Starting with a major (1, 3, 5) or minor (1, flatted 3, 5) chord, here’s how you play all the normal numbered chords.

2 chord: flat the 3^rd by one whole step. Your fingers are on 1, 2, and 5.

Suspended(4 chord): sharp the 3^rd by one half step. Your fingers are on 1, 4, and 5.

6 chord: you add a 6 note to the chord. Your fingers are on 1, 3, 5, and 6.

7 chord: you add a flatted 7 to the chord. Your fingers are on 1, 3, 5, and flatted 7. The best cheat is to look at the flatted 7 note as one whole step down from the 1.

Major 7 chord: you add a natural 7 to the chord. Your fingers are on 1, 3, 5, and 7.

Add 9: you add a 2 above the rest of the chord. If you count from one all the way up to nine, you’ll see that 9 and 2 are the same note but an octave apart. Play 1, 3, 5, and 9.

11 chord: play a 1 bass, and above that play the major chord one whole step down from the 1. Example: G11 could be called F/G, G is the bass note(root) and F is the chord.

Playing-by-the-numbers.pdf