Jazz chords are chords, chord voicings and chord symbols that jazz musicians commonly use in composition, improvisation, and harmony. In jazz chords and theory, most triads that appear in lead sheets or fake books can have sevenths added to them, using the performer's discretion and ear.[1] For example, if a tune is in the key of C, if there is a G chord, the chord-playing performer usually voices this chord as G7. While the notes of a G7 chord are G–B–D–F, jazz often omits the fifth of the chord—and even the root if playing in a group.[2] However, not all jazz pianists leave out the root when they play voicings: Bud Powell, one of the best-known of the bebop pianists, and Horace Silver, whose quintet included many of jazz's biggest names from the 1950s to the 1970s, included the root note in their voicings.[3][4]
Improvising chord-playing musicians who omit the root and fifth are given the option to play other notes. For example, if a seventh chord, such as G7, appears in a lead sheet or fake book, many chord-playing performers add the ninth, thirteenth or other notes to the chord, even though the lead sheet does not specify these additional notes. Jazz players can add these additional, upper notes because they can create an important part of the jazz sound. Lead sheets and fake books often do not detail how to voice the chord because a lead sheet or fake book is only intended to provide basic guide to the harmony. An experienced comping performer playing electric guitar or piano may add or remove notes as chosen according to the style and desired sound of that musician, but must do so in a way that still emphasizes the correct musical context for other musicians and listeners.[5]
In voicing jazz chords while in a group setting, performers focus first on the seventh and the major or minor third of the chord, with the latter indicating the chord quality, along with added chord extensions (e.g., elevenths, even if not indicated in the lead sheet or fake book) to add tone "colour" to the chord. As such, a jazz guitarist or jazz piano player might "voice" a printed G7 chord with the notes B–E–F–A, which would be the third, sixth (thirteenth), flat seventh, and ninth of the chord. Jazz chord-playing musicians may also add altered chord tones (e.g., ♯11) and added tones. An example of an altered dominant chord in the key of C, built on a G would be to voice the chord as "B–C♯–E–F–A♭"; this would be G7(♭9♯11).
Nomenclature
Intervals
Each chord is described as a series of intervallic relationships to the root of the chord. This provides an accurate and easily understandable basis for working out these chords in each key.
The terms used to describe intervals are as follows:
r = root of the chord (while the root is widely used in classical music, pop music and rock music chord voicings, in jazz, the root is often omitted by the chord-playing performer(s))
♭2 = minor second = 1 semitone (half step) above the root
5 = perfect fifth = 7 semitones above the root (while the fifth is widely used in classical music, pop music and rock music chord voicings, in jazz, the fifth is often omitted by the chord-playing performer(s))
M7 or maj7 = major seventh = 11 semitones above the root
All root chords are described starting with the lowest note, and ascending in pitch. For instance, a chord described as
root, ♭3, ♭5.
contains the root, a minor third above the root, and a diminished fifth above the root. It is a diminished triad. If this chord were built on B (with B as the root), it would contain the notes
B, D, F.
Compound intervals
Compound intervals are intervals larger than an octave; they can also be described as an octave plus a simple interval. Note that this is not a complete list of compound intervals, only those that are commonly used in jazz chords.
♭9 = compound minor second (minor ninth) = 1 semitone + an octave = 13 semitones above the root
9 = compound major second (ninth) = 2 semitones + an octave = 14 semitones above the root
♯9/♭10 = compound augmented second/minor third (augmented ninth/minor tenth) = 3 semitones + an octave = 15 semitones above the root.
10 = compound major third (tenth) = 4 semitones + an octave = 16 semitones above the root
11 = compound perfect fourth (eleventh) = 5 semitones + an octave = 17 semitones above the root
♯11 = compound augmented fourth (augmented eleventh) = 6 semitones + an octave = 18 semitones above the root
♭13 = compound minor sixth (minor thirteenth) = 8 semitones + an octave = 20 semitones above the root
13 = compound major sixth (thirteenth) = 9 semitones + an octave = 21 semitones above the root
Extensions
Optional extensions to the chords are written in parentheses, e.g. (♯11). These notes are not necessary to define the function of the chord, but are included to add colour or fill out the sound according to the tastes of the performer. Extensions may be written into the chords when a specific colour or texture is warranted, or the chords in a lead sheet or fake book may simply state "C7 – A7 – D7 – G7". This does not mean that the chord-playing performer can only perform four-note dominant seventh chords. Chord-playing performers can use their ear, their sense of good taste acquired from listening to jazz, and their knowledge of the style of the tune being played (e.g., is it a bebop tune or a jazz fusion tune) to help guide their use of extension notes, altered extensions, and added tones. In a band, the bandleader might request that certain voicings be used (e.g., ♭9/♯11) or request that certain other voicings be avoided (e.g., ♭13), due to the bandleader's taste.
