Chords

Question 1

Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished:

Answer 1

Minor

Question 2

Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished

Answer 2

Diminished

Question 3

Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished

Answer 3

Major

Question 4

Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished

Answer 4

Major

Question 5

Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished

Answer 5

Major

Question 6

Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished

Answer 6

Diminished

Question 7

Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished

Answer 7

Minor

Question 8

Name the following chord using the Roman numeral System (e.g. I, ii, iii etc)

Answer 8

ii

Fm

Question 9

Name the following chord using the Roman numeral System (e.g. I, ii, iii etc)

Answer 9

VI

Gb Major

Question 10

Name the following chord using the Roman numeral System (e.g. I, ii, iii etc)

Answer 10

V

G# Major

Question 11

Name the following chord using the Roman numeral System (e.g. I, ii, iii etc)

Answer 11

vii dim

A# dim

Question 12

Name the following chord using the Roman numeral System (e.g. I, ii, iii etc)

Answer 12

ii

Abm

Question 13

Name the following chord using the Roman numeral System (e.g. I, ii, iii etc)

Answer 13

ii dim

B dim

Question 14

Name the primary chords

Answer 14

In both major and minor, the primary chords are:

I, IV, V
Tonic, Subdominant, Dominant

• Primary chords are essential for fixing the key of a piece.
• They contain all the notes of the scale.
• Chords I and V do this job together.
• Chord IV is not so important in this respect.
• For this reason, melodies should always begin and with I and V.
• It is possible (but not recommended) to harmonize every single note of the melody using only the primary chords. i.e. I: C E G; IV: F A C; V: G B D. As these are all the notes of the scale.

Question 15

Name the secondary chords

Answer 15

In both major and minor, the secondary chords are:

II, III, VI
Supertonic, Medient, Submedient

• Chord VII is so similar to chord V that it is not normally considered to be a chord in its own right, but a “V substitute”. i.e. in C Major, chord V contains G B D. Chord VII contains B D F. The V7 chord contains all the notes of the VII chord (G B D F).
• Secondary chords are essential for creating an interesting harmony.
• Chord III is rarely used. It is possible (but not recommended) to use it in a major key (where it is a minor chord, e.g. E minor in the key of C major). It is NOT possible to use it in a minor key, because it is an augmented chord (e.g. C-E-G# in the key of A minor).

Question 16

What is a dominant seventh chord?

What other seventh chord is quite popular?

Answer 16

• The dominant 7th chord is written “V7”.
  
  • e.g. in C Major the dominant chord is G B D (G Major), if you add the 7th (the leading note of C Major) you have G B D F - a dominant 7th chord.
• V7 is the most common type of seventh chord.
• Often the 5th is omitted if the root is doubled in 4-part voice leading.
• Used in Bach Chorales in the Baroque period.
• Notice that dominant 7th chords are always built on a major triad, even when in a minor key. This is because the leading note is sharpened in a minor key.
• In figured bass, the 7th is just represented as a “7” written below the bass note.
• The other frequently used seventh chord is the supertonic seventh.​

Question 17

What is a supertonic seventh chord?

Answer 17

• Written as ii7 in a Major key.
  
  • e.g in the scale of C major the supertonic is built from the second scale degree - D.
  • D F A C (a D minor triad with a 7th added).
• Root, 3rd, 5th, 7th from the ii scale degree.

Question 18

Construct a C dominant seventh chord.

Answer 18

C7

C - E - G - Bb

M3 - P5 - m7

A major triad with a minor 7th.

Question 19

Construct a C major seventh chord.

Answer 19

Cma7

C - E - G - B

M3 - P5 - M7

A major triad with a major 7th.

Question 20

Construct a C major sixth chord.

Answer 20

C6

C - E - G - A

M3 - P5 - M6

A major triad with a major 6th.

Question 21

Construct a C minor seventh chord.

Answer 21

Cm7

C - Eb - G - Bb

m3 - P5 - m7

A minor triad with a minor 7th.

Question 22

What is a diminshed chord?

Answer 22

The diminished chord is similar to a minor chord, but the top note (the fifth) is also flattened.

It contains a minor 3rd and a diminished 5th.

1 b3 b5
C Eb Gb
m3 d5

Question 23

Construct a C minor sixth chord.

Also know as a ‘minor major sixth’, or ‘minor/major sixth’

Answer 23

Cm6 or Cm/M6 or Cmin/maj6

C - Eb - G - A

m3 - P5 - M6

A minor triad with a major 6th.

Question 24

What are suspended 4th chords?

Answer 24

A “sus4” chord will contain the 1st, 4th and 5th.
e.g. Csus4 - C F G.

Suspended 4th chords have no 3rd to give the chord a major or minor quality.

Instead the 3rd is replaced by the 4th degree of the scale which can give the chord a very open sound.

Often the suspended 4th degree sounds asthough it wants to resolve down a half step to the major 3rd.

The example given below shows a suspended 4th tonic chord with the 1st, 4th and 5th degrees of the scale.

Question 25

What is a diminshed seventh chord?

Answer 25

The diminished 7th chord is similar to a diminished chord, with the addition of a doubled flattened (diminished) seventh above the root note of the chord.

The interval between all notes of a diminished chord is a minor 3rd.

C Eb Gb (a diminsihed chord), but add the dim7th:
C Eb Gb Bbb

Question 26

What is an augmented chord?

Answer 26

The augmented chord is similar to the major chord, but the fifth note is raised by a semitone.

1 3 #5
C E G#

Both intervals are a major 3rd.