What chord is this ?

[SmokeyGhost]

It's Not?

 

 

Don't fret (yes, pun intended), Rtd. Understanding chord theory is not intuitive or easy for everyone and the phrase "If I can do it, so can you!" may not necessarily apply. For example, I've just composed a Violin Concerto which far surpasses that of Mozart's, so if I can do it so can you. Yeah, riiight says SG.

 

The only way I can even get close in working this stuff out when trying to learn a piece, be it something by Fernando Sor or Bill Withers, is to slowly go through the piece before I even play a note, attempt to work out the key, see what chord progression is likely, eg C, Dm, Em, F, try and get my fretting fingers in the correct positions all the time thinking 1-3-5 for shapes. I don't find it easy. Challenging for sure but certainly not easy.

[EVOL!]

I would call this chord Aadd2. So many indie/alt bands in the 90s used it. I still use it a lot myself.

 

What determines if it is a 2 or 9? Is it the octave above middle C the second is in or how many octaves above the root the second is?

['Scales]

Post #14

 

 

 

jdgm asked me to chime in on this one (I think) in post #15. He posts some good info there, but let me try to simplify this from an applied practicality standpoint.

 

I would simply call the chord as fingered in the quote above a "D/G". A "D" triad (D, F#, A) played over a lower "G".

 

Again, the name alone does not help with the voicing/fingering as shown. To write this (formal or informal) for someone else to play, you would have to include a chord fingering block, TAB diagram or note stack on staff.

 

As for a bass note under this chord, I would try "D" or "F#" and see which fits better in the progression.

Thankyou Larry. I think part of the issue was that the second chord in my progression leant itself to a D for bass, so needed something else for this first chord - will try F# as suggested.

[weldaar]

I would call this chord Aadd2. So many indie/alt bands in the 90s used it. I still use it a lot myself.

 

What determines if it is a 2 or 9? Is it the octave above middle C the second is in or how many octaves above the root the second is?

 

Adding the C# to the A and B makes it add 9.Without the C# it's A sus2

[EVOL!]

Adding the C# to the A and B makes it add 9.Without the C# it's A sus2

 

Sorry, you just lost me. You're fretting A and C# and you're letting the A and B strings ring open so you have root, octave, major third, and second. Right?

[weldaar]

Sorry, you just lost me. You're fretting A and C# and you're letting the A and B strings ring open so you have root, octave, major third, and second. Right?

 

If you play A fourth string 7th fret and the C# third string 6th fret and leave the B and E open, that's A add9. If you play the A (second fret third string) E (fourth string second fret) and leave the B and E open, that is A sus2.

Check it out here.

 

http://chordbook.com/guitar-chords/

[rct]

What determines if it is a 2 or 9? Is it the octave above middle C the second is in or how many octaves above the root the second is?

 

Add 7 to the first octave and you get the fancy jazz chord numbers. If your instrument spans more than one octave they still add 7 to the first octave, but the note tells the player. You could have A add 9 and have the Pie Anno play that nine way over at the plinky end, it doesn't become A add 16 or A add 23.

 

Did that make sense?

 

rct

[surfpup]

Wait a second... there are more than three chords?

[OldCowboy]

Wait a second... there are more than three chords?

Dude! With a capo, all things are possible😄

['Scales]

Dude! With a capo, all things are possible😄

 

36

[zigzag]

It is obvious from hu3436's soundcloud that you can make great music without knowing the intricacies of theory.

[OldCowboy]

It is obvious from hu3436's soundcloud that you can make great music without knowing the intricacies of theory.

True enough! You can even do whatever it is that I do 😯 without knowing. Still, I have nothing but respect for folks with a good grasp of theory.

[jdgm]

One of my favourite chords is A2 - F#3 - G3 - D4 - E4 I first used in 1996 for an original power ballad of my band in Eminor. Basically comprising of the Gmajor/Eminor scale notes D-E-F#-G-A, it would have to be put into the order D - F# - A - [C] - E - G for naming it if I get it right. How would the correct denomination be, and how would it be named considering that A is the effective root note?

 

Sorry Cap but I don't understand the A2 - G3 stuff. Can you tell us what frets/notes this is, going from the heavy to light strings please?

[L5Larry]

Sorry Cap but I don't understand the A2 - G3 stuff. Can you tell us what frets/notes this is, going from the heavy to light strings please?

 

He's denoting the octave of the tone as it lays on the piano, with middle "C" being zero (0). A2 would be the second "A" above middle "C", etc. Below middle "C" is labelled as minus (-).

[jdgm]

He's denoting the octave of the tone as it lays on the piano, with middle "C" being zero (0). A2 would be the second "A" above middle "C", etc. Below middle "C" is labelled as minus (-).

 

Ah, ok and many thanks for input...not familiar with that at all.

 

The 'triad-over-bass' concept I am familiar with, but haven't gone far down there yet in actual practice.

 

Best wishes.

