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.
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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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Why don't guitar chords and staff notations match each other?
The G7 chord in root position on a fretboard diagram for guitar looks like this:
But in staff notation, the G7 chord in root position looks like:
The correct representation of the notes on the ...
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Resolving chordal 7ths (Maj7, min7, V7, etc.) (melodic vs harmonic tendency)
I'm aware of "melodic" tendencies, where [2-4-6] all usually resolve down & [7] usually resolves up.
But I cannot find any resources that explain WHY chordal 7ths, when dealing with ...
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How to Identify & Complete Sequences
I'd like help understanding the concept of sequences. I know it is considered a form of repitition, but not much else.
Below is an excerpt from Bach's Invention in Dm.
I am told this excerpt includes ...
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How do you recognize open-position chords by ear?
So, in my ear training class, we're seeing open-position triads. Major, minor, and diminished in all inversions.
I can't for the life of me identify these chords by ear. I just hear a random string of ...
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How would you notate the chord G# F B E as a substitute for a G7 chord leading to C?
An example of this sort of sound seems to happen at the very beginning of Joao Gilberto's Aguarela do Brasil. And I have been using it a lot in my guitar playing recently. But I don't know what to ...
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Why write notes with same letter name an octave apart but in different positions
What would be the reasons for composers to write notes with the same letter name (eg C) an octave apart and have one in root position and the second one in first inversion. For example, the first C ...
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When do you include the bass note of a chord if the bass is the b9?
I'm writing chords for a pop piano part (so definitely want to follow what is more intuitive for pop/jazz players rather than sticking hard to the music theory books). The chord in the right hand is a ...
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Questions on get a chord's name
I have an algorithm to determine a chord's name. A chord is a set of notes, like A B C. I'd like to improve the algorithm and have several questions.
First of all, I'm aware of this thread but that's ...
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What should this chord be called?
In a piece that I'm composing, I use a very weird chord (arpeggiated) in bar 3 of the below excerpt:
The chord progression is G - C♯7 - ??? - A.
How should this chord be named, and does it include the ...
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In harmonic syntax (“root progressions”), does only the root matter, or the entire chord?
I’ve read in these threads that Rameau & CPE Bach have a different opinion on wether or not more notes than the root of a chord are relevant in harmonic syntax.
Here are some stand out quotes from ...
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Bb7 chord in C major , function
Could you please help me make sense of the accompaniment for 'Moon River' in terms of why certain chromatic chords seem to be the only solution and if certain modulations are implied when using some ...
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What is mode borrowing?
There's a question asking me about to identify mode borrowing, how do I do it? What is mode borrowing, may i have some examples?
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How to analyze/spell this chord progression
I generally feel that I have a good intuition for chord naming, but know very few formal rules that apply to chromatic progressions like this one I wrote:
It seems obvious that one should avoid ...
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Which is better in determining consonance in chords and in scales: The Harmonic Series or Simpler Ratios?
Is the answer to this question simply that both of these concepts aid in understanding which chords and intervals are consonant or is one of these discoveries actually better than the other?
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Naming chords with diminished intervals
From a pure theoretical perspective, what would be the appropriate names for these two chords? I want to respect the specific degrees. In other words, not treating the double flat seventh as a sixth, ...
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Why did the ancient Greeks choose tetrachords?
Why did the ancient Greeks choose tetrachords as the basis for their musical theory rather than some other structure?
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How do major 7th chords (no inversion) sound consonant?
A note and its flat or sharp do not sound good played together. The sound is as dissonant as it gets.
How is it that placing a 3rd and 5th between a note and its major 7th (flat of its octave), then ...
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(24-EDO) Microtonal chord symbols for these chords
I came across some interesting chords recently in a series talking about 19-EDO but I found that a lot of them work quite well in 24-EDO as well, and they are shown below. I can get behind everything ...
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Why are triads considered perfect chords and the basis which all extensions are built off of?
Why are triads considered perfect chords and the basis which all extensions are built off of?
I'm sort of posting the question from an ignorant standpoint but I do already have some prior knowledge. I ...
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Can multiple instruments make a chord?
This seems in line with the definition of chord
"three or more musical tones sounded simultaneously"
But do people commonly refer to a chord coming from multiple instruments? Then any set of ...
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Barry Harris missing ninth tone in the (right) major scale
In this talk, starting from 55:35, Barry starts talking about his way of playing the major scale which makes the most sense to him (with the added #5)... He says "the major scale is actually 8th ...
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Understanding a particular chord progression
In this particular chord progression (appeared in a Jacob Collier video), I'm trying to understand the meaning of all the successors to each chord.
I undertand F9/A - Abm13b5 - Gm11 as II7-V7-IMaj7 in ...
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Sharp 4th sounds good in major scale lick/progression?
As part of my practice session today, I was exploring using CAGED chord shapes up and down the neck while incorporating licks in order to make melodic passages. While playing in A major, I improvised ...
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Need help to understand this chord progression
This song should be in a-minor but I'm not sure about key changes in a following passage (starting from f#m7b5 chord). Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
am7 / em7 / am7 / em7 / f#m7b5 / B /
em / ...
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Specific chord confusion: why the C# in Eb7 b9 13?
needing the expert help on the forum as I simply can't understand this. Following a vid, the player mentions he plays Eb7 9b 13 chord. The melody note is C, and he plays 1-3 (Eb, G) in left hand. What ...
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What is the function of G Major in the key of B Major
Referencing the song in context: Yoake To Hotaru
At around 3:30, the chord progression goes from Cm - Dm - EM - GM#5 - Abm from what I can see in the video.
