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Hey Folks,

Ive been writing some new material and have found myself in a predicament. Actually, a place to learn. So here i am, i dont know what these tones create.

C Bb E A

E G D F#

G F A B E

I can see what they could be but then a tone is there that throws me off. I seem to find myself playing a lot of inversions and i hear the chords, i find way to construct phrases that sound good together but i want to broaden the spectrum and know exactly what it is im creating.

Thanks folks for any light you can shed,
Chris

hehe look at what i found too! hah fun stuff!
www.chordfind.com

nice so i found:
G F A B E: G13

anyone know the other two?

Of course, G F A B E could be an F b5 add 9 with the nine in the bass; or an Em b9 add 11 in the first inversion, or a few others. The name of a chord depends a lot on it's function in the musical piece. If you want the names depending on the first note being the root of the chord, then I'd call C Bb E A an incomplete C13 a C7add13 C is root, Bb is seventh, E is third, A is 13th (or sixth). I'd call E G D F# an incomplete Em9 E is root, G is minor third, D is seventh, and F# is ninth.

You've already got a few good names for G F A B E.

Nice Mike!

thanks for the quick reply. Ive been running around on the internet and looking into some more theory.

here is what i learned:

C7add6 for C Bb E A Chord

Emin9 for E G D F# Chord

I was coming back here to post my findings. But i found a good correction. Its nice to see it double checked. Im going through my songs now and writing up lead sheets. Im really finding that when i force myself to understand the theory behind it; i learn. In turn it helps craft better tunes.

Its an interesting transition. Going from what sounds good to actually understanding the theory involved. I believe it is part of the preparation that prepares luck.

thanks again mike!
chris

Well, looks like Mike beat me to it.. And I was gonna name the chord "Pierce Stevens."

Anytime, Chris. I usually stray away from mixing the term "sixth" with the term "seventh" because they are so close, but it is an acceptable name.

The most important thing to watch for is the fact that with these more complex chords, especially when they are incomplete (no fifth, an "added" nine or eleven or thirteen without the other notes etc.) then the more descriptive name of the chord would depend on things like the key of the piece, the key of the section, what chords come before and after, or what the melody is like at that point.

On the other hand, you can read music printed by "big name" publishers whose chord names are arguable.

All the Best,
Mike

Pierce Stevens? Didn't I see him in a movie?

Ha!

Everytime I read about complicated chords, I'm reminded of a Steve Martin routine where he played a very difficult chord on his banjo - he used all of his fingers on the four strings but had to fret the 5th string, so he used his nose to do it. It was Probably where Rob Reiner got his inspiration for Spinal Tap..

There are all sorts of great clown routines in music. In Cirque du Soleil there is a scene where there is a clown band. It was a three piece jazz band. Of course they were all very proficient with their instruments. I loved the part where the bassist (upright bass) was playing some great walking lines and climbed up the bass. standing on the body next to the neck, balancing on the one peg contacting the floor the playing a killer line!
Another clown played a Uke, to the tune "undecided" and finished off the piece with a one handed back handspring.
i love clowns!

That upright schtick is an old rockabilly trick. I love that Steve Martin bit, too. Great stuff.

Chris, I don't really know what you might call them, but I call them dischords. I tried every one of them both on my keyboad and when I could do it, on my guitar and all I got for my trouble were terrible sounds. Example, adding a Bb to essentially an Am chord doesn't do much for it. Say, I'd like to really know whether you are actually fingering that E D G F# on your guitar and where. When I do it in first position, it really sounds awful.A partial D chord with a G isn't so bad, but when I add the E to it, it cringes. Maybe my ears are bad. Sorry. Frank V.

here is what i was doing.

C7add6 for C Bb E A Chord

E String: x
A String: C :3rd fret
D String: x
G String: Bb :3rd fret
B String: E :5th
E String: A :5th


Emin9 for E G D F# Chord
E String: x :
A String: x :
D String: E : 2nd fret
G String: G : open
B String: D : 3rd fret
E String: F#: 2nd fret


in the key of Amin ive been playing around with a progression:
Dmin7 C7add13 Emin9 G13
iv III v VII
(are the roman numerals correct? hmm, need to find a website about this!)

and is the C chord a C7add13? ahh and now i see why the 13th is the same as the 6th.. ahhh i see! ah great, i love learning! so it would be a C7add13.

i was thinking of takinbg a class about theory. there is so much on the net about this stuff if you know what you want to learn you can find it out. what a great resource the net is!

chris