The chord grind continues. Today, we’ll discuss more seventh chords, suspended chords, upper extensions, and lead sheet notation.

First up, the minor-major seventh chord: a minor triad with a major seventh on top.

There are also augmented seventh chords. The augmented major seventh chord is an augmented triad with a major seventh on top. The augmented seventh chord is an augmented triad with a minor seventh on top.

Note: Augmented seventh is on the left; major augmented seventh is on the right.

Onto suspended chords (favorite of Joni Mitchell)! A suspended triad replaces the third with the second or fourth interval. These are referred to as a suspended second and suspended fourth.

Note: P4 and P5 refer to perfect fourth and fifth intervals.

Seconds and fourths, as well as sixths for that matter, can be also be added to a triad without removing the third. This is no longer a suspended chord, but is on its way to becoming a cluster chord.

Alright jazz people–time for upper extensions.

Up until now, we have only explored intervals within one octave. However, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth intervals also exist, primarily in jazz music. These share the same pitches as the second, fourth, and sixth, respectively, but in the next octave up. (The upper extensions stop at 13 because the 15 is equivalent to the root.) Upper extensions are utilized to give chords enhanced color and texture. The image below shows how extended chords are built on the major seventh, minor seventh, and dominant seventh chords:

These upper extensions can also be altered (made flat or sharp), further expanding the possibilities. The chart below should be helpful in understanding how each interval functions:

Before we go any farther, we should clarify what these symbols mean that represent chords.

On lead sheets–sheets of music outlining the chords of a song–chords are notated first with the letter of their root note (and possibly a flat or sharp). Numbers represent the degree of the scale from the root (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13) of the note that will be added to the triad. “M” or “maj” represents major, “m” or “-” represents minor.  A triangle represents a major seventh. A circle represents a diminished seventh. A circle with a diagonal line through the center represents half-diminished. “+” and “aug” represent augmented. “dim” represents diminished. “sus” represents suspended. The sharp or flat symbol before a number indicates that the note at that interval is sharp or flat.

Yikes, that was a lot. Let’s look at an example–the lead sheet for “Autumn Leaves,” a classic jazz standard:

Let’s go through the first couple of chords of the tune. First is A-7, which is an A minor seventh chord (A C E G). Next is D7, a D dominant seventh chord (D F# A G). After that comes G triangle and C triangle, which is G major seventh chord (G B D F#) and C major seventh chord (C E G B). Next is F# circle with slash, which is an F# half-diminished chord (F# A C E). Later in the tune, we see a B7b9, which is a B dominant seventh flat nine chord (B D# F# A C).

Hopefully, this is beginning to make sense. Now that we are familiar with the plethora of chords at our fingertips and how they are written on a lead sheet, we can begin to analyze their function as we discuss chord progressions next week. See you then!

Alright, you might be grumbling angrily, I’ve had enough–when do we get to application? We’ve covered major and minor scales–when do we get to chords?

Many people are familiar with chords. They are often the self-taught guitarist/pianist’s first stepping stones–learning the chords to favorite pop tunes. Chords are vital–the harmonic backbone of music. Just keep in mind that chords alone do not a song make (something that I constantly must remind myself).

So, what are chords? Not so fast. First we must first understand intervals.

An interval is the distance between two notes. In Western music, the smallest interval is a half step (or semitone, if you’re from Britain). Now, be aware that we can go smaller than a semitone, into the exciting world of microtones, which we won’t be covering here.

Remember that major scale? You’re going to need it, as we will be discussing major intervals first. A major second is an interval of two half steps. Major third is four; major sixth is nine; major seventh is eleven. The minor intervals are the same as the major intervals…only a half step down.

Note: “m” denotes minor; “M” denotes major.

The perfect intervals consist of the fourth, fifth, and eighth. The the perfect fourth is an interval of five half steps; the perfect fifth is seven; the perfect eighth/octave is twelve.

Augmented intervals add a half step to a perfect or major interval. Diminished intervals subtract a half step from a perfect or minor interval. A common interval is the augmented fourth or diminished fifth–a.k.a. the tritone: the devil in music.

A helpful review:

Note: The right chart lists number of half steps. Ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth intervals also exist above the octave. We’ll talk more about these later.

