Chord Construction

[Andy Volk]

What are the notes of an F11 chord?
What's the 3rd of an Ab chord?
What are the notes in an E7b5b9 chord?
For a quick and easy answer, here's a handy 8" x 5" reference booklet that will fit in your instrument case.

Includes alpha numeric charts for the keys of: C, C#, Db, D, Eb, E, F, F#, Gb, G, Ab, A, Bb, B.

** No music reading is necessary. **

http://www.volkmediabooks.com/products- ... nstruction

[Steve Green]

I can see how this could be very handy, but I have a question . . .

Why is an E note a 3 on a C major chord, but a b3 on a C aug chord? Am I missing something, or is this just a typo?

[Erv Niehaus]

typo

[Andy Volk]

sadly, yes. will fix.

[Russ Wever]

C dim 7 is, as its name infers, a type of seventh chord.

Seventh chords are 'four-note chords' consisting of a Root, a Third
of some type, a Fifth of some type and a Seventh of some type.

The notes of a Diminished Seventh chord are a Root, a flatted Third,
a flatted Fifth and a double-flatted Seventh.

The chart above lists an 'A' note, which is the Sixth-tone
(with C serving as the Tonic: C=1, D=2, E=3, F=4, G=5, A=6 & B=7).

The name of the (double-flatted) Seventh is bb7, or Bbb .

In the group of triads in the chart, to be comprehensive, a Diminished Chord would be included.
The notes of a Diminished chord (triad) are Root, flatted Third and flatted Fifth.

In reference to C as the Tonic, the note names would be C, Eb and Gb .

Also, a Suspended chord (R, 4 & 5 or C, F & G) would be in the listed triads.

[Ron Funk]

Russ - great to 'hear' from ya.

Here's what I've always kept in my practice room from way back when - refer to it All the time.

One Page from Tom Bradshaw's booklet entitled 'Chord Construction for the Pedal Steel Guitarist'

[Andy Volk]

Russ, thanks very much for taking time to comment and to educate and clarify. Sincerely appreciated! The augmented chord spelling was a typo but the use of 6th instead bb7 was intentional. As I say in the preface of the book:

"Notes that sound the same but have different names are called enharmonic. For
example: C# = Db; F# = Gb; G# = Ab, etc. Additionally, formal music theory names
some notes that, while correct from a theoretical perspective, are never named in
that manner in common practice - such as an Fb note, equivalent to an E note. This
book always opts for the common practice chord spelling over formal music theory."

So that was the intention - to minimize any confusion by not adhering to formal theory in favor of the colloquial way musicians speak to one another. But, if enough people feel this was a mistake, I'll change it for the next printing.