Chords
The Basics of Chords
Creating Chords
Here are a few little video primers for creating chords:
Triads and Root Position
A chord is essentially two or more notes played together simultaneously in a musical piece. Triads are just three notes stacked on top of each other and are often associated with the term known as the root position. The root position means that the "root" of the chord is at the bottom (the bass) of the chord. Scale degrees mentioned previously on the Scales and Key Signatures page and intervals help determine chord names. Here are a few examples down below:
This is a basic C-triad chord in its root position. You can tell the chord is in its root position by the way all the notes are stacked on top of each other, as previously mentioned. Most notation of chords use roman numerals or letters that represent numbers in a numerical system (i.e. I, II, III, IV, etc.). Similar to that of scales, the roman numerals correspond with the scale degrees. So, in this triad, the I, III, and V make up the triad. There is also a triad known as a minor triad. Let's take a look at the next example:
If we compare the two, there is just one difference; the 3rd scale degree has gone down a half step. This is a minor triad and would be written as "i" instead of a standard "I".
Diminished Chords
A diminished chord (or in this case a triad) contains the bass note with the III and the V of the chord lowered a half step.
Augmented Chords
An augmented chord contains the bass note with the III in its natural position, but the V of the chord is raised a half step. See the image down below for an overall comparison between a major triad, minor triad, diminished triad, and augmented triad. Remember a triad is nothing more than a type of chord with the notes stacked on top of each other.
Now, music would be really boring if all we used the root position. That is where inversions come in to play!
Inversions
An inversion is where the root note of a triad is raised an octave up and is not the bass note. Inversions allow a composer manipulate chords at their disposal. Going from left to right, we see that the first chord is in its root position or sometimes known as the parent position.
The next one over is the chord in its first inversion. This is where the root note (C) is placed on top of the chord with the III (E) at the bottom of the chord. The second inversion, in comparison, is where the root note is in the middle and the V (G) is the bass of the chord. Sometimes, there can be third inversions but that is rare and involves chords known as 7th chords (involves the 7th scale degree of a scale). More about this topic is discussed in The Dominant 7th Chord part of this page. Here are a couple of videos that help summarize inversions at the most basic level:
Notation of Inversions and Chords in General
There are a variety of different ways that a chord can be notated. There are two common options that composers choose from when notating chords; Symbol Notation and Fingered Bass Notation.
Symbol Notation
This is the most traditional out of the two and can be a little obscure when someone first looks at this type of notation. Some basic symbols include:
- M - major (but not really used that often)
- m (Em, Cm) - minor
- dim - diminished
- aug - augmented
- sus - suspended (more on this type of chord down below)
Along with these symbols come the scale degrees used in the chord, like thirds, fourths, fifths or sevenths. Examples include:
- Cdim
- Cdim7
- Caug7
What is shown above is an example of the standard notation when it comes to chords. Most of these are examples of diminished 7th chords (more on 7th chords later).
Fingered Bass Notation
Fingered bass notation involves numerals and symbols indicate intervals within a chord. The resource down below will be able to explain it a bit better than I can as well as the video:
The Dominant 7th Chord and 7th Chords (in General)
A dominant 7th chord is just a chord that contains the root, the first, the third, the fifth, and a minor seventh. Let's look at the dominant C7 chord:
Look at how the chord is just the main C-triad chord with a minor 7th. In contrast to the dominant 7th chord and other chords, instead of the standard two inversions, it is possible with a major 7th chord to have three inversions. Major 7th chords are different from dominant 7th chords. The more obvious observation between major 7th chord and dominant 7th chord is that the major 7th chord does not contain a lowered 7th. In essence, it just uses the major 7th scale degree in whatever key happens to be present.
Suspended Chords
A suspended chord is where the third of the chord is not present and instead is replaced by either a major second or a major fourth. Suspended chords are quite useful in terms of giving the audience something interesting to listen to in the music. There are two main types of suspended chords: sus2 and a sus4 chord. These also can have two inversions as well with a 7th or a 9th stacked on top of the chord, but just for simplicity sake, let's just take a look at sus2 and sus4 in C major:
Notice how the third is not present in either of the suspended chords. Often times, different degrees such as a 7th, 9th, or a 13th, can take place in these types of chords. Although, this can be a bit weird, which is why these "sub-types" of suspended chords are often used in jazz. Overall, it is a bit more important to get the basics of what a suspended chord is first.
A Multitude of References for Suspended Chords:
A more advanced topic on extended chords:
Poly-chords
A poly-chord is a chord that has two or more different chords stacked on top of each other. Here is a brief example of a poly-chord:
If we look at the chord down below, there is a C-major chord below and a Eb-major chord stacked on top of the C-major chord. This is not too uncommon in music. Many classical composers use poly-chords to give a piece more of an interesting "color" and depth. Just don't go too overboard with it, otherwise it can hinder the fundamental groundwork for one of the other important things in music: having a melody.