Chords Flashcards
Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished:
Minor
Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished
Diminished
Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished
Major
Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished
Major
Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished
Major
Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished
Diminished
Identify the following triad as major, minor or diminished
Minor
Name the following chord using the Roman numeral System (e.g. I, ii, iii etc)
ii
Fm
Name the following chord using the Roman numeral System (e.g. I, ii, iii etc)
VI
Gb Major
Name the following chord using the Roman numeral System (e.g. I, ii, iii etc)
V
G# Major
Name the following chord using the Roman numeral System (e.g. I, ii, iii etc)
vii dim
A# dim
Name the following chord using the Roman numeral System (e.g. I, ii, iii etc)
ii
Abm
Name the following chord using the Roman numeral System (e.g. I, ii, iii etc)
ii dim
B dim
Name the primary chords
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.
Name the secondary chords
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).
What is a dominant seventh chord?
What other seventh chord is quite popular?
- 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.
What is a supertonic seventh chord?
- 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.
Construct a C dominant seventh chord.
C7
C - E - G - Bb
M3 - P5 - m7
A major triad with a minor 7th.
Construct a C major seventh chord.
Cma7
C - E - G - B
M3 - P5 - M7
A major triad with a major 7th.
Construct a C major sixth chord.
C6
C - E - G - A
M3 - P5 - M6
A major triad with a major 6th.
Construct a C minor seventh chord.
Cm7
C - Eb - G - Bb
m3 - P5 - m7
A minor triad with a minor 7th.
What is a diminshed chord?
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
Construct a C minor sixth chord.
Also know as a ‘minor major sixth’, or ‘minor/major sixth’
Cm6 or Cm/M6 or Cmin/maj6
C - Eb - G - A
m3 - P5 - M6
A minor triad with a major 6th.
What are suspended 4th chords?
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.
What is a diminshed seventh chord?
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
What is an augmented chord?
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.
