p21

~ chord type ~

~ families of musical colors ~

~ major key ~ I / ii / V ~

~ ii V I / 2 5 1 cadential motion ~

'... streamlining the process of learning our harmonic spectrum of colors with basic nuts and bolts theory and movable shapes ...'

In a nutshell. Chord type, while mostly used with jazz chord theories, is simply a way to view, in theory, any chord, here now defined as a 'three note triad + 7th', so a chord with at least four different letter name notes. So now with a 7th on every chord, stylistically we're jazz, blues, and even some of the disco / pop / rock genres of the 70's and 80's.

The ever popular bluesy 'G' 7 chord has the 'G B D F' notes. In chord type theory, 'G7' goes into the V7 chord category of dominant harmony. The two remaining 'types' are for tonic ( I maj7 ) and supertonic ( ii -7 ).

Common practice. Chord type is based on the quality of a chord's 3rd and 7th. So triads are either major or minor, and same for the 7th, major or minor 7th's, as intervals measured from a root pitch. And while there's a fourth possible combination; a minor 3rd and major 7th pairing, it's too rare throughout the literature to have its own designation and category.

Author's note. Though with songs in a minor key, a 'passing 7th' motion is today a super beautiful cliche, so when it fits right, it's an 'Americana perfect' that everyone loves. That the other three '3rd and 7th' combinations also create the Two / Five / One chord progression, in songs written in a major key, will for some artists totally totally seal this theory deal; a must to know about and super rote study to forever know.

Tonal gravity. For the '3 and 7' pairings of a chord's 'type' determine a diatonic chord's own relative stability and how it might puzzle in and function within a key center. Are we creating a sense of tension and moving to a new point in the music ? Or have we reached a point of repose, a resting pause in our story before moving on?

Three 'types' to rule them all :) Using our handy rectangles of major and minor 3rd's, the following three 'chord types' manifest. Example A.

And that's all we get. Our three types of chords can cover, in theory, the whole tamale of our harmony. There must be other systems of thought about this aspect of harmonic theory, but know that these descriptions of chord type are taught at BA level, formal music school.

The organics. We base a chord's 'type' on its 3rd and 7th. And since we only have two varieties of each, major or minor, we get four basic combinations. Two of these combinations provide a perfect 5th interval between 3 and 7, one gives us the two pitch tritone interval, and one a minor 6th interval. Examine the pitches from the root pitch 'C.' Example 1.

The two combinations of 3 and 7, that create the perfect 5th interval become our One type chord in a major key. The two pitch, 3 and 7 tritone, is the unique tension within V7, so it directs the harmonic flow of the music.

The minor 6th interval created in the last measure is discarded as a possible chord type, as its inversion is a major 3rd. And while the major 3rd interval is stable, the basis of our major triad, created this way makes it non-diatonic to the key center it is generated from. So not 'universally' suitable as a generic 'type' of chord.

Three varieties of 3 and 7. So we get the three possibilities. Thinking diatonically in a major key center, we get the major 3 / major 7 combo with the One and Four chords. The minor 3 / minor 7th combo with the Two, Three and Six chords. The major 3 / minor 7 tritone is only found on Five.

Minor 3 / maj 7 is not to be found in the diatonic relative major / minor realm :( So must be saved till delving into the 'three groups of the minor tonality.' Thinking 'C' major, spell to examine the letter pitches and their sounds. Example 2.

scale degrees
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
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scale pitches
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C
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.
arpeggio degrees
1
3
5
7
9
11
13
15 (1)
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arpeggio pitches
C
E
G
B
D
F
A
C
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.
One maj 7
C
E
G
B
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.
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Four maj 7
F
A
C
E
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V7
G
B
D
F
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.
.
.
.
Two min 7
D
F
A
C
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.
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.
.
Three min 7
E
G
B
D
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.
.
.
.
.
Six min 7
A
C
E
G
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.
.
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Seven
B
D
F
A
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.
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.

Three chord types ~ One / Two / Five. One, Two and Five become the chord types by default really, as we end up with three unique chords that carry the basics, root, 3, 5 and 7, plus on through and to include the upper color tones.

The One chord gives us a 'tonic' chord type as a foundation chord for a key center. Two, the 'supertonic', ends up having a major 6th above the root, more common than the minor 6th of the Three and Six chords. The Five chord, the 'dominant', is unique in its encapsulated tritone. The Seven chord, with its 'flat 5' or diminished 5th, is just to dissonant for our harmony 'homogenization' process.

