minor chord with a 2nd?

[Guest FarnsBarns]

I posted this in another thread but that has disappeared into obscurity now and this question was somewhat off topic. I thought I'd start a thread about this only.

 

I've been re-learning one of my old songs. It has a weird chord in it which I sort of made up.Who can give this Am it's proper name?

 

e/1¦----0---

B/2¦----0---

G/3¦----5---

D/4¦----7---

A/5¦----0---

E/6¦----x---

 

Or A,C,E, and then a B?

 

A is the root. (open A/5 string and another an octave higher at the 7th fret on the D/4.)

C is the minor 3rd. (G/3 5th fret)

E is the fifth (open e/1)

B is a 2nd/9th (open B/2)

 

It's that B that's got me. What does that make it? It's only half a tone from the minor 3rd and in the same octave as the minor third and one of the roots.

 

Seems weird and wrong, sounds great.

 

Any way, is there a name for a minor chord with a 2nd in it or can I be imortalized by the invention of the 'Barns chord? Like Hendrix' mixed third E#9 being known as the Hendrix Chord. ;)

[sjl200]

Take your pick.

 

A5add#9add9 A 5th Add Sharp 9th Add 9th

 

Asus2add#9add12 A Suspended 2nd Add Sharp 9th Add 12th

 

Asus2add#9 A Suspended 2nd Add Sharp 9th

 

Amadd9add12 A Minor Add 9th Add 12th

 

Amadd9 A Minor Add 9th

 

Amadd2add12 A Minor Add 2nd Add 12th

 

Amadd2 A Minor Add 2nd

 

CM13/A C/A Major 13th

 

B7b9sus4/A B/A 7th Flat 9th Suspended 4th

 

 

Chord namer

[L5Larry]

It's simply an Am9 without a 7th.

 

Jazz notation would list it as: Am9 (no 7th)

[Guest FarnsBarns]

It's simply an Am9 without a 7th.

 

Jazz notation would list it as: Am9 (no 7th)

 

I don't think its an AamAdd9 as the 2nd is in the same octave. I 's'pose it's an AmAdd2 but I think that an AmAdd2 is a dischord, strictly speaking. The 2nd and the minor 3rd are half a tone apart.

 

Anyway it's a beauty. The song has a weird Em as well.

[zigzag]

It's simply an Am9 without a 7th.

Jazz notation would list it as: Am9 (no 7th)

 

[ShredAstaire]

How can 1 chord be 17 different chords?

[Riptide]

Even though it's in the same octave a 1st 2nd 3rd 5th chord is called an add9 when you drop out the 3rd it's a sus2. At least that's what I've always heard.

 

So I think it would be called an Amadd9.

[dbreslauer]

How can 1 chord be 17 different chords?

 

 

my stepfather, a very accomplished pianist, used to say that if you hit ANY three notes, he'll give you at minimum 3 different names for the resulting "chord."

 

and the more notes you add, the more names you get back... :)

 

jazz guys love this stuff.

[EVOL!]

Any way, is there a name for a minor chord with a 2nd in it or can I be imortalized by the invention of the 'Barns chord? Like Hendrix' mixed third E#9 being known as the Hendrix Chord. ;)

 

Sorry to burst your bubble, brother, but I use that voicing for both major and minor chords all of the time. It is often referred to in my circle as shoegazer or indie pop chords.

 

And I would also note that a an Am9 and not an Amadd2. Not sure why. I did take theory I in college which is the equivalent of knowing enough karate to get your @ss kicked in a bar fight.

[milod]

Evol wrote:

 

"I did take theory I in college which is the equivalent of knowing enough karate to get your @ss kicked in a bar fight."

 

I actually chuckled out loud at that one, largely because I resemble that remark. And my theory class was a long, long, long time ago. <grin>

 

m

[dbreslauer]

Evol wrote:

 

"I did take theory I in college which is the equivalent of knowing enough karate to get your @ss kicked in a bar fight."

 

I actually chuckled out loud at that one, largely because I resemble that remark. And my theory class was a long, long, long time ago. <grin>

 

m

 

 

that's awesome!

[EVOL!]

