chords

when do chords occur

chords occur when any two or more notes sound together

what can chords be built on

on any note of a scale

what are the 3 primary chords?

chords I, IV and V - so the first, fourth and fifth chords built on each note of a particular scale. e.g - for the c major scale, the primary chords would be dminor, fmajor, and gmajor as they’re each built on the first, fourth and fifth note in the c major scale

what are the 2 secondary chords?

chord II, III and VI - so the second, third and sixth chord build on each note of a particular scale

what tonalities would the primary and secondary chords be in a major key?

in a major key:

primary: major

secondary: minor

technical name of the first (I) note in a scale:

tonic

technical name of the second (II) note in a scale:

supertonic

technical name of the third (III) note in a scale:

mediant

technical name of the fourth (IV) note in a scale:

subdominant

technical name of the fifth (V) note in a scale:

dominant

technical name of the sixth (VI) note in a scale:

submediant

technical name of the seventh (VII) note in a scale:

leading note

what do triads consist of?

three notes played on top of each other

• bottom note (root/I)

• middle note (3rd/III)

• top note (5th/V)

what are the steps to creating a triad?

1. work out which note you want to build your triad on

2. Now start at the bottom note (C) and count up 3 notes to get the next note (include the starting note when you’re counting)

3. Now start again at the bottom note and this time count up 5 notes

• So, to build a triad on C we have used the notes C-E-G.

what are the 4 different types of musical triad?

Major Triads, Minor Triads, Diminished Triads, Augmented Triads

what makes a major (happy) triad major?

overall, there are 7 semitones between the bottom and top notes in both major and minor triads

• in the major triad, there are 4 semitones between the root and 3rd note

  so major triad = 4 semitones between the major 3rd

• it is always a major 3rd followed by a minor 3rd.

what makes a minor (sad) triad minorr?

in the minor triad, there are only 3 semitones in between the root and 3rd note, making it a minor 3rd

• it is always a minor 3rd followed by a major 3rd.

what is a diminished (scary) triad?

a diminished triad – this is a variation of a minor triad.

To create a diminished triad all you need to do is play a minor triad and then lower the top note by 1 semitone (there are now only 6 semitones between the bottom and top notes of the triad – this is called a diminished 5th).

• By doing this you have built a triad by using 2 minor 3rds on top of each other.

• the interval is always a minor 3rd followed by a minor 3rd.

how do you create an augmented (unnerving) triad

To create an augmented triad, play a major triad and then raise the top note up by a semitone (there are now 8 semitones separating top note and bottom note – this is called an augmented 5th)

• each triad is built using a major 3rd followed by another major 3rd to produce the augmented triads

how do you build seventh chords?

A seventh chord is built by adding an extra note to a triad which is an interval of a 7th above the root note.

what are the 5 types of seventh chords?

• major seventh chord

• dominant seventh chord

• minor seventh chord

• half diminished seventh chord

• diminished seventh chord.

how are major seventh chords made? (jazzy)

it is created by taking a major triad, but this time adding a note a major seventh (11 semitones) above the root.

how are dominant seventh chords made? (jazzy feel)

It is created by taking a major triad and adding a note a minor seventh (10 semitones) above the root. minor triad and adding a note a minor seventh (10 semitones) above the root.

what are dominant 7ths used for?

The dominant 7th is used a lot in blues music.
It is also used at a perfect cadence to make the ending sound really strong

how do you build minor seventh chords? (jazzy feel)

It is created by taking a minor triad and adding a note a minor seventh (10 semitones) above the root.

how do you build half diminished seventh chords?

It is created by taking a diminished triad and adding a note a minor seventh (10 semitones) above the root.

how do you build diminished seventh chords?

It is created by taking a diminished triad and adding a note a diminished seventh (9 semitones) above the root.

what is a chord progression

The term chord progression simply refers to the order in which chords are played in a song/piece of music.