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7.ChordsEvenifChapters35weremainlyaboutmelodyandthemonophonicaspectsofmode,itwasimpossibletototallyavoidmentioningchordsandharmony.Now,harmonyisnosideissueintherestofthisbook:itsthecentraltopic.Ifthatissowellneedavocabularycapableofdesignatingharmonysnutsandbolts.Thatswhythischapterisdevotedtoexplanationofthechordnamingconventionsusedintherestofthisbook.Andthat,initsturn,meansthatthisisnotadiscursivechapter.ItsintendedratherasareferenceresourcewhosecoreconsistsofthevariouschartsandtablesdisplayingTERTIALchords,theirdesignationsandabbreviatedlabels(pp.223,226,232233,235).PleasenotethatQUARTALharmonyisdealtwithseparatelyinChapter10.1DefinitionandscopeCHORD,fromGreek(chord,Latinchorda),originallymeantthestringofamusicalinstrument.Eventually,chordcametodenotethesimultaneoussoundingoftwoormoredifferenttonesbyanypolyphonic instrumentorbyanycombinationof instrument(s)and/orvoice(s).Thesimultaneoussoundingofnotesofthesamename,i.e.unisonpitchesorpitchesseparatedbyoctaveintervals,doesnotqualifyasachord.AtwonotechordisaDYAD,athreenotechordaTRIAD,afournotechordaTETRADandafivenotechordaPENTAD.
Chordsneednotbeheardassuchbymembersofamusicaltraditionwhosepolyphonyemphasisestheinterplayofindependentmelodiclines(counterpoint)muchmorestronglythanmusicintheWesternpostRenaissancetraditionofmelodyandaccompaniment.Inmosttypesofpopularmusicchordsaregenerallyregardedasbelongingtotheaccompanimentpartofthatdualism.
1. InconventionalmusictheorythenotionsTERTIAL(todowiththirds)andTRIADIC(todowithtriads)areoftenconfused;seepp.249251forclarificationofthisissue.Seepp.293,295301fordetailsofdifferencebetweentertialandquartalharmony.
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TertialtriadsTertialchordsarebasedonthestackingofthirds.TertialTRIADsarefundamentalharmonicbuildingblocksineuroclassicalmusic,inmostformsofjazzandinmanytypesofpopularmusic.
ATRIADisanychordcontainingthreedifferentnotes.Thetertialcommontriadisaparticular,andparticularlycommon,typeoftriadconstructedastwosimultaneouslysoundingthirds,onesuperimposedontheother.AsFigure33shows,cande(separatedbyamajorthird)togetherwitheandg(minorthird)constitutethemajorcommontriadofCmajor(c-e-g),whiledand f(minorthird)togetherwithfanda(majorthird)makeaDminortriad.Fig.33. TertialcommontriadsoneachdegreeofCionian/Aaeolian
TwotypesoftertialchordshorthandappearinFigure33:[1]LEADSHEETCHORDSHORTHAND(C, Dm, Em,etc.);[2]ROMANNUMERALS(I,ii, iii, IVetc.).Bothsystemsareincommoneverydayuse.Leadsheetchordshorthand,explainedonpages229244,isabsoluteinthat,forexample,theabbreviationCdenotesamajortriadbasedonc@andonnoothernote,Dmaminortriadbasedond@andnoothernote,etc.Theromannumeralsystemis,however,relative.
