15
iii is used, I'm not sure where you heard that it wasn't really used much.
Sure, you could argue that it's used less than other diatonic chords, (Em in the chart for chords, according to this site), but it's nowhere near the point where people would hear it and go, "Whoa! What's that chord?". In popular music especially, it's often kind of a substitute for ...
11
It's common to omit some notes when forming a chord (for various reasons; depends on the instrument and the composer).
The aforementioned chord is a Fm7 (no5), which means that you play the notes that form the Fm7 chord (F A♭ C E♭), but you omit the 5th (C), thus getting Fm7 (no 5) or the notes F A♭ E♭.
One of the most common chord ...
8
As iii is diatonic in a major key I’m sure it’s used all the time.
I flipped open a song book and the first song was “she loves you” by the Beatles. Key of G, verse has two B minor chords.
“Got to get you into my life” and “I feel fine” by the Beatles also in G have B minor.
“I guess that’s why they call it the blues” - Elton John. In C, has E-7.
8
Kostka/Payne is one source that explains the iii chord is used relatively infrequently. But they don't simply say it isn't used.
You can account for iii's use (or any other diatonic chord) through various harmonic sequences.
The "falling thirds" harmonic sequence (a.k.a. Pachelbel's Canon) is one good example of iii in classical music: [I V][vi iii]...
...
7
TL;DR depends on the song. Sometimes one is obviously better than the other, but most of the time it's somewhere in the middle and both interpretations are valid.
This is often called a "line cliché", and depending on how it's executed it can sound either like harmonic movement or just like a moving baseline with "pedal notes" in the top. It can be ...
7
When I learned at school how to write strict four-part harmony I was taught never to use the iii chord (one of many rules were were given) and it is probably this 'rule' that is behind the notion that the iii chord isn't used.
No, there are plenty of places where the iii chord is used. Having said that, it is generally true that it is rather less common ...
6
When attempting theory exams...
Ask the person who will grade the exam.
Whatever rule they want you to follow for the exam will be contradicted by actual practice.
You can easily find examples of a root position tonic chord with the third doubled and the fifth omitted.
Walter Piston's Harmony has a simple rule: in root position double the root, for ...
6
There is a difference in what composers do and what is acceptable in a theory exam.
In an exam, usually you don't double the third of a major chord, but you can double it if the chord is minor. Doubling the root or the fifth is the safe choice. To see what note of the chord you'd double, you have to see the preceding as well as the following chord. You'll ...
5
It could be
G - B - D - F# ( G + Bm) which is the Gmaj7 chord // G can be something else besides the bass note, and then it would be a Gmaj7 chord in some inversion. With B as the bass note it would be Gmaj7 in first inversion.
Something else that is really common in harmony, that can easily be done in your chord progression is to play the G chord, then ...
5
Depending on how this is voiced, this F♯ might be better understood not as a chord tone but as a passing tone from the G in the first chord to the E in the last chord.
For example:
Some musicians have a habit of making a chord out of every vertical stacking of pitches. But sometimes (perhaps most of the time?) there's a melodic explanation that is ...
4
The rule comes down to two things: voice leading and avoiding parallel fifths/octaves.
In an SATB arrangement you're going to double a pitch, or leave one voice with nothing to do. Each voice should be moving smoothly, and generally following the guidelines of counterpoint. You'll need to look at what each voice is doing, and look at what chord comes next ...
4
The X chord could be an Fm7 and that would perfectly fit in the E♭ scale with the other chords in the progression you mentioned.
Simplified explanation:
The diatonic triads in E♭ scale are: E♭ Fm Gm A♭ B♭ Cm Ddim.
4
The notes in "Am maj9" are A-C-E-G#-B. I use that chord quite often, on piano and guitar as well. It sounds really nice as a final chord in a song that's in the key of A minor. Or in the middle of a descending voice line "A-G#-G-F#...". Do you know the song "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin? The second chord in the famous progression could be called "Am ...
3
The other answers are 100% correct: with a motion to E♭ major, the expected diatonic chord here is Fm7 with an omitted fifth (C).
But for the sake of completeness, you could also turn this into an F half-diminished seventh chord, or Fm7♭5. Doing so would mean that this omitted fifth would need to be a C♭. But notice that, since there's no C&...
3
The sense of an exam is that you will have the chance to show that you know more than the experts.
That you are able to discuss a question and not searching the one only correct answer, to demonstrate that you have the competence to break rules and argue why your point is also possible and defend it. Books are often written by a follower or disciples of a ...
