Q. I have a book that shows all the chords on the piano but I have no idea where they got the names from. I understand what inversion means by looking at the patterns but I have no idea what the other stuff is. Like Csus4, C6, C7,C(degree sign)7,C minor 7 flat 5. What does the sus mean? What do the numbers mean? What does 7 flat 5 mean?
A. Chord Naming
http://www.standingstones.com/chordname.html
Usually the lowest note played becomes the letter the chord is named after (there are some exceptions eg inverted chords and slash chords but that is not important right now) - the other notes determine what "type" of chord it is.
So say the lowest note I play is A, I know it is an A chord of some description (well almost always) and I can work out what type of A chord from the other notes if I know my major scales and my chord formulas.
If you skip ahead in PMT a few pages you will note that major chords have the formula 1, 3, 5 - minor chords have the formula 1, b3, 5 - this is consistant and you might see or hear of them referred to as a triad.
So say I'm playing a chord but don't know what to call it - the way to work it out is to identify the notes I'm playing. For the example, if the lowest note is A and I also work out that I am playing C#, E - I align that to the A major scale and I would see that I am playing the 1st, 3rd & 5th notes of the scale so therefore I would call it an A major chord NB in tabs a single letter eg "A" really means A major but by convention it isn't stated as such.
If I discovered I was playing A, C, E - I would still call it an A chord but when I compared it to the A major scale I would see that C would actully be a flat 3rd - so this would make it a minor chord and I would call it Am
Note the 3rd controls the character of the chord i.e. whether it is a major or a minor - straight 3 = major, b3 = minor
Often when we play major or minor chords we actually play more than 3 notes but that is because we duplicate some of the notes - take A major for example, we play the A open string (which gives the chord its name), E on the 4th string, A again on the 3rd string, C# on the 2nd string and the open E on the little e string but essentially all the notes are A, C#, E
Now for lots of other chord types we add in a fourth note (a quadad). So when you see D7 it really means D dominant seventh (not a minor seventh, a major seventh, or a diminished 7th) the formula for a dominant seventh chord is 1, 3, 5, b7
So in this case we use the D major scale and see that 1, 3, 5, b7 are the notes D, F#, A, C and we call this D7
If we played D, F#, A, C# that would equate to 1, 3, 5, 7 of the D major scale and that would be called a D major 7 chord.
D, F, A, C would be 1, b3, 5, b7 of the D major scale and would be a D minor 7 chord (note the b3 is calling the shots on it being a minor)
And so on, and so on - this is the same for all chords - as long as we know the chord formulas for the different types of chords and we know how to relate that to the relevant major scale then we can work out what notes to play if we see a chord on a tab but haven't learned that chord shape yet simply by applying the formula. Alternatively if we are playing a chord shape that someone has shown us but are not sure what to call it we can work it out, again by seeing what the notes are and seeing which formula it fits.
Now onto your Cadd9 - that just means add the 9th degree of the C scale to your C major chord - so instead of playing 1, 3, 5 or C, E, G we add in a D NB not the D at the 2nd degree of the scale but an octave higher at the 9th degree.
Sometimes you will see a "sus" chord - either a 2 or a 4. That just means suspend the 3rd (take it out) and replace it with the 2nd or the 4th. So this chord is neither major nor minor but is a sus chord.
All the common chord formulas are in PMT
What are the names of these piano chords?
Q. I have this really cool chord progression! It goes like this:
First Chord: Eb/Ab/Bb
Second: Eb/A/Bb
Thrid: Eb/F/Bb
Fourth:Eb/Bb
If anyone knows this, please let me know! I want to put it to something.
A. You really can't apply normal names to these chords. What you're doing here is something called "quartal" harmony, which means that your chords are built in 4ths. Most Western music utilizes "tertial" harmony, where chords are built in 3rds. All the names for the chords we use are based on tertial harmony. They don't apply to quartal stuff.
You CAN give them names, but it's missing the point. Several composers have made liberal use of quartal harmony, but it's difficult to analyze. It's just one of those sounds that doesn't have really solid names yet.
Piano chords/music theory: how to tell which chord it is by listening? (tonic, subdominant, etc.)?
Q. I'm going to take a violin exam(Level 8 ABRSM) this week, and I have to know some music theory. I have taken music theory classes and exams before, but unfortunately, that was a while ago and I have forgotten close to everything. ):
For the theory section, I have to listen to a piano chord, and name that chord (Tonic, subdominant, dominant, etc.). I don't play the piano, and I have trouble telling apart the different chords. Also, I'm not allowed to look at the chord or notes, so I can only use my ears.
Any help on how to tell the chords apart?
Thank you!
A. In order to identify which note the chord is built on, you have to hear something that establishes the tonic (I). That might be a short excerpt of piano playing, but is much more likely to be simply a scale or arpeggio. The chord on the tonic is built on the first note of the scale - the same notes as in the arpeggio. Practice singing C E F G (or doh, mi, fa, soh). If the root of the new chord is on fa (IV), it is build on the subdominant. If it is on soh (V), it is built on the dominant. The chords on I, IV, or V are all major chords. You should be easily able to hear if the chord is minor. That will be a clue that the chord is built on ii, iii or vi. vii is dinimished, and that has a different distinctive sound.
If you are asked to name the notes in the chord, you need to be familiar with your scales and/or key signatures.
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