A cadential motion of chord types. We next can place these three 'types' of chords into a resolving cadential motion. While the 'One / Four / Five / One' is the most common, in jazz, oftentimes Two subs for Four, as motion to Four becomes more of a destination in telling a song's story.

The Two and Four chords are also just one pitch apart in the arpeggio. Example 3.

C E G B D F A C E G ...

The Two chord is sleeker for the brighter tempos of jazz. This translates into a rapid ability to modulate from one key to another. It is also closer to One by proximity of their root pitches. We'll end up filling in this space using a chromatic motion with the 'great accelerator.'

We get variety, with the three different sounding chords in the Two / Five / One cadential motion. And Two / Five as an independent non resolving 'cell' is just jazzier to work with. So we get to imply a direction in the music, then quickly go there by resolution to One, or not, as the case may be.

And like Four / Five, the Two / Five is a common vamp. Cycles of Two / Five's are common and fun, and evolve into the '3 / 6 / 2 / 5' motion of many hipsters. So there's lots of cool reasons to think by chord type and sub the Two (ii -7) for Four (IV maj 7).

Here's Two / Five / One in 'C' major. Example 3a.

THE ultimate super theory game changer? Could be, for some folks that is. There's a fair to midland chance that this one evolution of our cadential motion,

from 4 5 1 to 2 5 1,

opens one up into a vast new universe for those so inclined. The bridge towards jazz, Two / Five / One is the portal, that in so many ways, transports us to other musical realms beyond the diatonic.

Chord type / movable forms. In developing an understanding of chord type, let's not forget our movable chord shape forms. For even a dozen movable chords times 12 frets makes well over 100 different chords. Evolving artists might remember how many tunes they could play with the movable barre chords. Same will hold true here with thinking chord type.

We'll end up with the three categories of chords; One, Two and Five. And when a new chord shape comes along, we'll add it to our list. Once there, we can add it into our 'mix and match' shedding that sifts through existing puzzle pieces for new combinations. Here's a half dozen or so of each chord type, root position, all movable and rooted on 6th, then 5th and 4th strings.

Root position, tonic / One chord type. Example 4.

Root position, Two chord type. Example 4a.

Five / V7 chord type. Example 4b.

Cool? The '13' chord is a fave. A perfect 4 finger / 4 fret shape for the start and stop, pop to swing da rhythms :) The 'V9' chord 'the' funk voicing. Know the '#9' right nearby? In the bonus ! Well, and going off the playground a bit too. For the 'dim = diminished' and 'aug = augmented.' These are symmetrical shapes with neat ways they can 'legally' move about.

Mix and match / assembling 251's. Here the fun begins yet anew. For now we can choose any chord from any category and mix and match to make our cadential motions. Need a Three chord? Try a Two chord a whole step up. Need Four? Find a One chord. Seven? Diminished, for now. Here's a few mix and matches from the above voicings, mostly.

The Five and One chord voicings in this next idea are new. Thinking 'G' major. Example 5.

The V7 9 13 and One maj 9 in measure two are new shapes, not included above. My bad, but I forgot them earlier. The tonic major 9 comes from the 'butter' scale shape, based on the open 'C' major scale but up in 7th position to make 'G' major. OK with the 'b9' color? A jazz color mostly but sometimes in pop music too. Forget that actually, 'b9' is super rare in pop. Yet, it is a nice part of the Paul Anka hit from the later 50's.

So run through the shapes and mix and match, explore and find some new ones. Everything you learn and discover is yours to keep and share, forever.

wiki ~ "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" pop song

Advanced theorist. Including more chords, and thinking chord types, between even the most core of our harmonic motions, simply creates more opportunities to explore for the improvising artist. If you get a Two / Five motion of chords between One and Four, written in or not, then there's a new option to explore for melodic ideas, created by simply including this mini cadential motion between One and Four.

And when C7 becomes a V7 chord type, all of the associated theory potentialities of dominant harmony become possible solutions with any V7 chord. What we actually play depends on what we know and have shedded, and the artistic setting we find ourselves performing in. And the artistic and musical abilities of the cats with whom we are creating this magic? Most important of all, but take some chances too.

