Harmony for the compleat idiot (9)

...continued from front page

SEVENTH CHORDS:

Chord Symbol	Notes in Chord
C 7	C E G Bb
F 7	F A C Eb
Bb 7	Bb D F Ab
Eb 7	Eb G Bb Db
Ab 7	Ab C Eb Gb
Db 7	Db F Ab Cb (also called C#7 - C# E# G# B)
Gb 7	Gb Bb Db Cb (also called F#7 - F# A# C# E)
B 7	B D# F# A
E 7	E G# B D
A 7	A C# E G
D 7	D F# A C
G 7	G B D F

We've included a couple of the alternative names and chord notes - for example, Db7 is really the same as C#7. Remember that any chord, like any note, can have more than one name, depending on the circumstances. The actual pitches will, however, remain the same.

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

Another part of you homework was to work out all twelve versions of our first chord progression, the "V7 I" or "Dominant-Tonic" progression. Remember that the seventh chord in this progression can be followed by either the major or minor chord whose root (or name note) is next around the cycle (remember we go clockwise!!) So… here they are:

DOMINANT-TONIC CHORD PROGRESSIONS:

Major	Minor
G7 - C	G7 - Cmin
C7 - F	C7 - Fmin
F7 - Bb	F7 - Bbmin
Bb7 - Eb	Bb7 - Ebmin
Eb7 - Ab	Eb7 - Abmin
Ab7 - Db	Ab7 - Dbmin
Db7 - Gb (C#7 - F#)	Db7 - Gbmin (C#7 - F#min)
Gb7 - B	Gb7 - Bmin
B7 - E	B7 - Emin
E7 - A	E7 - Amin
A7 - D	A7 - Dmin
D7 - G	D7 - Gmin

Same deal here with the alternative names as before.

The Minor Seventh Chord

Now here is a new chord but we already know how to construct it! (Confused? stick around, all will become clear). The name of this chord is the "Minor seventh" (or sometimes minor seven) chord. Its symbols are:

Cmin7 or Cm7 or C-7

OK, let's see what we already know.

First the letter:
We know that the letter "C" means the first, third and fifth notes of the C major scale. (If you don't, you have missed something kind of crucial and should go back until you are clear on this). We also know that the notes in the C major scale are
C D E F G A B C. So the letter "C" indicates these three notes: C, E and G.

Next the "min, m or -" bit:
We know from constructing minor chords that these three all mean the same thing: flatten the third note of the scale (which also happens to be the second note of the chord). So that changes our three notes into: C, Eb and G.

Next the "7":
We know that "7" means "flat seven of the major scale".
We know that the seventh note of the C major scale is B.
We know that to flatten means to lower by one semitone and we know that when you do that to B you get Bb.

SO WE KNOW ALREADY that the notes in Cmin7 are:

C, Eb, G and Bb.

Aren't we clever!!!!

Here it is in music notation:

Now go ahead and work out all 12 minor seventh chords -- answers next time.

A new progression

Now we are familiar with the minor seventh chord, we can look at the "II - V7 - I" progression. This is a progression which appears time and time again in all sorts of music. We can consider it as a sophisticated version of the V7 - I progression. (In fact you can nearly always replace a V7 - I progression with a II - V7 - I progression in the same key if it gives you the effect you want).
More Roman numerals again! We already know that "V7" means a seventh chord built on the fifth note of the scale and that "I" means a major or minor chord built on the first note of the scale. Her we need to make an adjustment. "II - V7 - I" progression come in two varieties, major and minor. The difference is which "I" we use. We will deal this time only with the major one so, for now, "I" means the major chord built on the first note of the scale.

What about II? You have probably guessed that its going to be a chord built on the second degree of the scale, but which chord?
In the major "II - V7 - I" progression the II is minor seventh
(Remember? we just learned that we already knew how to construct a minor seventh).

Sooo… a major "II - V7 - I" progression in C would consist of the following:
Dmin7 - G7 - C

Now go and work out the other eleven! Remember, email me at musosunion@aol.com if you have any questions.

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CD REVIEWS

Gaz & Stave
Cor, blimey, strewth and Other Mindless Incomprehensible Cockney Drivel
Manor plc 8897 CD)
4 million Lsd plus P&P

Gerradavit. Wo’ sis then? Cop an earful. It’s gogh a logh a boghel. Iv yous reckon yous like a plunk plunk bloomin’ banjo and a gawd awful ruddy guitar ca’erwailin’ away like nuffin’ unless two toms goin’ it on a tin roof, ere’s the CD for yas.
As for yours truly, rotten don’t ‘arf describe it. It’s a bleedin’ insolence to put this ‘ere stuff out in public like that. Take my gran, now. She don’t mind singin’ a bit, what even with the coughin’ from the fags and that; but she don’t go puttin’ it on record and floggin’ it to a unsuspectin’ public, now, do she?
Gordon Bennett, where do these geezers get off, that’s wo’ I say. Just where do they get off?
I aksed my muver wo’ she reckoned and she copped me one in the goolies.
Minus two earplugs and a punch in the gob, guv.

Internal Bleeding
Fanfare for a ferret
Widget CD A443-2
$1.08

This CD is sheer delight. It is unequivocally beautiful. Internal Bleeding (Horace Bowel, Sheena Spleen and Derek Gallbladder) have taken some of the world’s most moving music, recorded by the greatest virtuosi of the past 50 years and shamelessly released it as an album of their own making.
This will become abundantly clear to an experienced listener as soon as any of the numbers begins. For example, the piece entitled The Third Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven as Played by the Columbia Symphony Orchestra under the Baton of Bruno Walter turns out to be nothing other than The Third Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven as Played by the Columbia Symphony Orchestra under the Baton of Bruno Walter. Yes, wonderful music executed with profound emotion, but hardly Internal Bleeding!
Or, take the piece called here Prelude in C from the Well Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach, Glenn Gould at the Piano. This turns out to be the Prelude in C from the Well Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach played by Glenn Gould on the Piano. A shimmering performance, of course; but, is this Internal Bleeding?
The same goes for the other two pieces, Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto Played by David Helfgott and Mass in D Minor by Palestrina sung by the Vienna Boy’s Choir at the Realkirch, Vienna. No Internal Bleeding anywhere in evidence.
However, given these caveats, each listener must make up his or her own mind. The music is certainly wonderful, never mind Internal Bleeding. It stands up well against their earlier works, Von Karajan Conducts the Berliner Philharmonic in the Nine Symphonies of Beethoven by Internal Bleeding and Internal Bleeding’s Dianne Warwick sings the Burt Bacharach Songbook.
Five earplugs and a free check up.

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