Extended Harmonies & Popular Chords

This lesson is part of the Fundamentals of Twelve-Tone Equal Temperament category.

Objectives

• Students will be familiar with naming conventions for popular chords and extended harmonies in different systems.
• Students will be able to derive a chord given a chord name or symbol in different systems.
• Student will be able to notate chords in slash, lead sheet, and figured bass notation
• Focus on: extended chord types (9ths, 11ths, 13ths), add2, add4, suspended, powers, 6 chords.

Resources

Readings

• Music Notes Now: "A Complete Guide to Chord Symbols in Music"
• Acevedo: Handout on Chord Types
• How Music Works
  • 3.8 Harmonic Extensions
  • Extended Triad-Based Chord Types:
    • 3.9 Majors, 3.10 Minors, 3.11 Diminisheds, 3.12 Augmenteds, 3.13 Major Flat Fifths
  • 3.14 Suspended Chords
  • 3.15 Other Chord Types
  • 7.4 Other Inversions
  • 7.5 Synonym Chords
  • 7.6 Repeating Notes
  • 7.7 Missing Notes
  • 7.8 Required Degrees
• Music Theory for Musicians and Normal People: Extended Chords
• Hutchinson, Music Theory for the 21st Century Classroom:
  • Chapter 6.5: Simple Sus Chords
  • Chapter 31.1: Jazz Chord Basics
  • Chapter 31.2: Chord Symbol Specifics
  • Chapter 31.4: Chord Labels
  • Chapter 31.5: How to write Jazz Chords
  • Chapter 31.6: How to Analyze Jazz Chords

Class Activities

• Discussion and definition of popular chord types versus classical naming conventions
• Discussion and definition of extended harmonies and popular/jazz naming conventions
• Construction and performance of a given popular chord or extended harmony

Assignments

• Writing popular chords and extended harmonies
• Identifying popular chords and extended harmonies
• Identifying and naming chords in different stylistic contexts (i.e. inverted 7th versus 6 chord)

Drills

• MusicTheory.Net:
  • Chord Construction (suspended and altered sevenths)
  • Chord Identification (suspended and altered sevenths)
• Teoria.Com:
  • Seventh Chord Identification (altered)
  • Seventh Chord Construction (altered)
  • Seventh Chord Construction from Symbol (altered)
  • Extended Chord Identification
  • Extended Chord Construction