Questions tagged [chord-theory]
For questions about the theory behind building and naming chords. Do not use for questions about how to physically play a chord or chord progression on an instrument.
1,256
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Tritone substitution in Haydn string quartet?
In Haydn's Horseman quartet, second movement, measure 8, we get a chord that is entirely surprising. A G7 when the piece is in E major. Admittedly, he writes the seventh as an augmented sixth (E# ...
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4
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Chord progression in F but with a stray B note
Longtime lazy play-by-ear guitarist, now working on learning theory (and if it matters, mainly focusing on the ukulele now)
I was fiddling around the other night and came up with a progression that I'...
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The difference between ii°7 and vii°7
Hello my friends,
I cannot understand the difference between these two chords. I have probably misunderstood the whole thing, but I don't know how to function or choose between these two chords, ...
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What chord progression is this for C# major to C major?
I have a simple chord progression that goes from C# major to C major and repeats. It has a distinct feel, but I am not sure what it could possibly be. The song I'm thinking of is one I composed so I ...
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Why is this image from pianochord.org for A11 labeled as an inversion, when its lowest pitch note is an A?
Backstory:
Programmer.
Teaching myself piano.
Programatically building sheet music that will comprehensively cover a great number of chords, as comprehensive as it is reasonably useful and can be ...
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vote
1
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Naming some inverted chords
I'm trying to break down an orchestral score (in C-minor) and describe the horn part, but I'm having troubles describing these chords (the second image is identical, but I mapped horns 2-4 onto the ...
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How can French A6 and V7b5/b5 be seen as the same?
While I was reading about commonalities between French A6 and tritone substitute, I kept bumping into the similarities between French A6 and V7b5/b5.
French A6 is ^b6 ^1 ^2 ^#4 and V7b5/b5 is ^5 ^7 ^...
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bVI -> I which mode do I treat the bVI
I'm analyzing "Lost in the Woods" from the "Frozen 2" soundtrack and some other similar quirks in progressions and I'm wondering how to treat different modal interchanges.
The Lost ...
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Do sus24 chords exist?
I am analyzing the song "There's a World" from Next to Normal and the first chord is confusing me. Here is an image from this source:
The first chord is labeled as a Gsus24 chord which I ...
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2
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Is there chord V4-3 in classical music?
Maybe I am being overly meticulous on naming chords, but like Cadential64, can there be V with only 4-3 in classical music?
The excerpt above has the chord F Bb C and named it V/ii considering the ...
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Can secondary dominant have 2 tritones with addition of b9?
I encountered the example in the picture above today, and I found it interesting because a secondary dominant had 2 tritones with addition of b9.
A tritone is an integral part to definition of the ...
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How to spell leading-tone chords build on #4
In bar 3 I am trying to spell a chord that leads from a ii65 to a V64 chord. The intervals are in the figured bass but I am wondering if this chord should be a root position viidim7 chord with the B♯ ...
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How do you decide chords for this excerpt?
I understand that unlike chords from learning materials, in the real world there are not many pristinely organized chords.
Two chord tones are enough to establish a chord, non-chord tones are to be ...
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What is it called when a melodic progression stays the same but the chord progression changes?
I hear this from time to time and love it, but I have no idea what this is called. The melody stays the same, the chord progression changes, and the whole feel of the song shifts. Here is an example.
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What is the value in analysing chords as if they were made up of stacked triads?
To my ears chords each have their own quality and how they sound (and what feelings they might evoke) depends on the context. In general plain majors are strong/simple while minors are sad, but add2 ...
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figured bass question
I have learned figured bass only using well-organized reduced excerpt.
Above picture shows a real excerpt with figured bass.
Does '8' respond to the red circled 'Eb', and
'7' to the 'Db'?
What makes ...
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2
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Bozza 12 Etudes-Caprices misprints?
I have the Leduc version of this collection. There's a few obvious misprints in the first couple of pieces -- accidentals missing or present when they shouldn't. My question is about a couple bars in ...
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Is a “minor Seventh Chord” basically just a combination of a “minor Triad” and its Relative “Major Triad”?
Is a minor Seventh Chord basically just a combination of a “minor Triad” and its Relative “Major Triad”, (or a combination of a Major Triad and its Relative minor Triad)?
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Does a chromatic chord have tensions diatonic or chromatic to the key?
In the book that I am reading, the author says that
secondary dominant's root is diatonic whereas its tritone substitute's root is chromatic.
And therefore tritone substitute's tensions need to "...
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2
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How do I read chords with beams?
When I am to assign a chord to a stacked notes,
if a beam is present,
do I include the notes connected by the beam(the red box)?
or do I ignore them(blue box)?
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6
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Why does the C# dim chord include a minor third?
My understanding of chord building must be wrong.
If I read a chord is dim I understood it meant that I needed to take the chord and flatten the fifth, so I would look for my root, third and fifth ...
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What chord symbol would you use to describe this voicing?
Actually this is one of exercises in the book that I am reading, and I have encountered this piece.
The chord symbol given is D7.
The chord written is B/D.
How could (D F# B D#) be considered same as (...
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Name for a minor chord progression using primarilyy Am G F E (with D or Dm and C sometimes) [duplicate]
The "Walk Don't Run" chord progression goes Am G F E. Then has a bridge in C major.
Am is the relative minor of C, so the verse is in A minor.
became the three chords on which metal songs ...
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How do you identify chords?
I was reading on modal progression, and I encountered above example.
In a bar with C7 symbol, I understand that the first voicing with C in the bass is C7, but the second voicing with D in bass is ...
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Identity of scale of chord progression I created
While messing around with my piano, and experimenting with different chords, I created a pleasant-sounding chord progression. Problem is, I've spent a long while trying to identify what scale is ...