Now….onto chords!

In Western classical music, the most common chords are triads. A triad consists of three notes: the root (bottom) note, and intervals of a third and fifth above the root note. The major triad consists of a major third and perfect fifth. The minor triad consists of a minor third and perfect fifth. The augmented triad consists of a major third and an augmented fifth. The diminished triad consists of a minor third and a diminished fifth.

Next, we’ll talk about seventh chords. As you might have guessed, seventh chords consist of a triad with a seventh interval from the root on top.

The dominant seventh chord consists of a major triad with a minor seventh. The major seventh chord consists of a major triad with a major seventh. The minor seventh chord consists of a minor triad with a minor seventh. The half-diminished seventh chord consists of a diminished triad with a minor seventh. The (fully) diminished seventh chord consists of a diminished triad with a diminished seventh (see chart from earlier to clear up confusion).

Chords are an expansive topic in music theory, and we’ve just scratched the surface. Next week, we’ll discuss more types of chords (jazz people–get excited) and common chord progressions in different genres of music. I promise–application is on the way!

Most of us have heard of scales before. No, not the dreaded machines you reluctantly step onto after a gluttonous outing at the dining hall buffet. I’m of course referring to musical scales, those pesky runs of notes that every music instructor is constantly harping on for practice regimens. I assure you, this is for good reason. Scales are vital, as much of Western music is based around major/minor key centers (we’ll cover this more in the future).

But wait, I mentioned major and minor. What does this mean within the context of scales? It might be easiest just to show you.

First, it’s important to know that there are twelve notes in Western music, each with a unique pitch or frequency. Here they are, on the keyboard:

Note: Black keys are labelled with two equivalent notations.

If you’re curious why there are only twelve, this might be an interesting read. Warning: it gets rather technical.

It is easiest to understand how major and minor scales are constructed if we continue using the keyboard as a reference. A half step can be defined as the distance from a key on the keyboard to the next adjacent key. A whole step can be defined as two half steps.

The steps of the ascending major scale are as follows: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half.

Note: In this image of the C major scale, “W” denotes whole step and “H” denotes half step.

The steps of the natural minor scale are as follows: whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole.

The harmonic minor scale is identical to the natural, except for one special feature: there is a distance of 1.5 steps between the sixth and seventh notes. See below:

And finally, the melodic minor scale, which is identical to the harmonic, except the sixth note is raised a half step. See below:

Note: “1/2” denotes a half step.

There exists a major, natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scale for all twelve keys in Western music. This brings us to our next topic: key signatures.

Immediately following a treble or bass clef symbol on sheet music, you may notice tiny hashtags or lowercase b’s resting on the staff. The hashtag is the symbol for sharp, and the lowercase b is the symbol for flat. Sharps and flats are what we call accidentals–the black keys on the keyboard. Key signatures list the accidentals of the key in which the piece is written (this avoids having to repeatedly mark accidentals throughout the piece). For example, below is an image of the key signature for Eb major in treble clef:

Note: The C minor key signature looks identical to that of Eb major, as they share the same accidentals. If a harmonic or melodic minor sound is incorporated into the piece, accidentals for the sixth and seventh are denoted individually as they occur in the piece.

Now, with a foundational knowledge of major and minor keys, we can study one of the richest aspects of music theory next week: harmony!

This week, we continue on our valiant quest to understanding musical notation.

Let’s begin with a musical convention dealing with note duration that I failed to cover last week: tenuto ties. These are curved lines used to connect notes of the same pitch, often across barriers like measure lines, to indicate that their lengths are to be combined into one longer note.

Whew. Alright. If you read last week’s post, you are now able to read notes and understand their pitch and duration, as well as the time signature schema. You can “play all the right notes,” and hopefully at the right time. This week, by contrast, we will focus on conventions which tell a musician how to play the notes.

First up: articulation! Articulation in music is about what happens between notes. The attack, release, and amount of space between the notes are essential components. But, what do I mean by this, exactly? Let’s look at some examples.

Accent. This miniature “greater than” symbol indicates that emphasis is to be added to the note–typically achieved with greater volume and a more forceful onset–which makes it stand out from the rest.

