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Extended chords rarely feature all the notes, as that would make them quite dissonant. For example, a 13th chord features every note in the scale. Also, as you can imagine, there are more variations of extended chords than triads or 7ths; as the number of notes in the chord increases, the number of permutations available based on {{f}}/{{s}}'ed notes increases exponentially. Some permutations simply sound awful and aren't used, or are enharmonic to other chords making them redundant. We will not list those below.
Harmonically, extended chords fall into the same functions as other chords: tonic, pre-dominant, and dominant. They are most commonly used as substitutes for traditional triad or 7th chords.
Because extended chords contain more intervals and thus harmonic complexity than triads and 7ths, they are typically played with an undistorted guitar tone. Otherwise, they can sound very dissonant. In fact, unlike triads and some 7ths, extended chords typically only have a few desirable voicings, avoiding highly dissonant intervals such as m2 between notes. Jazz musicians also typically roll down the tone knob on their guitar to reduce overtones for a darker sound, as well as finger-picking instead of using a plectrum. This allows the complexity of the interaction between the fundamental pitches to be more clearly heard.
= 9ths =