Evol wrote:

 

"I did take theory I in college which is the equivalent of knowing enough karate to get your @ss kicked in a bar fight."

 

I actually chuckled out loud at that one, largely because I resemble that remark. And my theory class was a long, long, long time ago. <grin>

 

m

 

Here's another one for you:

 

Did you classes have the accompanying lab sight screaming and ear straining*?

 

 

*our name for sight singing and ear training.

[Guest FarnsBarns]

Oh well, It's not like Hendrix invented E#9 either. If I use it in at least half my songs, then can it be named after me? :)

[Versatile]

It's a beautiful chord.....I use it a lot

 

I call it Am add9

 

In fact I love all add9 chords

 

And 6/9 chords are rather splendid too

 

To my ears at least.....

 

V

 

[milod]

Actually mine was pretty strange. The teaching staff shifted in and out different individuals or combination of individuals from a string quartet that was quite good and quite talented.

 

I actually did something silly like writing a "classical" form atonal piano piece that one of the four - a fine pianist - actually played in class.

 

I got a mediocre grade and ended up for a variety of reasons quitting college the next fall. Saw the guy early the next year who had played my piece. He was glad to see I wasn't dead or drugged - I did neither, nor yet have done so - and was told I was the best student in the class who had learned the most.

 

Thanks for the grade, I chuckled - I wasn't angry, more "tickled."

 

"Well," he said, "You just didn't really follow the curriculum."

 

Alas, the perhaps the story of my life in precis. <grin>

 

m

[TommyK]

How can 1 chord be 17 different chords?

 

Depends on if you are using the Circle of 5ths or the Circle of 4ths, which is the same chord chart read two different ways CCW vs CW.

[zigzag]

And which note is the root.

[ShredAstaire]

But the same note is the root if its the same finger placement/string usage, right? Same chord, same root note?

[zigzag]

But the same note is the root if its the same finger placement/string usage, right? Same chord, same root note?

 

You could make any note in the chord the root, but if you did, the chord would have a different name.

[ShredAstaire]

You could make any note in the chord the root, but if you did, the chord would have a different name.

 

This is why music theory is such a mystery to me...

[zigzag]

This is why music theory is such a mystery to me...

 

Glad to hear it. I thought I was the only one.

 

How about this one: If you lower any note in a diminished chord a half step, it then becomes the dominant 7th of the lowered note. E.g., if you lower a C note in a diminished chord (as in C, A, D#, F#) a half step, the chord then becomes a B7. In the same diminished chord, if you lowered the A a half step, the chord becomes Ab7.

[ShredAstaire]

Glad to hear it. I thought I was the only one.

 

How about this one: If you lower any note in a diminished chord a half step, it then becomes the dominant 7th of the lowered note. E.g., if you lower a C note in a diminished chord (as in C, A, D#, F#) a half step, the chord then becomes a B7. In the same diminished chord, if you lowered the A a half step, the chord becomes Ab7.

 

You're hurting my brain. Quit it!

[Guest FarnsBarns]

And which note is the root.

 

In this instance A is the root.

 

 

 

It's the 1st and 3rd bars. The 6th bar is an ordinary Am.

[PP_CS336]

It's simply an Am9 without a 7th.

 

Jazz notation would list it as: Am9 (no 7th)

 

I agree with L5Larry. And for all of you who asked what the root of the chord is, the originator strictly stated it was A.

The chord is found in the song "From the Beginning" by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer (aka ELP). It's one of those pretty "Open Chords".

[damian]

Interesting thread.......Some may remember my thread asking " Who can read music. "

 

I studied music and music theory........However, I became a rock musician, and the need to read music diminished ( pun intended ).....

 

I can still read music if I have to, but why ??? My ability to is mostly gone....What I have retained is the full understanding of music

 

theory....An analogy might be ; We all studied cursive writing, yet, how many of us can still write cursive well ?????

 

In practice, music theory is more useful in piano playing than guitar; all ten fingers work the piano strings as opposed to

 

five fingers on six guitar strings.....For those who need to transpose their music into notation form, there is software

 

for that........That chord is used a lot, as are variations on it.....

 

( For Farns Barns and RandyMan, you'll understand when I provide links to my music for you guys )..........