Voicings
Chords are described here in terms of intervals relative to the root of the chord, arranged from smaller intervals to larger. This is a standard method used when describing jazz chords as it shows them hierarchically: Lower intervals (third, fifth and seventh) are more important in defining the function of the chord than the upper intervals or extensions (9th, 11th, 13th), which add color. Although it is possible to play the chords as described here literally, it is possible to use different orderings of the same notes, known as a voicings, or even by omitting certain notes.
C13(♯11)
For instance, the dominant seventh ♯11 or Lydian dominant, C7♯11, comprises the notes:
root (often omitted), 3, (5), 7, (9), ♯11, (13).
Basing this chord on the pitch, C, results in the pitches:
C (often omitted), E, G, B♭, D, F♯, A.
The same chord type may also be voiced:
C (often omitted), E, B♭, F♯, A, D, F♯.
This voicing omits both the root and the perfect fifth (G) and raises the major ninth (D) by an octave. The augmented eleventh (F♯) is also played twice in two different registers. This is known as "doubling".
Chord types
Basic chord types
The above chords, despite their differences, share the same harmonic function and can be used interchangeably.
The symbols M7 and Δ7 have the same meaning as maj7 or just Δ. Often melody notes or other pitches influence an improviser's choice of chord types. For example, if the melody note is the root of the chord, including a major seventh can cause dissonance.
The Lydian chord has a strange quirk, where if the root is put both above and below the augmented eleventh it creates an unpleasant dissonance of a tritone. This is not usually a problem in a jazz context, as chord-playing musicians often omit the root.
The interval of the sixth is used, even though it is described after other compound intervals and perhaps should also be a compound interval (i.e., 13th). However, a convention in jazz dictates that when describing the major sixth, generally use the simple interval, i.e., 6 is often used instead of the compound interval, i.e., 13. This helps avoid confusion with the dominant thirteenth chord.
Basic dominant chords
The term basic can be used to describe dominant chords based on the major scale.[citation needed] In many instances, dominant chords written as basic chords (e.g., G7) can substitute for more complex chords, as long as they remain part of the same group (i.e., dominant chords) and do not clash with the melody notes.
Dominant chords are considered to sound unstable in classical music harmony contexts, and so in a classical piece, these chords often resolve down a perfect fifth or up a perfect fourth (e.g. G7 tends to resolve onto chords based on C, such as C suspended 4 or C major ninth). However, in a jazz context, particularly in music from the 1940s bebop era and later decades, dominant chords were no longer treated as "unstable" chords. Some bebop tunes use a dominant chord as the tonic chord and also use dominant chords for the chords that would typically be minor chords in a classical piece or a swing arrangement. For example, while a classical piece and a swing arrangement might use the following chord sequence in the key of C major: "C – Am – Dm – G7", a bebop bandleader might reharmonize the same progression as "C7 – A7 – D7 – G7", making a sequence of dominant seventh chords, so long as the new dominant chord harmonies were compatible with the tune's melody. For more details, see chord progression.
Many of the chordal alterations used in jazz are derived from minor scale modes, as opposed to the major scale modes. (See musical mode.) If the performer retains the 13th in the chord and/or avoids playing a ♭13th, it can be substituted for a C13♭9. Likewise a C9 can often be substituted for a Cmaj9♯5, as long as the 9th is retained or the ♭9th and ♯9th is avoided.
Dominant seventh, ninth, and thirteenth chords on G i.e. G7, G9, and G13
Minor seventh, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords on A i.e. Am7, Am9, Am11, Am13
A minor seventh chord (A−7, Amin7, Ami7, or Am7) contains the notes:
root, ♭3, 5, 7, (9), (11), (13).
A minor ninth chord (A−9, Amin9, Ami9, or Am9) contains the notes:
root, ♭3, 5, 7, 9, (11), (13).
A minor eleventh chord (A-11, Amin11, Ami11, or Am11) contains the notes:
root, ♭3, 5, 7, (9), 11, (13).
