Issue
11 Volume 1
December 2006
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Issue
11 Volume 1
December 2006 |
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Harmony for the compleat idiot (11) MAJOR SEVENTH CHORDS:
As usual, we've included a couple of the alternative names and chord notes - for example, Dbmaj7 is really the same as C#maj7 (you should be getting used to this by now!). As always, all chords, like all notes, can have a number of different names depending on the circumstances, but the actual pitches will remain the same. Here are all 12 seventh chords in musical notation (with the alternative
note names in brackets):
Sixth ChordsThis issue's new chord is the sixth chord. Its symbol is a note name followed by the numeral "6". For example: C sixth would be represented as C6 What notes would be in this chord? We know that the note name represents the first, third and fifth notes of the major scale starting on that note but what about that "6"? Fortunately for us this is our first example of "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG), an acronym I have borrowed from the world of computers. For our WYSIWYG refers to a part of the chord symbol which is self-explanatory. In this case the "6" simply means the sixth note of the major scale. Let's try one: C6 The "C" means the first, third and fifth notes of the C major
scale C E G A These are the notes in a C6 chord. The D6 chord will contain D F# A and B. (make sure you understand why!) Homework is (surprise, surprise) to work out all 12 sixth chords. If you are really good I will consider reintroducing the elephant stamp! More on Chord FamiliesIncidentally that new chord, the sixth chord, is a member of the "Tonic Major" family we introduced last time. It has the "major-y" sound provided by the major third of the scale and it doesn't seem to need to move to another chord to give a feeling of completeness, just like the other two members of this family we have looked at, so it has the same function. It does, however, have a different flavour. The sixth sounds sort of "jazzy" in a swing sense to me (for you jazz illiterates, think of the final chord of the Beatles hit Help). Play it yourself and get the flavour in your head. Call it what you like but remember it. Try playing some II - V - I progressions using a sixth as the "I" chord. Compare what you hear with what you get if you use a plain major chord. Compare what you hear with what you get if you use a major seventh chord. Three members of the same family. Three different flavours… but all with the same function. The Dominant FamilyOur second chord family is often just as pushy as its name sounds. It gets its name from the four-note chord you would get if you started on the fifth note of the major scale and used every second note of the scale (try it!). In chord symbol notation we would call this chord a "seventh chord" (yes, the one we looked at a while ago) The fifth note of the scale is traditionally called the "Dominant" so that term has been applied to chords of this type. (If you go back to the issue where the seventh chord was introduced you will find that I said that "dominant seventh" was an alternative name for the chord). Lets try one. Play a D7 chord a few times. Now play the same chord again and follow it immediately with a G chord. You will hear how the G chord seems to complete the D7 chord, how the D7 chord doesn't seem happy to be the end of the piece of music but is waiting for that G chord. This is one of the hallmarks of chords of the dominant family. They usually seem to want to go somewhere else. You will notice that D to G is cyclic movement (moving in the forward direction around the cycle we introduced ages ago). This is a very important direction that dominant chords want to move in but it certainly isn't the only direction they can go. In some contexts dominant family chords can be happy to just stop and not move anywhere else. This is particularly true of seventh chords in a "bluesy" context. This is a bit complicated for now but here's an audio example of what I mean. Listen to how the seventh chord is happy to be the finisher . The function of the Dominant Family chord is to want to move (except in the "bluesy" context) while still maintaining a "major-y" feel. See if you can work out why the seventh chord does this. Remember you
can always email me at musosunion@aol.com
if you have any questions.
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CD REVIEWS Ashen
Apolcalypse Hector Bludge is not a household name…nor ought it to be. Sunny Glade, or Emoh Ruo; now, they’re household names. But Bludge is not entirely unknown among the blues cognoscienti of Melbourne; and on this, his first album, he teams up with Aldo Sneer on washboard, Eamon Simmons on tea-chest bass and Monica Seles on rhythm method.
Bludge is a multi-instrumentalist in the tradition of Roland Kurt, Buster Mayhem and Billy May’s Flying Midgets. On the eight tracks on this album, he plays as many instruments. On Sung in Cold Blood, he plays comb, spoons, jew’s harp, alp horn and cattle brand.
Then, on the standard blues, Born under an Ensign,
he solos simultaneously on his blown-out cheeks, bottle-top stick and
catafalque.
Although a bit rough at the edges, this CD will do good
service once the hot mugs melt the grooves down.
Sweet
Claxon Septet Although this disc is not really jazz, and would be expensive
at half the price, it merits a review in so far as Sweet, with astonishing
prophetic foresight, has informed me that, having read my cards, I would
otherwise be outfitted for cement shoes in preparation for an attempted
swim across Bass Strait.
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