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Chord Notation Discussion Brought
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Contents: 1 Chord
symbols and staff notation As a
result of these limitations, a shorthand describing
the harmonic characteristics of chords is used. For more information on chords
themselves, see Chord (music). This article concerns systems of notation for
chords, rather than the chords themselves.
A chord
consists of two or more notes played simultaneously that are certain intervals
apart. The following table shows the labels given to these intervals and the
respective notes for each of the twelve keys. Chord notation provides a shorthand for intervals, not actual notes. This table
provides a mapping of intervals to actual notes to play.
The first
part of a symbol for a chord defines the root of the chord. The root of the
chord will always be played by one of the instruments in the ensemble (usually
by a bass instrument) – failure to include the root means that the indicated
chord is not being played. By convention, the root alone indicates a simple
major triad, i.e., the root, the major third, and the perfect fifth above the
root. After this, various additional symbols are added to modify this chord.
There is unfortunately no universal standard for these symbols. The most common
ones are presented here. Chord notation does not easily provide for ways of
describing all chords. Some chords can be very difficult to notate, and others
that exist theoretically are rarely encountered. For example, there are 6 possible
permutations of triads (chords with three notes) involving minor and major
thirds and augmented/diminished and perfect fifths. However, conventionally
only four are used (major, minor, augmented and diminished). There is nothing
to stop a composer using the other two, but the question of what to call them
is interesting. A minor third with an augmented fifth might be, for example, Am+, which will strike most musicians as odd; in fact, this
turns out to be the same as F/A (see slash chords below). A major third with a
diminished fifth might be shown as A(?5). Usually,
when a composer requires a chord that is not easily described using this
notation, he/she will indicate the required chord in a footnote or in the
header of the music.
Major
Triads A major
triad can be built on each note: Referring
to the interval table, we can see that the notes to play for C are the
root C, the major third E and the perfect fifth G. For Bb
the notes are Bb, D, F: For the
rest of this article, we will build our examples using C as the root of our
chords. Minor
Triads Minor
triads are the same as major triads, but with the third lowered by a half step.
The most common notations are as follows:
These are
the same as a major triad, but with an augmented fifth instead of a perfect
fifth. The most common ways to notate this are as follows: Diminished
Triads Diminished
triads are similar to minor triads, but with a diminished fifth instead of a
perfect fifth (the minor third is retained). The most common ways this is
notated are as follows: Please
note that while the above symbols are commonly seen, the technically correct
way to write a C diminished triad is C°. Sevenths There are
several different kinds of seventh chords, including major, dominant, minor,
and diminished. For example, if you add the major 7th interval to your triad
the resulting chord is called a major 7th, because the note you are adding to
your triad is a major 7th interval above the root and the base chord is a major
chord. A major chord built with the flatted 7th note above the root is known as
a major-minor 7th chord, or a dominant 7th chord, or simply just a 7th chord.
However, a dominant 7th chord usually refers to a chord built on the
5th note of the scale (in C major, this would be G). The G chord is the
dominant (V) chord in the key of C major, therefore a G7 chord in C major is
the dominant 7th, and all the notes used in this chord are diatonic to the key
of C Major. The table
below shows the various kinds of 7th chords:
Extended
tertian chords add further notes onto 7th chords. Of the 7 notes in the major
scale, a seventh chord uses only 4. The other 3 notes can be added in any
combination; however, just as with the triads and seventh chords, notes are
most commonly stacked – a seventh implies that there is a fifth and a third and
a root. In practice, especially in jazz, certain notes can be omitted without
changing the quality of the chord. The 9th,
11th and 13th chords are known as Extended Tertian Chords. As the scale repeats
for every seven notes in the scale, these notes are enharmonic to the 2nd, 4th,
and 6th – except they are more than an octave above the root. However, this
does not mean that they must be played in the higher octave.