[capmaster]

One of my favourite chords is A2 - F#3 - G3 - D4 - E4 I first used in 1996 for an original power ballad of my band in Eminor. Basically comprising of the Gmajor/Eminor scale notes D-E-F#-G-A, it would have to be put into the order D - F# - A - [C] - E - G for naming it if I get it right. How would the correct denomination be, and how would it be named considering that A is the effective root note?

Sorry Cap but I don't understand the A2 - G3 stuff. Can you tell us what frets/notes this is, going from the heavy to light strings please?

He's denoting the octave of the tone as it lays on the piano, with middle "C" being zero (0). A2 would be the second "A" above middle "C", etc. Below middle "C" is labelled as minus (-).

Ah, ok and many thanks for input...not familiar with that at all.

 

The 'triad-over-bass' concept I am familiar with, but haven't gone far down there yet in actual practice.

 

Best wishes.

The numbering refers to the scientific pitch notation (or SPN, also known as American Standard Pitch Notation (ASPN) and International Pitch Notation (IPN)), widely used in MIDI applications. You may refer to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_pitch_notation

 

The middle C on a piano is the C4, the reference note is the A4 with a standard pitch of 440 Hz.

 

I fret the chord as follows: E6th not played, A5th open (A2), D4th @ 4th fret (F#3), G3rd open (G3), B2nd @ 3rd fret (D4), E1st open (E4).

[rct]

The numbering refers to the scientific pitch notation (or SPN, also known as American Standard Pitch Notation (ASPN) and International Pitch Notation (IPN)), widely used in MIDI applications. You may refer to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_pitch_notation

 

The middle C on a piano is the C4, the reference note is the A4 with a standard pitch of 440 Hz.

 

I fret the chord as follows: E6th not played, A5th open (A2), D4th @ 4th fret (F#3), G3rd open (G3), B2nd @ 3rd fret (D4), E1st open (E4).

 

While I agree with you my uber scientific brutha, it does nothing but confuse those new to figuring out musical context. What's on the fingerboard/keyboard is best until they've got that down. Then you can go all Dr Strange on 'em.

 

rct

[capmaster]

While I agree with you my uber scientific brutha, it does nothing but confuse those new to figuring out musical context. What's on the fingerboard/keyboard is best until they've got that down. Then you can go all Dr Strange on 'em.

 

rct

Sorry, I just tried to use international naming here, not moving into science or being Dr Strange. :unsure:

 

When I started on piano at age five, I learned the "classical" Helmholtz pitch notation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmholtz_pitch_notation

 

As soon as I moved to guitar and into rock, I switched to the international system. Sometimes I even call the classical note H a B instead. The note B means B flat here, by the way, which often causes confusion among players.

[rct]

Sorry, I just tried to use international naming here, not moving into science or being Dr Strange. :unsure:

 

When I started on piano at age five, I learned the "classical" Helmholtz pitch notation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmholtz_pitch_notation

 

As soon as I moved to guitar and into rock, I switched to the international system. Sometimes I even call the classical note H a B instead. The note B means B flat here, by the way, which often causes confusion among players.

 

 

 

rct

[capmaster]

 

rct

Well, there are lots of different musical notations used around the planet. Would you prefer the Italian Do - Re - Mi - Fa - So - La - Si - Do over C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C?

[jdgm]

I fret the chord as follows: E6th not played, A5th open (A2), D4th @ 4th fret (F#3), G3rd open (G3), B2nd @ 3rd fret (D4), E1st open (E4).

 

Ah. That......a lovely chord, often played in sequence with an A, A7 or Ami7 (if Ami7 you just move fingers up 2 frets, we all find this out fairly early) and occurs in quite a few songs, notably "Alright Now" and "The Stealer" by Free, and probably at least one Joni Mitchell and Led Z song.

 

In A? It has the 6th and flat 7th of the A scale plus the 4th or 11th tone. There is no 3rd (minor or major) of the A scale so I think sus4. Then do you define the F# as 6th or 13th note?

A6/7sus4 (if you are familiar with Ted Greene and his book "Chord Chemistry") or A13sus4, possibly....but again contains much of D major within it....so this one is open to debate and I will of course defer to Forum members who can definitively name it!

 

Another excellent thread BTW. I'm still laughing at mahogany.

[rct]

Well, there are lots of different musical notations used around the planet. Would you prefer the Italian Do - Re - Mi - Fa - So - La - Si - Do over C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C?

 

[laugh] [laugh]

 

Native Americans had a scale that sadly has been lost to time and conquer. There was brief mention of it in the closest thing to a biography of the great Crazy Horse, but nothing has been preserved beyond the transcriptions of interviews in the late 19th century, and they don't offer the scale itself.

 

rct

[capmaster]

[laugh] [laugh]

 

Native Americans had a scale that sadly has been lost to time and conquer. There was brief mention of it in the closest thing to a biography of the great Crazy Horse, but nothing has been preserved beyond the transcriptions of interviews in the late 19th century, and they don't offer the scale itself.

 

rct

I think there might have been lots of musical notations got lost in history. They shared their fate with that of their nations and languages. Aside from people ruled by radical religions and ideologies, I believe that music has been a vital part of human life since ages.