EPISODE 106
ALTERED CHORDS PT. 2

HOST- Jeremy Burns, Matthew Scott Phillips

GENRE- Theory

DURATION- 75:20

BUMPER MUSIC- "13th Heaven" (Area 47 Music)

ANNOUNCER- Mike Cunliffe

LISTEN

DESCRIPTION

Continuing our discussion from episode 88, we will dig deeper into extended tertian harmonies from a theory perspective with the 9th, 11th and 13th chords. We will listen to chords with substituted 6ths and raised and flatted 5ths.We will discuss how they work in traditional, and in not so traditional, ways!

KEY WORDS

DIATONIC- When a triad, chord or melody consists of notes solely from the given key, it is considered to be DIATONIC.

CHROMATIC- When a triad, chord or melody consists of notes from outside the given key, it is considered to be CHROMATIC.

NONESSENTIAL CHROMATICISM- This refers to non chord tones that are within the scale of a passage of music. They likely appear in between strong beats, while one chord tone moves to another.

ESSENTIAL CHROMATICISM- This refers to non chord tones that are from outside the scale of a passage of music. These can be considered a part of the chord its self.

TERTIAN HARMONIES- Harmonies created by the stacking of thirds.

EXTENDED CHORDS- In these chords, a non chord tone is added to a full 7th chord. It's should be noted that the 7th is necessary for a chord to be considered an extended chord.

SUSPENSIONS ("SUS" CHORDS)- In "classical theory", a note from the previous chord remains while all the others move to the following chord. Then it is resolved DOWN BY STEP on a weak beat of the new chord. In popular and jazz music, this is when a non chord tone replaces a chord tone (often the 2nd, 4th or 6th replacing 3rd or 5th).

"ADD" CHORDS- In these chords, a non chord tone is added to a full triad.

SUBSTITUTIONS- As it relates to harmonies, one chord tone is omitted and replaced by a non-chord tone.

ALTERED CHORDS ("ALT" CHORDS)- In these chords the extended non chord tone is altered by either raising it (#) or lowering it (b). The 7th is still required to be present.

EXAMPLES

EXTENDED TERTIAN HARMONIES

CONVENTIONS


These chords have a few things in common:

1-They are usually fairly dissonant and they are usually treated like dissonances in that they are resolved with some satisfaction. These dissonances are sometimes, but not always, prepared.

2-They are most often, but not always, used in a dominant functioning chord.

3- These are often used in textures that go beyond 4 voices. But in a 4 voice texture, we must omit something. It’s rarely the 7th. First omit the 5th, then maybe the 3rd.

4-These extended tertian harmonies are most often in ROOT POSITION.

THE 9th CHORD


-By stacking tertian harmonies we will eventually land on the 7th chord:
F MINOR: V7 chord = C major triad + minor 7th (b7)
Note names: C - E - G - Bb7
Chord tones: 1 - 3 - 5 - b7

-By stacking one more 3rd, we will land on the 9th chord. See the example below in F major:
F MAJOR: V9 chord= C major triad + minor 7th (b7) + major 9th (M2 + octave)
Note names: C - E - G - Bb - D
Chord tones: 1 - 3 - 5 - b7 - 9


- In the minor keys, this would be a V7(b9). See the example below in F minor:
F MINOR: Vb9 chord= C major triad + minor 7th (b7) + minor 9th (m2 + octave)
Note names: C - E - G - Bb - Db
Chord tones: 1 - 3 - 5 - b7 - b9

NOTE THAT WHILE THIS CHORD APPEARS NATURALLY IN MINOR,
IT CAN ALSO APPEAR IN MAJOR ON OCCASION.



THE 11TH CHORD


-By stacking one more 3rd to our 9th chord, we will land on the 11th chord. See the example below in F major:
F MAJOR: V11 chord= C major triad + minor 7th (b7) + major 9th (2 + octave) + perfect 11th (P4 + octave).
Note names: C - E - G - Bb - D - F
Chord tones: 1 - 3 - 5 - b7 - 9 - 11


THE 13TH CHORD


-By stacking one more 3rd to our 9th chord, we will land on the 11th chord. See the example below in F major:
F MAJOR: V11 chord= C major triad + minor 7th (b7) + major 9th (2 + octave) + perfect 11th (P4 + octave).
Note names: C - E - G - Bb - D - F - A
Chord tones: 1 - 3 - 5 - b7 - 9 - 11 - 13



V SUBS 6TH


-In the case of the V subs 6th chord, we actually omit the 5th of the chord and replace it with the 6th:

F MAJOR: V subs 6th chord= C major triad with an omitted 5th + major 6th (M6)
Note names: C - E - A
Chord tones: 1 - 3 - 6

THIS CAN BE DONE IN MINOR. WE WOULD JUST USE THE MINOR 6TH (Ab) OF THAT CHORD


V WITH AN AUGMENTED 5TH (V+5)


-In the case of the V +5 chord, we actually raise scale degree 5 (+5):

F MAJOR: V +5= C major triad with an augmented 5th (+5)
Note names: C - E - G#
Chord tones: 1 - 3 - +5

NOTICE WE USE + 5 (AUGMENTED 5th) RATHER THAN #5 (SHARPENED 5TH).
THIS CAN BE USED IN MAJOR OR MINOR.
IT WOULD BE THE SAME CHORD BECAUSE WE MAINTAIN THAT #3 FOR A PROPER V CHORD



YOU CAN ALSO CREATE A UNIQUE SOUNDING V CHORD BY FLATTING THE 5TH (b5)