3
I have seen the term CESH used in multiple sources: Chromatic Embellishment of Static Harmony.
There are common forms in major and minor.
Because by the Dave Clark Five displays the ascending chromatic line in major: G G+ G6 G7
My Funny Valentine the Rogers & Hart standard displays the descending chromatic line in minor: Dm DmΔ7 Dm7 Dm6
In my ...
3
As I understand it, this question has to do with chord voicing. In practice the note most often doubled is the tonic. This reinforces the overall sound of the chord and stresses the key-center. Doubling the fifth strengthens the "stability" of the chord, and doubling the third emphasizes the major or minor aspect of the chord. When we choose to double notes ...
3
Generally a sus chord loses its 3rd note in favour of either a 2nd or a 4th. So it will be labelled sus2 or sus4.
Csus2 is comprised of C D G, and Csus4 is comprisesd of C F G.
Occasionally I come across Csus. What the heck is that suppused to mean? Answer is sometimes in the dots, if it's a piano work, but in amongst guitar chords could be either!
...
3
This is the inversion of the VII degree (c#eg) of D. A is passing note to B. Analyzing the short 8th as V7 is not wrong but in respect to the horizontal line and the following subdominant I would ignore to analyze hear a dominant as in my mind the harmonical function gets violated by the theory of functional harmonics.
The goal of a task like this isn‘t to ...
3
I'll assume the D at Chord 2 is an accented neighbour tone, so Chord 2 includes the C and is a C7/E chord. This means that the cadence is an authentic cadence in the foreign key of F major, as Chords 2 and 3 can be explained as V6/5 - I of F major.
3
The only reason I can think of for the nonsensical "rule" that you can't use iii in a major key, is that often the leading note in the iii chord does not move up to the tonic, but down to the sub-mediant.
For example if in the common iii IV chord progression, if the leading note of iii moved up to the tonic, if would make parallel fifths with the roots of ...
3
iii is actually one of my favorite chords.
I, iii, I, iii
is a really common chord progression for creating a bittersweet melancholy sound. Just off the top of my head, I can think of a bunch of piano songs using this:
Lost Sad theme, by Michael Giacchino
Stuff We Did, also by Michael Giacchino
These give a similar feeling to a Imaj7 chord, ...
3
Yes, the AmM9 chord does exist and your guess with A, C, E, G♯, B is correct.
Of course you can also play it on the piano if you find any use for it ;)
3
Yes, Am(maj9) is an Am triad - A, C, E - plus the maj7 - G# - (that's what the 'maj' part of the chord name tells us) plus the 9th - B - (that's what the '9' part of the name tells us).
So, A, C, E, G#, B. Good on guitar. Good on piano. Good on anything, really!
Often used non-functionally to spice up a final tonic chord in a minor key.
(In a major key ...
2
Notewise, we've got (bottom to top) E, G, G, and a C♯. Strictly speaking, that makes a C♯°/E chord. However, diminished chords are tricky They're symmetrical (or at least their 7th chord versions are), and often the same voicing of notes can represent many different chords in different contexts. Other answers have noted that these notes are all part of the ...
2
I think the A7/E looks right. (Given the key the dominant seems most likely)
2
I've seen some say the altered scale can be used whenever the 5th of the dominant chord is altered.
Just wanted to point out it can be used for a #5 or a b5 too.
The altered scale is just the seventh mode of the melodic minor scale. That may help you with learning the scale which upon first sight seems like a very strange scale. FWIW, several other modes ...
2
You are correct for the first chord. It's a A7 in first inversion (A7/C#) or the V6 5 in your Dmajor scale. The D in the bass is a accented passing tone, like you mentioned.
The second chord is simply a D major chord with a E as a suspended note (because it was played in the previous chord) or appogiatura (because it was not held); either way, it's a non-...
2
Be clear which system of chord naming you are in.
There's the purely descriptive one. C(sus4) is C,F,G. C triad with the 3rd replaced by the 4th. A simple Csus will be assumed to be this. C(sus2) is C,D,G. The 3rd is replaced by the 2nd. There's also C(add2) and C(add9) which is C,D,E,G or C,E,G,D. the 2nd (9th) is ADDED to the triad. As long as ...
2
I disagree with the premise of this question. In many songs, diminished chords do pass downhill in that manner exactly; however, it's more often done in jazz-influenced styles of music than classical. As an example of nearly that exact chord progression, take "Sweet Sweet Canyon" from the Mariokart 8 soundtrack. In C major, (simplified)
C E♭°7 Dm7 G7
...
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