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PART ONE
Version 4.2
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Digital Sheet Music for Everyone
CONTENTS
Now you cant actually use this chord, as the 3rd of the scale (E), and the
11th (F), clash. Try playing them on their own:
This interval of a minor ninth is extremely dissonant (it does not sound
good), and cannot in general be used between a 3rd and a 4th /11th of a
major scale. This is the same rule that applies to traditional harmony,
which states that you cannot have a 3rd and a 4th in the same major
chord:
Now if we go back to our earlier jazz chord of stacked thirds, and leave
out the 11th, we get the following pleasant and full-sounding chord:
So the above chord is a C major with a major 7th, major 9th and major
13th. That is too much information to squeeze into one chord symbol,
which means different conventions have cropped up with time. Before we
get into the methodology of jazz chord nomenclature (the system of
naming chords), we have to look at the basic chord types that form the
basis of more complex shapes.
There are five basic 7th chords that are used in jazz theory.
The list below indicates:
1.
2.
3.
4.
What it is
Chord Symbol
C Major 7(th)
C^ /C, /C<
C 7(th)
C7
C minor 7(th)
C-7/Cm7/C.7/
C>7
C diminished triad
with a minor 7th
C half-diminished
C -7b5/ C.7b5/C/
C7
C diminished triad
with a diminished 7th
C diminished
C/C7
C minor major
C-^/C.^/
C.,
You might have come across this list without the C-^. I, however, have
included the minor-major type of chord, as in my opinion it represents a
separate tonality (sound) from the normal minor seventh chord.
Major Seventh
Seventh
Minor Seventh
Half-Diminished
Diminished
As you will have gathered, what a chord actually is, and what it is called is
not always logical. A C7 chord should really be called a C major chord with
a flat seventh (as the note B flat is the flattened 7th of the C major scale).
However, this type of chord (a dominant seventh chord) is much more
common in jazz than major chords with a major seventh. This is the
reason why the dominant 7th gets the shorter chord symbol (C7), as it is
faster to write. Strictly speaking the chord symbol should actually be: Cb7,
as the seventh is flattened, but it is not.
Now jazz does not just consist of seventh chords only (chords that use the
seventh note of the scale). The music of jazz also uses 9ths, 11ths and
13ths. These are called extensions, and in order to understand how they
are used in symbols, let us get back to our original chart of C major.
The chart above shows all notes in their natural state, i.e. without being
raised or flattened. Concerning the 9th, 11th and 13th, the chord symbols
are consistent insofar as that if an alteration has occurred, it will be
represented in the chord symbol. I point this out, as it is not the case with
the 7th, as we have seen with the chord symbol of C7 that should actually
be called Cb7.
Thus raised or sharpened 9ths, 11ths and 13ths are:
I have included the 5th in this diagram, as we will come across raised 5ths
in our chord symbols. Raised roots, 3rds and 7ths do not exist, as
Again, I have included the altered (in this case flattened) 5th, as it occurs
in chord symbols. Flattened 11ths do not as such exist, as a flattened 11
would be a natural third. In theory one could come up with such a
construction, in practice this makes little sense however.
When is a 13th not a 6th?
You may have come across the chord symbol C% , which with our current
knowledge should be a written as C9/13. But it is not, and that is due to the
fact that there is no 7th in this particular chord, be that natural or
flattened. Jazz chords work hierarchically with extensions. The order of
this hierarchy is given in our chart: 1 3 5 7 9 11 13.
Let me explain by using a few examples.
The chord above is a C9 , not a C7@2 or a C7/9. The D in the chord has to be
read as a nine, as there is a 7th present, and in our hierarchy the 7th
precedes the 9th. In reality the chord should be written C7/9, however it is
common practice to spell it as C9, as the presence of the 9th indicates the
existence of a 7th, and it is therefore assumed that is must be a flattened
7th, as this is the more common type of 7th.
However, were there no B flat in the chord, the D would be generally
regarded as a 2, and not a 9. There is one exception: if the composer is
deliberately seeking a C major chord with a D above the chord. In that
case the symbol C add9 is employed.
greatscores.com Lincoln Jaeger, exclusively licensed to Great Scores Ltd. 2005
2 is a 9
4 is an 11
6 is a 13.
N.B. The last four chords are commonly referred to as slash chords. A
slash chord with a forward slash, for example C/E, indicates a chord (C
major triad), and its root (E). A slash chord with a horizontal slash (-)
indicates two chords superimposed (the last chord in our list for example,
where a D major triad is superimposed on a C major triad).
The only way to really get used to the spelling of chord symbols is by
using and reading them frequently. They are commonly used in all types
of real books, bumper books and busking books, in many types of music
bar classical. So look at the chord symbols in our charts, be prepared to
make mistakes, but learn from them.
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Have you always wanted your own backing band at home, ready at the
push of a button? In that case, why not take a look at our Jazz Backing
Tracks page?
Interested in learning how to improvise from scratch? Then our Jazz
Improvisation Guide will be the right thing for you. Complete with
sound files that explain all the musical examples, this guide requires no
previous knowledge of improvisation and takes a gentler pace than other
text books do.
All that, and much more can be found at:
www.greatscores.com
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