A minor thirteenth chord (A−13, Amin13, Ami13, or Am13) contains the notes:
root, ♭3, 5, 7, (9), (11), 13.
Complex dominant chords
Dominant seventh flat nine chord on E i.e. E7(♭9)
Complex dominant chords can be voiced in a great variety of ways, including building the chord on the 3 or 7 (minor seventh). They usually, but not always, resolve to a chord built on an interval a fifth down from the root. Utilizing a tritone substitution, a dominant chord may resolve down a half-step instead. It is not uncommon to express the alteration (usually ♯9, ♭9, or ♯5) in the melody. For expediency, musicians may use the abbreviation "alt"—as in C7alt—to describe the family of dominant chords with altered tones (including the ♭5, ♯5, ♭9, ♯9, ♯11, or ♭13). Notably, all altered tones mentioned above, along with the 3 and ♭7, are present in the melodic minor scale whose root is a half-step above the root of the alt chord (i.e., E♭ melodic minor for D7alt). In other words, the altered scale is the seventh mode of the jazz minor scale. This scale is commonly used to improvise over an altered dominant chord. In the section on basic dominant chords, it was noted that the perfect fifth is often omitted. By altering it with a diminished fifth (♭5) or augmented fifth (♯5), extra tension and dissonance is added, which strengthens the resolution to the I chord.[6]
Dominant ♭9/♭5, Dominant ♯9/♭5, Dominant ♭9/♯5, Dominant ♯9/♯5 chords on G i.e. G7(♭9♭5), G7(♯9♭5), G7(♭9♯5), G7(♯9♯5). All of these chords can be written as G7alt.
A dominant ♭9/♭5 chord (G7(♭5♭9)) contains the notes:
root (often omitted), 3, ♭5, 7, ♭9.
A dominant ♯9/♭5 chord (G7(♭5♯9)) contains the notes:
root (often omitted), 3, ♭5, 7, ♯9.
A dominant ♭9/♯5 chord (G7(♯5♭9)) contains the notes:
root (often omitted), 3, ♯5, 7, ♭9.
A dominant ♯9/♯5 chord (G7(♯5♯9)) contains the notes:
In music theory, an interval is a difference in pitch between two sounds. An interval may be described as horizontal, linear, or melodic if it refers to successively sounding tones, such as two adjacent pitches in a melody, and vertical or harmonic if it pertains to simultaneously sounding tones, such as in a chord.
In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval spanning three adjacent whole tones. For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three adjacent whole tones F–G, G–A, and A–B.
An altered chord is a chord that replaces one or more notes from the diatonic scale with a neighboring pitch from the chromatic scale. By the broadest definition, any chord with a non-diatonic chord tone is an altered chord. The simplest example of altered chords is the use of borrowed chords, chords borrowed from the parallel key, and the most common is the use of secondary dominants. As Alfred Blatter explains, "An altered chord occurs when one of the standard, functional chords is given another quality by the modification of one or more components of the chord."
A jazz scale is any musical scale used in jazz. Many "jazz scales" are common scales drawn from Western European classical music, including the diatonic, whole-tone, octatonic, and the modes of the ascending melodic minor. All of these scales were commonly used by late nineteenth and early twentieth-century composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov, Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky, often in ways that directly anticipate jazz practice. Some jazz scales, such as the bebop scales, add additional chromatic passing tones to the familiar diatonic scales.
A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root. When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a dominant seventh chord: a major triad together with a minor seventh. However, a variety of sevenths may be added to a variety of triads, resulting in many different types of seventh chords.
In music, a chord is a group of two or more notes played simultaneously, typically consisting of a root note, a third, and a fifth. Chords are the building blocks of harmony and form the harmonic foundation of a piece of music. They can be major, minor, diminished, augmented, or extended, depending on the intervals between the notes and their arrangement. Chords provide the harmonic support and coloration that accompany melodies and contribute to the overall sound and mood of a musical composition. For many practical and theoretical purposes, arpeggios and other types of broken chords may also be considered as chords in the right musical context.
In Western music and music theory, diminution has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which a long note is divided into a series of shorter, usually melodic, values. Diminution may also be the compositional device where a melody, theme or motif is presented in shorter note-values than were previously used. Diminution is also the term for the proportional shortening of the value of individual note-shapes in mensural notation, either by coloration or by a sign of proportion. A minor or perfect interval that is narrowed by a chromatic semitone is a diminished interval, and the process may be referred to as diminution.
