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Topic: Another "what's this chord, and how to use it" thread. |
Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 5 May 2015 8:01 pm |
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OK, so people ask me questions either because they think I'll know, or because if I don't know, I'll ask here.. So I get asked "what do C, Eb, G and B at the third fret (A, B and the lever that raises 1&2) make, and what's the chord when I flat the 5th string?"
The first part was easy. C Mah7.
But a C minor Maj7? GAug add11? Whatever it is, I bet it's easier to use than to name.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Dan Robinson
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 5 May 2015 11:44 pm
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Hey Lane ,
Context is everything. We use passing phrases to create tension that resolves when we land somewhere. Sounds great all put together. Taken separately, not so much.
This escapes my grasp (which ain't that good to begin with). Maybe if we knew what comes before? And after?
Dan |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 5 May 2015 11:54 pm
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I have no context to offer. The message said, in a nutshell, "I found this cool sounding chord, what is it and what can I do with it?"
Its most obvious use would be in a C-G or G-C transition. I'm a thousand miles from my guitar, so I can't play with it myself...
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 6 May 2015 1:43 am
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Our system of chord symbols depends on tonality, but that started to break down around 100 years ago. Alexander Scriabin (d.1915) was fond of this (aka the "mystic chord")
You could give it various names, but I don't think you'd ever hear it like any of them, as it's almost a whole-tone chord and just seems to float like one. Of course Scriabin was a pianist and found things you wouldn't accidentally stumble across on a steel guitar 
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Make sleeping dogs tell the truth!
Homebuilt keyless U12 7x5, Excel keyless U12 8x8, Williams keyless U12 7x8, Telonics rack and 15" cabs |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 6 May 2015 4:46 am
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It is called a Cmin mag7 usually. It is a cool sound that can reference "film noir" soundtracks. One of the cliches of film noir soundtracks is to use that chord as an ending to a create sense of suspense.
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Bob |
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Bob Russell
From:
Virginia, USA
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Posted 6 May 2015 5:04 am
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It'd most likely be heard as a Cm(maj7). In many minor key tunes, the min(maj7) would be the appropriate i chord, not the m7 (as the old Real Book insisted).
Depending on what the bass is doing, it could also be used to imply Am9(b5) or F9(#11). No 3rd in the F9(#11), but that never bothered Herbie Hancock.
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Lots of stringy things, many of them slidey. |
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