|
One of the Most Exciting Chord Types You'll
Ever Learn...
Hello
again, and welcome to the next lesson. I hope you are enjoying
learning about all the chords in the world -- and we're going
to cover them ALL before we're done -- you'll
know more about chords than 99% of the people in the world
-- believe it or not, it's true.
In this class, we
first learned about major 6th chords. They
are 4-note chords -- the root, 3rd, 5th -- just like a major
chord, but you also add the 6th degree of the scale to the
major triad. The 6th is ALWAYS one whole step above the
5th -- never a half step -- so they are real easy
to find. If you need to review major 6th chords, or any
of these chords, just click on the appropriate button above.
Then we changed those
major 6th chords into minor 6th chords just
by altering the 3rd 1/2 step -- in other words, a minor
triad with a 6th on top. Then
we took up 7th chords -- very important chords, because
they move you from one tonal base to another tonal base.
In other words, when we move from the C chord to the F chord,
we often use C7 between the two as a "connector."
After that we learned about major 7th chords, and finally,
9th chords.
Today we're going
to learn to form an 11th chord. It's just like the
9th chord, except you move your left thumb up from the 3rd
of the chord to the 4th -- which in this case is known as
the 11th, because it includes a 9th and a 7th under it.
So:
|
An
11th Chord = Get
your chord in 2nd inversion,
add the 7th and 9th, and also add the 11th |
|
CHORD
SYMBOL DEFINITION
A
dominant eleventh chord adds an 11th above
the root of a dominant ninth chord. However,
in jazz performance the 3rd is ordinarily omitted
from the dominant eleventh chord, although the chord
symbol does not specify the omitted 3rd. Using
slash mark notation, this same chord may also be
called Gm7/C. This non-harmonic bass tone
slash mark symbolization has the advantage of guaranteering
that the 3rd will be omitted. Furthermore,
since a C7sus4 utilizes the notes of a C11 or Gm7/C,
thus creating the same chord quality, all three
symbols are used interchangeably in leadsheets.
Note that the C7sus4 chord symbolization also guarantee
that the 3rd will be omitted.
C11
Gm7/C C7sus4
Source:
How to Play Chord Symbols in Jazz and Popular
Music, by Lee Evans and Martha Baker
|
PSR-2000 Note: on the PSR-2000, if
you are in full keyboard mode, playing the C with your
left hand and Gm7 with your right hand will show up as
Gm7/C. If you play C, skip the E, and play Gm7,
within the same octave as the C, Yamaha interprets this
as Gm711 . You can play Gm7 in the root
position and add the C above the F and the PSR sees this
as Gm711. This is true for all
minor seventh chords. It does not work for the 7th
chords, that is, play G7 and add C and you will not get
the G11th chord. In fact, there is no way to get
any 11th chord directly. G11 would have to be Dm7/G.
-- Joe Waters
Here's
what 11th chords look like on the staff:
(Remember that accidentals carry over in each measure!)
The
lowest note in each case is the root of the chord -- even
though I have shown them above directly under the chord,
be sure to play that note before you play the chord,
and use your sustain pedal to "hook the two parts together."
Go through all 12 major
chords, inverting every one. Then go through all the 12
minor chords, inverting each one up and down the keyboard
-- hands alone, then hands together. Then go through all
12 diminished chords, inverting each one up and down the
keyboard -- each hand alone, then together. Then play the
12 augmented chords, up and down the keyboard. Then skip
around from major to minor to diminished to augmented, etc.
Then
add minor 6th chords to your repertoire of chords. They
are shown in root position above, but you know that you
can turn them upside down 'till the cows come home -- invert
them -- so go to it! And then add 7th chords and their inversions....then
major 7th chords.....then 9th chords, and now, 11th chords.
Do you feel like you're getting a handle on chords yet?
You ought to -- I know we're going slowly, but chords are
SO important that you absolutely MUST master them if you
are ever going to play the piano like you hope to!
So here's our revised chord scorecard:
|
12
major chords
with
3 inversions and
12
minor chords
with
3 inversions and
12
diminished chords
with
3 inversions and
12
augmented chords
with
3 inversions and
12
major 6th chords
with
4 inversions and
12
minor 6th chords
with
4 inversions and
12
7th chords
with
4 inversions and
12
Maj7 Chords
with
4 inversions and
|
a
dozen 9th chords
with
4 inversions* and now...
a
dozen 11th chords
with
4 inversions*,
which means you can now play
432
chords!
In one octave, yet!
Hello!
Are you doing great, or what?
|
* Since the left hand plays the root and then holds
that with sustain as it plays four more notes, I am only counting
4 inversions for this chord.
Next week we will add 12 more
chords to our growing list of chords we can play by adding
13th chords to our stash. (Actually 60 more chords,
since each 5-note chord such as a 13th can be inverted 5
ways -- root position, 1st inversion, 2nd inversion,
3rd inversion, and 4th inversion!)
|