In music theory, an augmented sixth chord contains the interval of an augmented sixth, usually above its bass tone. This chord has its origins in the Renaissance, was further developed in the Baroque, and became a distinctive part of the musical style of the Classical and Romantic periods.
In music theory, an eleventh chord is a chord that contains the tertian extension of the eleventh. Typically found in jazz, an eleventh chord also usually includes the seventh and ninth, and elements of the basic triad structure. Variants include the dominant eleventh (C11, C–E–G–B♭–D–F), minor eleventh (Cm11, C–E♭–G–B♭–D–F), and major eleventh chord (Cmaj11, C–E–G–B–D–F). Using an augmented eleventh produces the dominant sharp eleventh (C9♯11, C–E–G–B♭–D–F♯) and major sharp eleventh (Cmaj9♯11, C–E–G–B–D–F♯) chords.
In jazz, the term upper structure or "upper structure triad" refers to a voicing approach developed by jazz pianists and arrangers defined by the sounding of a major or minor triad in the uppermost pitches of a more complex harmony.
The diminished seventh chord is a four-note chord composed of a root note, together with a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a diminished seventh above the root:. For example, the diminished seventh chord built on B, commonly written as Bo7, has pitches B-D-F-A♭:
In music, a guitar chord is a set of notes played on a guitar. A chord's notes are often played simultaneously, but they can be played sequentially in an arpeggio. The implementation of guitar chords depends on the guitar tuning. Most guitars used in popular music have six strings with the "standard" tuning of the Spanish classical guitar, namely E–A–D–G–B–E' ; in standard tuning, the intervals present among adjacent strings are perfect fourths except for the major third (G,B). Standard tuning requires four chord-shapes for the major triads.
In music theory, an inversion is a rearrangement of the top-to-bottom elements in an interval, a chord, a melody, or a group of contrapuntal lines of music. In each of these cases, "inversion" has a distinct but related meaning. The concept of inversion also plays an important role in musical set theory.
In music, harmonization is the chordal accompaniment to a line or melody: "Using chords and melodies together, making harmony by stacking scale tones as triads".
In jazz music, the lydian chord is the major 7♯11 chord, or ♯11 chord, the chord built on the first degree of the Lydian mode, the sharp eleventh being a compound augmented fourth. This chord, built on C, is shown below.
In music, the seventh factor of a chord is the note or pitch seven scale degrees above the root or tonal center. When the seventh is the bass note, or lowest note, of the expressed chord, the chord is in third inversion.
Musicians use various kinds of chord names and symbols in different contexts to represent musical chords. In most genres of popular music, including jazz, pop, and rock, a chord name and its corresponding symbol typically indicate one or more of the following:
the root note,
the chord quality,
whether the chord is a triad, seventh chord, or an extended chord,
any altered notes,
any added tones, and
the bass note if it is not the root.
The jazz minor scale or ascending melodic minor scale is a derivative of the melodic minor scale, except only the ascending form of the scale is used. As the name implies, it is primarily used in jazz, although it may be found in other types of music as well. It may be derived from the major scale with a minor third, making it a synthetic scale, and features a dominant seventh chord on the fifth degree (V) like the harmonic minor scale. It can also be derived from the diatonic Dorian mode with a major seventh.
Among alternative tunings for guitar, a major-thirds tuning is a regular tuning in which each interval between successive open strings is a major third. Other names for major-thirds tuning include major-third tuning, M3 tuning, all-thirds tuning, and augmented tuning. By definition, a major-third interval separates two notes that differ by exactly four semitones.
The Romanian major scale is a heptatonic scale subset of the octatonic scale with an omitted ♭3 degree. It is noted for its flattened 2nd and sharpened fourth degrees, the latter a distinctive feature of Romanian traditional music. It has the following interval structure in semitones: 1, 3, 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, giving it the notes C, D♭, E, F♯, G, A, B♭ in the key of C. Though it is called a major scale, it is typically played over a C13 dominant chord. This is an enharmonic mode of B Harmonic Minor, along with D Harmonic Major. The root note of F Harmonic Major is raised a semitone to F#, and the root note of D Aeolian Dominant lowered a semitone to Db. There is also a ♮6 with the Db Super Lydian Augmented scale, lowering the B♮ to Bb.
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