clr
Meter Reader 1st Class
Posts: 80
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Post by clr on Aug 29, 2008 17:16:48 GMT -5
I'm trying to brush up on my theory.
Building Triads off the notes found on the major scale:
We'll take Cmaj.
C - E - G
1 3 5
However, I'm told to believe that from E to F (and B to C) although are a letter apart are not a whole step apart. Therefore the steps taken on the C E G is more like 1 3 b5
Please correct me, cuz I know I must be wrong.
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Post by lpf3 on Aug 29, 2008 21:51:46 GMT -5
clr - Remember the key of C has no sharps , no flats . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8C D E F G A B CI have a chart that shows all the keys - if yer interested I'll post it  -lpf3 |
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Post by ashcatlt on Aug 29, 2008 23:15:33 GMT -5
The major scale is constructed like so: I II III^IV V VI VII^VIII Where a ^ between two numerals equals a half step. Look at a piano sometime and note the distribution of black keys. In the key of C, they come everywhere you don't see a ^ above. A great way to figure out all the possible triads available in a key is to just lay out a quick table. In C, it would look like this: | C | D | E^ | F | G | A | B^ | | E^ | F | G | A | B^ | C | D | | G | A | B^ | C | D | E^ | F |
And it gives you this: C Dm Em F G Am Bdim This pattern is always true in a major scale, and can be abstracted to: I ii iii IV V vi viidim Of these, the only which contains a b5 is the 7th chord. You can play power chords for all the rest.  Edit - 30 second rule! An interval of a 5th is always 7 semi-tones (we call them frets, pianists call them keys, both black and white). There's no such thing as a major or minor fifth. There is, however diminished (b5) and augmented (#5). The latter could also be called a minor 6th (but usually only if you're also playing the natural 5th), while the former would almost never be called the sharped fourth. Edit 2 - I think this table worked out better. |
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Post by 4real on Aug 29, 2008 23:52:22 GMT -5
You're Wrong! Actually...I can help with a lot of theory stuff. Chords in a key (diatonic to it) are derived from the home scale. So, if you take a note in C major and skip a scale tone between each, each three notes will form a chord. Some scale tones are a tone and as you point out in major two are semitones. You can make seventh chords by skipping another scale tone making a four note chord like Cmaj7 (CEGB). You can go even further...adding the next skipped note (CEGBD) will give you a ninth and so it goes. They don't need to be arranged in that order or all the notes need to be played but typically the root or name of the chord is the lowest note. If the lowest note is a different chord tone you get an inversion...EGC being an inversion of Cmaj with the third (E) in the bass, GCE also being C major with the fifth in the bass, etc. Regardless of the distance between notes in a scale, there are no flats or sharp alterations. The chord C~E~Gb would be a flat five..1~3~5b...the fifth is flattened from what the scale dictates. Note: the g is called the fifth because it is the fifth scale tone. Major and minor scales have an uneven number of steps between notes that provide their flavour and provide for our system of resolution (eg, a chord sequence of Cmaj, Fmaj, Gmaj seems to want to resolve to C again). Adding sevenths accentuates this drive as in the g chord in c will have a dominant 7 that wants to fall back a half step to the E or third of the C major chord. Blues music often uses dominant chords which are altered so you could have a blues progression for which the C7 and F7 chords would be C,E,G,Bb and F,A,C,Eb. These would be seen to be "altered chords" as they contain notes not strictly a part of the scale. Because of this, seeing C7 implies a b7 from the scale, Cmaj7 (or sometimes a triangle sign) indicates a maj seventh chrod such as C,E,G,B or F,A,C,E. There are scales that have an even spacing between notes in the formula. A whole tone scale for instance uses 2 semitones between every note (C,D,F#,G#,A#,C), a diminished scale moves in half/whole steps and the chromatic scale uses every note. These scales have a strange none resolving quality that seems to lack a key centre or perhaps imply a number of resolutions. Chords derived from this are the diminished chords and augmented chords and are used in music such as jazz to change key centers or substitute for the fifth chord (G in the case of C major). You will often here a G augmented chord (G,B,D#) in doo-wop and fifties music like rockabilly instead of G or G7 in the key of C. It is a fun chord use as the resolution of the D# is up to the E of the Cmaj chord instead of down as with a G7 (F->E)...pretty rare these days, maybe you could bring it back! It is instructive to try playing the augmented scale to hear what it would sound like if there were not a formula to the scales...has a kind of floating sort of feel. ... So...basically...notes are only "flat" in a chord if they fall outside of the "formula" of half and whole steps of the key scale. I hope that hasn't confused you further. Learning the chords in a key can be a big step to hearing how chords function and make theory more useful than academic and can be fun if you like puzzles and stuff. pete |
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clr
Meter Reader 1st Class
Posts: 80
Likes: 0
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Post by clr on Aug 30, 2008 1:10:41 GMT -5
clr - Remember the key of C has no sharps , no flats . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8C D E F G A B CI have a chart that shows all the keys - if yer interested I'll post it -lpf3 Ahhh! The 1 3 5 shows the steps IN the scale not the steps FROM C. D'oh! Anyway, thanks for the help guys. ANd 4real, I'll try to digest what you typed! Shan't let it go to waste. |
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