Triads are a start, but most pads use richer chords: sevenths, ninths and suspended chords, voiced so the notes have room. This section adds those notes one at a time, then covers leaving out the root, spreading a chord across both hands, the one-shape stab, pedal notes and fourths shapes.
Start this section in the interactive courseA seventh chord is a triad with one more note stacked a third above. Three kinds come up most.
Minor 7 (Am7: A C E G) adds the note a whole tone below the octave. It softens a minor chord.
Major 7 (Cmaj7: C E G B) adds the note a semitone below the octave. It sounds warm with a slight ache, because that seventh rubs against the root.
Dominant 7 (G7: G B D F) is a major chord with the minor-7 note. It sounds restless and leans towards the next chord.
Build a seventh on each note of A minor and you get Am7, Bm7♭5, Cmaj7, Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7 and G7. These are the chords the backing tracks have been playing.
The ninth is the second note of the scale, an octave up. Added to a chord it opens the sound out.
Add9 is a triad plus the ninth, with no seventh: Cadd9 is C E G D. Played close it’s C D E G, with the D tucked between C and E. It sounds bright and open.
Minor add9 works the same way: Am(add9) is A B C E. The B against the C gives a darker, closer sound.
Sus2 replaces the third with the second: Asus2 is A B E. With no third it is neither major nor minor, which leaves it open and unresolved. It suits pads that need to sit under a melody without pulling it one way.
In a track the bass already plays the root, so the pad doesn’t need it. Leave it out and the space goes to the seventh and ninth instead.
A rootless ninth is the third, fifth, seventh and ninth. Am9 without its root is C E G B, which is the Cmaj7 shape you already know. Fmaj9 without its root is A C E G, an Am7 shape. Over the right bass note, a familiar shape becomes a richer chord.
The pad sits higher and clearer this way, and the low end stays with the bass.
For a wide pad, split the chord. The left hand plays the root and the fifth low down; the right hand plays the third, seventh and ninth around middle C.
Keep wide gaps at the bottom and close ones at the top. Notes close together low down sound muddy; a fifth or more between them stays clear.
This is a big sound on its own, so use it where the pad carries the track, and thin it out when a bass or lead needs the space.
Another way to move chords: pick one shape, often a minor seventh, and move the whole hand to new roots without changing the shape. The chords leave the key, and that drifting quality is the sound.
Deep house and garage chord stabs often work this way: one shape, three or four roots, played short on the offbeats.
Lock the hand and move it as one piece. Am7 to Gm7 is the same shape a whole tone lower, so every finger drops two semitones together.
A melody over this needs care, since the chords change key. Notes from the minor pentatonic of the first chord usually still fit; check by ear.
A pedal note is one note held, usually low, while the chords above it change. The same note sounds different under each chord, and the tension and release gives a slow, hypnotic pull. A lot of melancholic ambient and melodic electronic music leans on it.
The home note is the usual choice. Over an A held in the left hand, play Am, F, G and Em in the right: F and G pull against the A, Am and Em settle on it.
It also works in the other direction: one note held at the top while the chords move underneath.
Stack notes five semitones apart (fourths) instead of the usual thirds and you get an open, unresolved shape: D G C, for example. It has no clear major or minor, so it takes its character from the bass note under it.
Over an A bass, D G C is Am11. Over F, the same kind of shape E A D gives Fmaj7 with a sixth; over C it gives C6/9. One shape, moved up and down the scale, covers a whole loop.
These are the shapes behind many deep house and dub techno chord stabs. Slide them in parallel like the one-shape stab, or keep them in the key for a softer sound.
The seventh chords follow the same pattern in every minor key: m7 on i, m7♭5 on ii, maj7 on III, m7 on iv and v, maj7 on VI and 7 on VII. So i VI III VII as sevenths is Am7 Fmaj7 Cmaj7 G7 in A minor and Bm7 Gmaj7 Dmaj7 A7 in B minor.
Find the key’s black keys first, build the triad, then add the note a third above from the same key.