is C E G B♭, with the flat seventh. Cmaj7 is C E G B, with the major seventh a semitone below the root. C7 sounds restless; Cmaj7 sounds settled. ### What does sus mean in a chord? Suspended: the third is replaced. Sus4 uses the fourth, sus2 the second, and a plain sus means sus4. With no third, the chord is neither major nor minor. ### What is the difference between add9 and sus2? Add9 keeps the third and adds the ninth: Cadd9 is C E G D. Sus2 drops the third for the second: Csus2 is C D G. ### What does a slash chord mean? Play the chord before the slash with the note after it in the bass. D/F♯ is a D chord with F♯ as its lowest note. ### Is C9 the same as Cadd9? No. C9 includes the flat seventh: C E G B♭ D. Cadd9 has no seventh: C E G D. ### What can I play instead of a hard chord? The plain major or minor chord on the same root: G for Gsus4, Am for Am7, D for D/F♯. In Chord Lens, Simplify does this for the whole song. ### Does Chord Lens show diagrams for sus and maj7 chords? Yes. Major, minor, 7, m7, maj7, sus2 and sus4 each have their own diagram; bigger chords are drawn as the nearest of these. ## Keep going [Previous in Chords and keys **05** Major vs minor key](https://chordlens.app/guides/major-vs-minor-key) [Next in Chords and keys **07** Slash chords](https://chordlens.app/guides/slash-chords) ### Related guides - [Chords and keys · Any instrument Chord progressions 8 min](https://chordlens.app/guides/common-chord-progressions) - [Start here · Any instrument Find the chords 8 min](https://chordlens.app/guides/how-to-find-chords-of-a-song) - [Chords and keys · Guitar · Ukulele Capo chart 5 min](https://chordlens.app/guides/capo-chart)