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Harmony for the Compleat Idiot

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Minor sixth chords

We've included a couple of the alternative names and chord notes, eg: Dbmin6 is really the same as C#min6. Remember that all chords, like all notes, can have a number of different names depending on the circumstances. The actual notes will, however, remain the same.

Any of you who have studied traditional harmony might think that this chord should have a minor or flattened 6th. IT DOES NOT!!!!

Here are all 12 minor sixth chords in musical notation (with the alternative note names in brackets):

More on the Tonic Minor family

We have already met one member of the tonic minor family, the minor sixth chord now here is another, the minor/major seventh chord. Before you get all confused remember that in chord symbol notation, minor means simply that you flatten the third and major means only that the seventh is major and not flattened.

The symbol can be written in any of the following ways:

Cmin/maj7
Cmin7
Cm/maj7
Cm7
C-/maj7
C-7

We should be able to work out what notes are in this chord because its symbol is made up of elements we already know. The 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the major scale are indicated by the letter ( in this case the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the C major scale: C, E and G); "min", "m" or "-" means the 3rd note is flattened (in this case the E becomes Eb); and "major" or "" means that we have the 7th note of the scale and it is not flattened (in this case B). Sooo….

The notes in a minor/major seventh chord are the 1st, b3rd, 5th and 7th of the major scale.

REMEMBER THAT IN CHORD SYMBOL NOTATION "MINOR" ONLY REFERS TO THE THIRD NOTE OF THE SCALE

As tabluated above, the notes in Cmin7 are: C Eb G and B.

If you play this chord you will hear the definite minor sound but the flavour is quite different to that of the minor sixth chord. Try it in a few V7-I or II-V7-I progressions to get acquainted with the sound. Like the minor sixth, this chord is quite "angular" in its own particular way.

Homework is, not surprisingly, to construct all 12 minor/major seventh chords. Contact me on musosunion@aol.com if you have any questions.

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Never mind the money, feel the glow

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OK, it's not very funny, but that joke will elicit a wry smile from almost anyone who has actually tried to earn money as a musician. Yet many of us keep looking towards that very,very tiny few who have apparently made a living from their art. We look to them for hope for ourselves. Because the other thing we musicians can never stop doing is comparing ourselves to others in our field. Our dream is to be great first class, a top player, even, perhaps, a star. And in our private thoughts we often wonder if we can really cut the mustard, if we are really any good. The trouble with music is, it can't tell you if you're good with any permanence. Not for nothing did the Greeks define inspiration as a Muse, a fickle, divine spirit that rests upon your shoulder, raising your work to heights you never thought possible then...moving on, leaving you dry and bitter. You do a great show, write a good song, but will the next show or song be as good, and the next, and the next? And what if some people think your work is crap? What if they like your old stuff better than your new stuff? The egos of most musicians are like balloons – large and fragile. And possibly full of hot air, like this editorial.

Money is a measure of value. Radiohead, who should know their worth by now, put their work up on the Internet, allowing people to assign their own value to it, and then took it down again, perhaps disappointed, maybe caught between a rock label and a hard-spirited audience who increasing regard free download of music a natural right.

Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier, shunning record companies, have found their own, community-oriented way to do the music they want, to listen to the spirit, but still make a living. There may be the germ of an inspiration there for some of us.
Performers on records may be on the way to greater financial recognition, or perhaps more of the bitterness of a promise snatched away. History suggests the latter.

"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."

So wrote Hunter S Thompson and, for once, he was demonstrably not exaggerating.

Not many of us have both the living and the grace. One exception seems to be Paul Kelly. Through sheer force of talent in songs-writing, and a special warmth that seems to pervade his performances, Kelly seems to strike a chord with both musicians and punters alike.

While straining towards our destiny, we wait and play and maybe have some good times. And eventually we may realise that the world doesn't pay off, period; that we are not getting any younger; and that perhaps the journey is the true destination.

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