Most classically trained
musicians tend to think in terms
of triads. They look for the
three main notes of a chord (1,
3, and 5). However, the more
advanced your chords get, the
more likely it is that either
the 3 or 5 (or both) will be
missing from your chords. Here
is an example.
This is a Amin7
chord even though the 5th
(E) is not there. G does not
belong in the Amin
triad but is the 7th
of the chord.
Here is a
tip for you. When you want to
identify a chord, start with the
assumption that the bass note is
the name of the chord and go
from there. You can identify
all other notes in their
relation to the root. If you do
that, chords like this one will
not fool you:
This is C
major chord. The bass note is a
C, and you can also easily see
the E and G. The other two
notes are the major 7th
and a 9th.
Technically, you could label
this chord Emin7/C,
but CMaj7(9) makes
more sense to me. (I will
explain what a major 7th
is later and how it is different
from the more common dominant 7th.)
Practice strategy: (Continued from the last lesson)
If you were to pick up a hymnal and open to any song, would you be able to
rattle off the chord names as fast as hymn is sung? If you can’t, start
practicing on a hymn or two when you have a chance. Hymn chords are very
simplistic and you will find yourself naming them quickly within a few months.
If you come to chords that you can’t figure out, just skip them for now. If you need more help before starting this exercise, study the first example in this lesson.