RomannumeralsRomannumeralsareusedtodenotechordsandtheirrelationtothetonic(keynote)ofanykeyormode.Thissortofrelativechordaldesignationcan,withfewmodifications,betransferredtothestudyofanypolyphonicmusicforwhichakeynoteortoniccanbeestablished.Morespecifically,eachromannumeraldesignatestherootnoteofthescaledegreeonwhichthechordisbuilt.Forexample,theuppercaseromanone(I)inFigure33meansamajorcommontriadwithscaledegree1( atitsroot.InthekeyofC,whereisc@,[email protected]
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Minor triadsareexpressedusing lowercase romannumerals.AsshowninFigure33,vimeansaminortriadonscaledegree6( ).IntheCmajorscale,theionianmode, isa@,sovimeansanAminorcommontriad(Am).TheiunderthatviinFigure33designatesthesameAminorcommontriad,exceptthatitisnow,asi,thetriadonscaledegree1( )inAaeolian(Anaturalminor).ThelowerlineofromannumeralsinFigure33revealsthatwhatwasthetonicmajortriadI(one) inCmajorbecomes$III(flatthree)inAaeolian.ItsthesameCmajortriadasbeforebutthistimeinthekeyofAaeolian,notCionian.ItfurtherrevealsthattheFandGmajortriadsthatwereIV(four)andV(five)inCionianare$VI(flatsix)and$VII(flatseven)inAaeolian.Thatsworthknowingbecause $VI?$VII?i (orI)constitutesthehighlypopularaeoliancadence,nomatterwhichkeyyoureinF?G?Am(orA)inA,C?D?Em(orE)inE,A$?B$?Cm(orC)inC,etc.Itstheaeolianequivalentof the ioniancadence formulaIV?V?I (F?G?C inC,A$-B$-E$inE$,etc.).TheserelationshipsshouldbecomeclearerafterperusalofTable14(p.223).
ThemajortriadsinFigure33areC, FandG.Aswejustsaw,theyoccupyscaledegrees and intheionianmodeasthetriadsI, IVandVbutoccurondegrees and intheaeolianasthetriads$III, $VIand$VII.TheminortriadsDm, EmandAmareonscaledegrees and intheionian(ii, iii, vi)andon and (iv, v,i)intheaeolian.Moreover,themajorscales (b@inC)andtheminorscales (b@inA)produceadiminishedtriad(viiand ii)thatisrarelyheardwithouttheadditionofafourthnote.Thetwomostcommondiminishedtetradsarethediminishedseventh(e.g.CJ)andthehalfdiminishedchord(sevenflatfive,e.g.Cm7L5).TheyappeartoprightinTable13(p.222).3Theresonetertialtriadthat,unlikethethreetypesshowninFigure33,cannotbegeneratedbysuperimposingtwomodespecificthirds.ItstheaugmentedtriadanditsincludedwiththeotherthreetypesinTable13.
2. Whenotherchordspecificnotesthantherootarepitchedlowest,suchachordiscalledaninversion(seep.225).
3. iiandvii7L5 areverycommonintheeuroclassicalandjazzrepertoires.
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Table13:Fourtypesoftertialtriads(onc)+2diminishedtetrads
AsshowninFigure33(p.220)andTable13,majortriadsconsistofaminorthirdontopofamajorthird(e.g.e-goverc-eforC),minortriadsofamajorthirdoveraminorthird(e.g.e$-goverc-e$forCminor),whileaugmentedtriadscomprisetwosuperimposedmajorthirds(e.g.e-g#overc-e)anddiminishedtriadstwominorthirds(e.g.e$-g$overc-e$).Inprinciple,alltertialtriadsofthetypecontainedinTable13containarootnote,itsthirdanditsfifth.
Table14(p.223)showsleadsheetandromannumbersymbolsforeachscaledegreeinallsevenheptatonicchurchmodes.4Itsincludedmainlyforreferencepurposeswhendiscussingchordsequencesandfunctionsindifferentkeysandmodes.However,someaspectsofsymbolconventioninTable14needexplanation.
[1]Sincethelocrianmodestonictriadisdiminished(I)andincludesnoperfectfifth,itisrarelyusedasachordineverydaytonalityandwillbediscussednofurtherinthiscontext.Ofcourse,thatdoesnotmean that the locrianmode isneverusedmelodically;onthecontrary,itisverycommoninheavymetal.5
[Textcontinueswith2onpage224afterTable14.]
