Advanced Chords
Here's the bit where we delve deeper into the theory on Chords. Again, this bit isn't really necessary, but if you are really interested and can't stop yourself then who am I to try and prevent you? I should point out, though, that you should read the section on 'INTERVALS' before you read this otherwise you will understand very little of it.
So what is a Chord?
Right...... Well three or more notes played at the same time form a Chord. Traditionally, Chords are made by combining two or more 3rds; for example, the notes C-E-G form the C Major Chord or C Major 'TRIAD'. The note upon which the Chord is founded (i.e. essentially the one the Chord is named after) is called the 'ROOT' of the Chord (so in the Triad C-E-G, C would be the Root). The other notes of a Chord are named after the Interval they form relative to the root (e.g. 3rd, 5th, etc).
What is a Triad?
A Triad is just a Chord made up of three notes. That's it..... 'Tri' means 'three', and 'ad' makes it sound cool.
As always, there's little more to understand after that; there are FOUR different types of Triad:
- 'AUGMENTED TRIAD': Consists of a (Major 3rd + an Augmented 5th);
- 'MAJOR TRIAD': Consists of a (Major 3rd + a Perfect 5th);
- 'MINOR TRIAD': Consists of a (Minor 3rd + a Perfect 5th);
- 'DIMINISHED TRIAD': Consists of a (Minor 3rd + a Diminished 5th).
The Major and Minor Triad types are considered to be 'PERFECT', in the loosest sense of the word, because they contain a Perfect 5th. 'DIMINISHED' and 'AUGMENTED' Triads are named after the 5th they contain.
Inversions
A Chord is described as being in its 'ROOT POSITION' when its root is the lowest note played. A three-note Chord (a Triad) can also be played in its '1ST or 2ND INVERSION'. A Triad is in its 1st Inversion when its 3rd (which, confusingly, is the second note, e.g. the E in C-E-G) is the lowest note played. A Triad is in its 2nd Inversion when its 5th (the third note, e.g. the G in C-E-G) is the lowest note played. Clearly, the more notes a Chord has, the more Inversions there are to play. So there...
Forming Triads in Major and Minor Scales
| Degree | Major | Natural Minor | Harmonic Minor | Melodic Minor |
| I | Major | Minor | Minor | Minor |
| II | Minor | Diminished | Diminished | Minor |
| III | Minor | Major | Augmented | Augmented |
| IV | Major | Minor | Minor | Major |
| V | Major | Minor | Major | Major |
| VI | Minor | Major | Major | Diminished |
| VII | Diminished | Major | Diminished | Diminished |
Oh, no... Not more names! 7th Chords?
Many people have heard of '7TH CHORDS' (particularly if you ever played guitar), but very few actually know what they are...... Essentially, if you add another 3rd to any Triad, you get a 7th Chord. It's called such because a 7th Interval is formed in relation to the root. A 7th Chord can be built on any Degree of a Major or Minor Scale, and there are FIVE different types of 7th Chord that are defined by the Triad and the 7th Interval forming the Chord:
- 'MAJOR 7TH CHORD': Consists of a (Major Triad + Major 7th) - so called because both the Triad and 7th are Major;
- 'DOMINANT 7TH CHORD': Consists of a (Major Triad + Minor 7th) - so called because the Chord is built on the Dominant Degree of the Major, Harmonic and Melodic Minor Scales;
- 'MINOR 7TH CHORD': Consists of a (Minor Triad + Minor 7th) - so called because both the Triad and 7th are Minor;
- 'HALF DIMINISHED 7TH CHORD': Consists of a (Diminished Triad + Minor 7th) - so called because the Triad is Diminished, but the 7th is Minor, so it's not completely Diminished;
- 'DIMINISHED 7TH CHORD': Consists of a (Diminished Triad + Diminished 7th) - so called because both the Triad and 7th are Diminished.
I could tell you what 7th Chords are formed on which Degrees of the Major and Minor Scales, but (frankly) there is no point because it gets so complicated that we start using Chords that don't even have names yet. That's a pretty good indication that we're going a bit too far...