Although changing the octave of certain notes in a chord (within reason) does
change the way the chord sounds, it does not change the essential
characteristics or tendency of it. Accordingly, using 9th, 11th and 13th in
chord notation implies that the chord is an extended
tertian chord rather than an added chord (see Added Chords below). 9ths These are
chords with the note that is an interval of a ninth added to the chord. The 9th
notation implies that the 7th is also included in the chord, though in some
cases it may be omitted. 9ths may be theoretically added to any type of chord,
however they are most commonly seen with Major, Dominant and Minor sevenths. The
most commonly omitted note for voicings is the perfect
5th. 11ths These are
theoretically 9th chords with the 4th note in the scale added. However, it is
common to leave certain notes out. As well as the 5th, the 9th (2nd) can be
omitted. The major 3rd is omitted because of a strong dissonance with the 11th
(4th), therefore called an "avoid note". Omission of the 3rd reduces
an 11th chord to the corresponding suspended 7th or 9th chord and it is
properly no longer an 11th chord (see Added Chords below). Similarly, omission
of the 5th in a sharped 11th chord
reduces its sound to a flat-five chord. These are
theoretically 11th chords with the 6th note in the scale added. Again it is
common to leave certain notes out. After the 5th, the most commonly omitted
note is the troublesome 11th (4th). The 9th (2nd) can also be omitted. A very
common voicing on guitar for a 13th chord, for example, is just the root, 7th,
3rd and 13th (6th).
An
important characteristic of jazz is the extensive use of sevenths. The
combination of 9th (2nd), 11th (4th) and 13th (6th) notes with 7ths in a chord
give jazz chord voicing their distinctive sound. However
the use of these notes is not exclusive to the jazz genre; in fact they are
very commonly used in folk, classical and popular music generally. Without the
7th, these chords lose their jazzy feel, but can still be very complex. These
chords are called added chords because they are basic triads with notes added.
Added chords can be described as having a more open sound than extended chords.
Notation must provide some way of showing that a chord is an added chord as
opposed to extended. There are two ways this is shown generally, and it is very
common to see both methods on the same score. One way is to simply use the word
'add': This
would indicate that the 13th is added to the 7th, but without the 9th and 11th.
The use of 2, 4 and 6 as opposed to 9, 11 and 13 pretty safely indicates that
the chord does not include a 7th unless specifically specified. However, it
does not mean that these notes must be played within an octave of the root, nor
the extended notes in 7th chords should be played outside of the octave, although
it is commonly the case. It is possible to have added chords with more than one
added note. The most commonly encountered of these are 6/9 chords, which are
basic triads with the 6th and 2nd notes of the scale added. These can be
confusing because of the use of 9, yet the chord does not include the 7th. A
good rule of thumb is that if any added note is less than 7, then no 7th is
implied, even if there are some notes shown as greater than 7.
Finally,
mention should be made of a special kind of commonly encountered chord, the
suspended chord. A suspended chord is a triad where the 3rd is replaced by
another note. In practice the 3rd is replaced either by the 4th or the 2nd.
These are called suspended chords because they create an impression of
suspense. These chords "desire" to resolve into a normal triad.
Suspended chords are notated with the symbols "sus4" or
"sus2". Sometimes you will see "sus"
on its own, in which case the 4 is implied. This can
be combined with any other notation. So for example: Csus9 This
chord is an extended 9th chord with the 3rd replaced by the 4th (C-F-G-Bb-D).
However, the major third can be added as a tension above the 4th to
"colorize" the chord (C-F-G-Bb-D-E). A sus4 chord with the added
major third (sometimes called a major 10th) can also be quartally
voiced as C-F-Bb-E. Inversions In
addition to all of the ways of building chords (listed above), a chord
may be inverted. Inverting a chord refers to playing a chord, but with a note
other than the root as the lowest note of the chord. Take, for example, the C
Major Chord. Refer to the table below for a list of inversions.
C♯/E (
produces a certain coloration of the following chord progression:
Polychords, as the name suggests, are combinations of two or more
chords. The most commonly found form of a polychord
is a bi-chord (two chords played simultaneously) and is written as
follows: In case a
very specific voicing is needed, the individual chords can be written in their
desired inversions,for
example:
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