Is this chord still a minor triad if you use a 4th in the bass or does the chord change? Can anyone think of any examples in pop or rock music where this is used?
thank you
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1Can you clarify what you mean by "4th" in the bass? Do you mean it's in second inversion?– Richard is stepping down ♦Dec 21, 2017 at 17:40
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2So a minor chord with a 4th of the minor scale in the bass. For example, Aminor with a D in the bass.– user35708Dec 21, 2017 at 17:43
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2 Answers
I see three distinct possibilities based on how you are actually thinking about the chord itself:
If you really just consider it an A minor chord, it might just end up being a slash chord with a non harmonic tone in the bass. So it would be Am/D.
I would most likely name it D7sus2 which is spelled
D E A C. This makes most sense to me since there's no third, but a there is a 2nd/9th present which make sense for the sus.Another possibility is if you want to look at all the notes together as one unit then I'd view this as an inverted C6/9 chord which is spelled
C E (G) A D. The G is not there, but omitting the 5th is quite common in actually playing chords which will show more of the quartal/quintal nature of the notes themselves, but is a streach naming wise.
I agree 100% with what Dom said, I just wanted to add that identifying a chords name often requires looking at its siblings and/or the key the piece is written in. Taking your example with A- and D in the bass I would interpret it as either
- D7sus2:
D E (F#) A C - D-7sus2:
D E (F) A C
because of the D in the bass. Not applicable to rootless voicings of course.
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Thirds are omitted in sus chords, so those two chords look like D9 and D-9.– user39614Feb 7, 2018 at 23:59
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1Correct, they are omitted, but if your piece is written in e.g. D-Minor, as a purist you would call the chord D-7sus2 to outline the omitted diatonic third. Feb 8, 2018 at 0:22
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1That really makes no sense. If a third is part of the chord, it is not a sus chord. D-7(sus2) is not a purist notation, it is a confusing and not very common notation. The only times I have seen this used it was either attempting to communicate that the sus chord was based on a minor chord (usually unnecessary), or it was used incorrectly to name an extended 7th chord. In any case, I don't see why this is in an answer to this question.– user39614Feb 8, 2018 at 0:40
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@DavidBowling, I don't think it's illogical. A sus chord omits a major or a minor third. D7sus would imply resolution to a major third, but D–7sus would imply resolution to a minor third. Communicating which is intended gives helpful information to, e.g., a soloist who is likely to play the third when improvising over the sus chord.– jdjazzFeb 8, 2018 at 3:41
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1@jdjazz -- but sus chords don't contain 3rds, so this adds information that is irrelevant to the actual chord name; you can easily see what the chord movement is by looking at the next chord.– user39614Feb 8, 2018 at 3:47