In this case, what function does GM#5 ...
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Music theory behind ChordJam
Does somebody know the plugin ChordJam? It`s a nice chord generator Plugin
As you can see, I can choose a scale (C-B), a scale type (Minor, Major, ...) and additionally a ChordType (Major Scale, Minor ...
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Chord change timing in lead sheet with two chords in a bar
Sorry if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find it all. In this example, and in general I wonder. Im not sure I can upload photo of the example due to copyright.
But in this bar there's an A ...
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Research on homophonic voice-leading principles in (3-part) Black Gospel music and related genres?
I'm working on a thesis critiquing functional theory broadly, as incarnated in the text The Musician's Guide to Theory and Analysis (4th ed., 2021), but with one specific gripe: homophonic voice-...
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Adding a fourth chord in a 2-5-1 chord progression
Background
I understand this might be a rather vague question - and I apologize if it is too much so - but I am novice music theorist and think this question does have merit to it.
I am playing a 2-5-...
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Analysis of a few bars in Bach's BWV 895
The overall key of this piece in A minor (it is Bach's prelude from Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV 895). Here is what I understood :
At the end of bar 6, there seems to be a change of key: this ...
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How to make the chords notation of these three bars?
I don't know how to notate the first chord in bar 2. I am pretty sure it is an E major dominant seventh chord, although I have no idea on how I must indicate its degree.
Overall key is A minor (these ...
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Analyzing a V/V Measure in a Mozart piece
Please help me understand this. Thank you in advance.
Screenshot attached.
From Mozart's "Hafner" Serenade (K 250 ), Andante (2).
In measure 8, the harmony is A7b9 / Bb.
My current ...
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Why does this vi-ii-V-I progression evoke a sense of ii-V-I-vi?
Could someone assist me in analyzing the chord progression found in 'Save My Soul, Not My Ship' by Enjoy?
A brief caveat with regard to the title: please note that my analysis of the progressions may ...
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I have an augmented chord in a chord progression. How do I name it correctly? How do I know which inversion it is? [duplicate]
I know the basics of constructing an augmented chord. What I don't understand is how to choose between the three inversions of an augmented chord in a specific context. For example, Bb augmented and ...
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Six questions about Rule 21 in Hindemith's Craft of Musical Composition, book 2: Exercises in two-part writing [closed]
I am a musician reading Hindemith's Craft of Musical Composition, book 2: Exercises in two-part writing by myself. I have some questions about Rule 21.
Three images of Hindemith's rule 21:
https://www....
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specifics on modal playing, or emphasizing an underlying chord
i've been reading a lot about modal playing, perhaps that which is derived from modal Jazz. the sources i've been reading & watching seem split about the notes/scale & which to emphasize.
some ...
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Chord-spelling change in Chopin's Mazurka Op. 24 n.4
In the manuscript of measure 138 (marked mancando) of his Mazurka, Op. 24 n.4, Chopin crosses out the (same) chord on the third beat and respells it—I assume in preparation for the key change that ...
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1 b3 4 Triad in A Love Supreme?
In the Acknowledgement of A Love Supreme, this motif seems to be two stacked 1 b3 4 triads—what would you call them? Super-diminished?? Or is there a better way to understand this motif chordally than ...
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Naming a chord based on key
Suppose a song/piece is in the key of B flat major. I have seen this chord below written as "Ebm6/Gb", or "D#m6/F#." However, clearly in the key of Bb we opt to use F# rather Gb. ...
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Secondary leading tone chords that do not resolve
I'm trying to analyse the harmony of a piece I've been given and I'm having trouble rationalising its use of non-diatonic chords.
For context, I figured I should show the chord progression of a phrase ...
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Frequency ratio, Wavelength ratio, and chords
Here is a plot of list of wavelengths λ ($\lambda$, inverse proportional to frequencies f) of some strings, or sound waves.
Let us call the wavelengths as
λ1: λ2: λ3: λ4: λ5: λ6: λ7 and so on
= 1: 1/...
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Gm+6 Chord notation [closed]
I've seen a chord notated as Gm+6 — is that supposed to be a Gm with a 6th so G B D# E ? it sounds really off and unrelated to the song... What is this notation?
context: https://imgur.com/a/DcmtYJC
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How do singers find the first note of the melody?
I find myself hitting the first note of the melody correctly when my singing teacher starts playing the song's chords on the piano, but I have no idea how I did it or how I found the first note. How ...
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Meaning of III 4/6 on this particular piece [duplicate]
Consider the initial segment of Antonio Lauro's "Nocturno":
I have been reading music for a long time, but with total ignorance of music theory (meaning I spent years learning and reading ...
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Why is an inverted triad not named as another chord with the first note of the inversion as the root?
1st inversion of C is E G C. Is that not a type of E chord? Why are inverted chords not named by their root (1st) note?
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What is this chord, and how do I name chords like this
I've written a piece that has this chord (notes from lowest to highest):
I'm not quite sure how to name this chord, most of my attempts have been confusing [such as E-7(𝄫5)/B♭]. It's definitely a B♭ ...
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Notes for simple progression
I struggled a bit to find a good title for this question since I can only really describe it with an example.
I have been spending some time on chord progressions and improvising and would think that ...
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Why is vii0 so rarely used, but V 6/5 commonplace?
vii0 (5/3, vii06 is more common) is almost never used in functional harmony, the reasoning being that the diminished chord creates a tritone against the bass. But V6/5, a far more common chord, has ...
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