As modern as it gets. This idea of using V7 to set up the next chord, anywhere in the music, is an integral part of the evolution of Americana harmony over the last 50 years or so now. Simply slip in V7 before any chord, every chord, or make every chord V7. Start by fully arpeggiating the V7 chord you've chosen. This evolves us, in the brighter tempos with advanced players, what becomes a sort combined 'chromatic fuzz or buzz.' At the far, modern end of our harmonic evolution, this level of performance is potentially as complex as it ever gets.

Chord type / chord substitution. One approach to understanding and performing jazz music is in how the language allows for replacing one harmonic element in the music for another. And once the harmony changes, new parent scales for creating melodic ideas over the substitute chords opens up new improvisational ground.

Initially, a chord that substitutes for another has one or more of the same pitches or common tones as the written chord. Gradually this sharing of pitches can be reduced and in thoroughly modern performance, is oftentimes nearly eliminated, as the musical form of the song can replace the chord changes / bass line story in keeping things together. This can open up a whole new vista of artistic opportunity for the evolving artist, that;

no harmony = greater freedoms of expression

Initially based on what the composer has originally written, the artist uses this written guideline to begin the substitution process. This could very well be the beginning of what some players call 'going outside.' Which simply means taking the improvisations 'outside' or away from the diatonic tonal center, written chord changes of the song.

'Going outside' becomes a career long journey of artistic exploration, whereby we begin to manipulate our tonal gravity and aural predictability, potentially evolving into masters of musical disguise. This evolution evolves as our ears get bigger and we accept new and potentially more complex colors as substitutions for the written changes.

Understanding chord type can greatly facilitate this process. And of our three chord types, that dominant / V7 type harmony generally has the widest variety of colors and substitution potentials, enables it to become all of the harmony in a modern sense. All V7 chords like the 12 bar blues? Yep, but way more a 12 tone blurring of the tonality and structure of a song.

Review / the benefits of chord type knowledge. Simply in that we can group like elements into categories, potentially reducing the amount of shedding, while organizing and streamlining the chord substitution thought process. Learning chord type follows the same numerically additive process as done with the pitches, scales, arpeggios, chord shapes and styles, which provide clear numerical patterns to facilitate their learning and corresponding evolution of musical style.

So while learning chord voicings or phrases for C7, G7+ and F7b9 for example, in thinking chord type, these chords become V7, V7+ or V7b9 chord. The central idea is that if these chords mostly function in a similar theoretical manner, why not just group them all as part of the dominant family of chords?

So once we master V7 chord type, it applies to all V7 chords built on any root pitch. Further, if we master the minor third / diminished properties of b9, it applies to all V7b9 chords. Master the augmented / whole tone colors of V7+5, and its multiple tonic resolution capabilities, same sorts of crossovers? Absolutely, whether diatonic, written, or as an artist's substitute chord, thinking by chord type can facilitate the learning, rote memorizing and application thereof.

"Ideas come to you when you work."

wiki ~ Karl Lagerfeld

References. References for this page's information comes from school, books and the bandstand and made way easier by the folks along the way.

Find a mentor / e-book / academia Alaska. Always good to have a mentor when learning about things new to us. And with music and its magics, nice to have a friend or two ask questions and collaborate with. Seek and ye shall find. Local high schools, libraries, friends and family, musicians in your home town ... just ask around, someone will know someone who knows someone about music and can help you with your studies in the musical arts.

go to a public library and ask the librarian

Always keep in mind that all along life's journey there will be folks to help us and also folks we can help ... for we are not in this endeavor alone :) The now ancient natural truth is that we each are responsible for our own education. Positive answer this always 'to live by' question; 'who is responsible for your education ... ?

Intensive tutoring. Luckily for musical artists like us, the learning dip of the 'covid years' can vanish quickly with intensive tutoring. For all disciplines; including all the sciences and the 'hands on' trade schools, that with tutoring, learning blossoms to 'catch us up.' In music ? The 'theory' of making musical art is built with just the 12 unique pitches, so easy to master with mentorship. And in 'practice ?' Luckily old school, the foundation that 'all responsibility for self betterment is ours alone.' Which in music, and same for all the arts, means to do what we really love to do ... to make music :)

 

"These books, and your capacity to understand them, are just the same in all places. Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing."

wiki ~ Abraham Lincoln

Academia references of Alaska. And when you need university level answers to your questions and musings, and especially if you are considering a career in music and looking to continue your formal studies, begin to e-reach out to the Alaska University Music Campus communities and begin a dialogue with some of Alaska's finest resident maestros !

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~ comments or questions ... ? ~

~ jacmuse@ak.net ~