triadtype thirds fifth notes leadsheet4
major maj+min perfect c e g Cminor min+maj perfect c e$ g Cm
augmented maj+maj augmented c e g#/a$ CU /CPdiminished min+min diminished c e$ g$/f# CJ/C
4. Seepp.9499forexplanationofdiatonicchurchmodes.Seepp.229244forfullexplanationofleadsheetandleadsheetchordshorthand.
5. Seepp.162163,esp.ftnt.19(p.163).
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Table14:Romannumeraltriadsforallsevenstepsinallchurchmodes
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[2]Commontriadsbasedonscaledegreesinallmodesexcepttheionianinvolveatleastoneromannumeralsymbolprecededbyanaccidental,usually$.Thatsbecausetheromannumberingoftertialtriadscomesfromthetheoryofeuroclassicalmusicwhosedefaultmodeisionian.Consequently,theromannumberingoftriadsinothermodeshastoindicatedivergencefromthationianstandard.6ThatswhyIII,forexample,alwaysmeansamajortriadon,themajorthirdscaledegreeinrelationtothetonic,i.e.anEmajortriadinC,oraC#majortriadinA,etc.,whereas$IIIdesignatesamajortriadon ,theminorthirdinrelationtothetonic,i.e.anE$majortriadinC,aCmajortriadinA.Similarly,vialwaysindicatesaminorcommontriadonthemajorsixth(),i.e.anAminortriadinC,anF minortriadinA,etc.
[3]Itisnotuncommonformusicinthedorian,phrygianoraeolianmodetouseaPERMANENTPICARDYTHIRDastonictriad:ibecomesI.Thetriadon canalsobemajorisedinsomecases:vcanbecomeV.Thesedevicesareexplainedonpages276284andmarkedincolumns1and5(IandV)inTable14.Ex.179. I vi ii7 V7sequence(vamp)inCandDmajor
Bearing inmind that pitches extraneous to the tertial commontriad,most frequently the flat seventh, are expressed as superscriptedarabicnumerals, it is clear that |I-vi-ii7-V7|designatesthesamechordprogressioninanymajorkey,whereas|C Am Dm7G7 |and| D Bm Em7 A7 |designatethesamesequenceintwokeysonly(CandDmajorrespectively,ex.179).Similarly,arepeated|I-$VII-IV|progression(C B$ FinC)isfoundasD C G(inD)throughoutLynyrdSkynyrdsSweetHomeAlabama(1974)andasG F CattheendofTheBeatlesHeyJude(1968b;inG).Notethattertialtriadsbuiltonpitchesforeigntotheionianmodemustbeprecededby the requisiteaccidental, for example $VII foramajor triad
6. Chordsbasedon are$III/$iii,thoseon areIII/iii.
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builtonb$inthekeyofCmajor.Similarly,noteswithinatertialchordthatareextraneoustothecurrentkeyofthepiecemustalsobeprecededbytherequisiteaccidental,e.g.ii7L5fortheseconddegreeseventhchordinCminorwithdasrootandcontainingalsof, a$andc.
InversionsFig.34. Cmajortriadinverted?Inmostpopularmusicthelowest note in a chord is usuallyalsoitsroot.However,inchoralsettingsandinmusicstronglyinfluencedbytheeuroclassicaltradition, tertial chordsareoften inverted, i.e. the chords rootnotedoesnothavetobeitslowest.ThefirstthreechordsofFigure34showaCmajorcommon triad[1] inrootposition(withc inthebass),[2]infirstinversion(withitsthird,e,inthebass)and[3]insecondinversion(withitsfifth,g,inthebass).ThefinalchordofFigure34isatetrad(achordcontainingfourdifferentnotes):itsaCmajortriadwiththeflatseventh(b$)inthebass,i.e.thetetradC7inthirdinversion(withitsseventh,b$,aslowestnote).Europeantextbookharmonysymbols,derivedfromfiguredbasstechniquesofthebaroqueera(bottomlineofsymbolsinFig.34),arelargelyincompatiblewiththewayinwhichchordsareunderstoodbymostmusicianstoday.Therefore,ifinversionsneedtobereferredto,theyaremostcommonlydenotedintheabsolutetermsofleadsheetchordsymbols(toplineinFig.34),sometimesintherelativetermsofromannumerals,asshowninthelineofsymbolsbetweenthetwostaves,i.e.asIzforthetonictriadwithitsthirdasbassnote,Izforthesamechordwithitsfifthinthebass,etc.