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Ballade Pour Adeline: How to understand the dyads?
I am listening to Ballade pour Adeline for piano and specifically to this version on YouTube.
After the quick introductory arpeggio, the main part starts with a dyad of G and E played with the right ...
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What is it called when the root is omitted from a chord?
I am learning chord notation and I noticed that the Wikipedia page does not mention any specific notation for a chord where the root is omitted.
Omitting the root note seems to be quite commonplace, ...
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In C minor, is Am7b5 a borrowed chord from Dorian?
Above is actually a thread from reddit, OP asks what Am7b5 is doing in the piece.
(I am actually not sure posting it here is OK in the first place)
https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/comments/...
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Dominant seventh without dominant of dominant
It is to say a dominant seventh without the degree II of root tonality.
For example, in Clara Schumann's lied Was weinst du, Blümlein, we have B-A-B-D#. In this bar we are in E major ; this chord ...
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How do I make microtonal music less jarring? [closed]
I'm a beginner at composing with microtones. I understand that microtonal music is going to be jarring for most people because it is so different compared to 12-tet music. My current strategy is to ...
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what is a sus2 chord with minor 2nd?
I am going over an exercise in a chapter about sus2, sus4 and chords without 3rd and 5th note.
The exercise below is to write down roman numerals for each chord symbols, and I found out that for ...
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Why does this Roman numeral chord have a ♯ prefix?
These are the chords for some A minor scales:
For melodic minor, why does the F♯o diminished chord have a '♯' in front of the Roman numeral, and the G♯o diminished chord does not?
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What makes vi chord tonic or subdominant?
vi chord has both tonic and subdominant functionalities, and iii chord has both tonic and dominant functionalities.
What decides vi(or iii) chord tonic or subdominant(or dominant)?
For example, in the ...
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1
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Do flamenco guitarists use distinctive chords?
Classical guitarist here. Does flamenco guitar use distinctive chords (other than, say, the major, minor, augmented, and diminished triads and seventh chords), or is it just the favored modes, chord ...
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Why is finding parent scale important in playing modes?
I am reading Nicholas Carter's Music Theory: From Beginner to Expert.
I am at the part where he explains altered Dominant chords provide easy access to parent melodic minor scale because if b9, #9, #...
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What chords am I using here?
I am composing a marimba solo in A minor (it uses a decent amount of chromatic notes but otherwise stays diatonic) and I wanted to analyse the chords. In this measure, I got stuck on the third chord ...
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Is there a difference between C6sus4 and an inverted Fadd2?
I was playing with a sequencer and added a sixth to a C6sus4 to get C F G A. I liked the sound, so I did some basic research to find that C6sus4 chords are a thing. But then, taking a second look, I ...
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Does anything non-microtonal resolve to a neutral triad?
I have been recently looking into neutral triads and trying to incorporate them into my music composition. However, there are very little online regarding composing with them. I am trying to use the ...
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4
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Can Flat ii Function as a Dominant and Pre Dominant?
In the key of C, the chord Db(b) is an N6, pre dominant chord. However when reading about tritone substitution Db7 can also be a dominant substitution.
Is it the inversion and the added 7 that makes ...
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Why does Cmaj7 and Emaj7 sound good (or a name to describe this progression)?
I have an extremely limited understanding of theory, and from what I currently understand, chords will sound good together if they share a common key/scale (e.g. for C major scale, the chords that ...
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Was this chord substitution chart part of a larger harmony system?
I recently rediscovered in my files several photocopied sheets of chords similar to the one below.
A friend (deceased in 2014) gave them to me many years ago.
There are a total of 11, covering keys ...
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Questions on Chords in This Piece of Music
Could I ask for some help with this piece of music. Please confirm if my understanding of the chords are correct:
The Gb in Measure 1 is a Neapolitan chord of F Major (Gb Bb D);
The composer than ...
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How to achieve a similar "vibe" to this song? [closed]
I want to write a song similar to "dumb dumb" by mazie. I want to achieve a similar feel of weird, dreamy nostalgia the song has. I know a lot of this feeling comes from dissonance between ...
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How do I notate b5 chords in roman numerals?
I want to name the chord C♭5 (i.e., C with a diminished fifth) in roman numerals; how would I do that? The key is C major. I am fairly sure it is I♭5, but I want to check.
Also, how do you name modal ...
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Is there a name for raising the v chord to a dominant V
From what I've understood from other questions, the dominant chord is always major. So in a minor key, the v chord is not considered dominant.
Considering that, is there a name for when we're in a ...
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Novice: Trying to memorize 1-4-5 chord progressions in varous keys when I discovered something. Is my understanding correct?
Absolute novice at music theory here so please be patient with me.
While doing some self-practice I observed the below pattern where a 1-4-5 chord progression of a major scale is exactly mapping to 1-...
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How do i arrange chords after mixing pentatonic modes?
The Ionian mode which is the Major scale - is the second mode of the minor pentatonic scale (the Major pentatonic scale) plus a Perfect 4th and a Major 7th notes. It is also a combination of, for ...
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Do added-tone chords change depending on the key?
I'm so confused. I have three questions.
1. Is the added tone (or note) counted from the tonic of a key or the root note of the chord?
2. Since, with the same scale degree, a note changes depending on ...
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how to theoretically understand that chords are compatible? [closed]
how can we theoretically understand that chords are compatible? let's imagine that there is a chord X1 and X2, what rules/conditions must these chords follow in order to be compatible? I have a ...
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What do the chord symbols on each bar mean?
I see chord symbols on each bar, and I assume they represent the notes in the bar.
But many times not all the notes are present, and sometimes a bar with only 1 note has a chord symbol.
If they are a ...
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