Staccato. This simple dot indicates that the note should be short and detached, allowing space between it and surrounding notes.

Marcato. This upside-down “v” indicates that the note is to be “hammered” (as this is the meaning of the Italian word from which the symbol’s name is derived). A marcato note is loud, forceful, and typically short–an accent-staccato hybrid if you will, but with a little more “umph.”

Tenuto. This horizontal dash indicates that the note is to be played with its full duration value–long and smooth, flowing into the next note.

Next up: dynamics! Dynamics refers to the volume of musical passages.

Dynamics are written with a spectrum of notation, pictured below. A few notes: Dynamic markings are relative to one another and to the composer of the piece. Pianississimo (ppp) and fortississimo (fff) are also used to indicate an even wider range of volume.

Crescendo. This elongated less-than symbol indicates a gradual increase in volume of the passage above it.

Decrescendo. This elongated greater-than symbol indicates a gradual decrease in volume of the passage above it.

Note: Crescendos and decrescendos can be placed back-to-back. Crescendos are sometimes placed immediately after a subito forte piano to indicate an immediate drop then gradual rise of volume.

The last topic we’ll cover here is tempo. Tempo refers to how fast a musical passage is played, and is typically quantified as beats per minute (bpm)–the number of beats that occur in a one-minute interval. There are Italian terms that appear throughout sheet music which indicate the passage’s bpm rate (see table below). Remember, the note which gets the beat, indicated by the denominator of the time signature, is important here!

Now, I must confess that it is impossible to describe every musical convention and notation within two blog posts. There will be other symbols you may encounter as you traverse sheet music whose ambiguity can be alleviated with a quick Google search. What I have provided are the essentials–and perhaps slightly above and beyond that.

With cut-and-dry conventions out of the way, our journey to understanding music is well underway, and about to take an interesting turn. Now that we can read and speak the language of music, we are ready to truly engage with the theory behind it.

Why should you learn to read music?

After all, many of the greats couldn’t. Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan– even the Beatles for crying out loud. Just listen to this voice memo created by Michael Jackson, an early conception of what would become his smash hit, “Beat It.” No reading or writing of musical notation was required for these composers.

Nonetheless, learning the conventions of music is extremely useful for those wishing to understand the mechanics of their music and the music of others. For those of us without the impeccable ear and sensibilities of those artists referenced above, learning musical conventions opens an exciting new doorway.

With that being said, let’s begin.

In the West, music is written on a staff composed of five bars and four spaces. There are two clefs–treble and bass–which are each notated on their own staffs. In the treble clef, the second to bottom line represents G. We can then ascend up alternating lines and spaces: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. In the bass clef, the second to top line represents F. We can then descend down alternating lines and spaces: E, D, C, B, A, G, F. For those notes which do not fit within these five lines, ledger lines are used to extend the staff. (Note: Only every other note is pictured here. The C that sits on the ledger line between the two staffs is considered “middle C.”)

On these staffs sit notes of different duration. In the image below, the notation for the whole note, half note, quarter note, eighth note, and sixteenth note are pictured from top to bottom respectively. The image also depicts how the length of these notes are related (i.e. two half notes in a whole, four sixteenths in a quarter).

These notes sit on the staff, which is divided by vertical lines into measures, each containing a specified number of beats. The number of beats in a measure and the type of note which gets the beat is determined by the key signature, which is represented as a fraction that appears after the clef symbol. The “numerator” represents the number of beats in the measure. The “denominator” represents the type of note which gets the beat. For example, in a 4/4 time signature, there are four beats in a measure and the quarter note gets the beat. (4 in the denominator means the quarter note gets the beat, 2 means half note, 8 means eighth note, etc.)

(Note: A dot after a note means that the note’s duration is multiplied by 1.5.)

There is also notation for rests in sheet music that mirror that of notes. In the image below, the notation for the whole rest, half rest, quarter rest, eighth rest, and sixteenth rest are pictured from top to bottom respectively. The image also depicts how the length of these rests are related (i.e. two half rests in a whole, four sixteenths in a quarter).

These are the basic symbols that create the language of music as it is represented in sheet music. This language allows composers and musicians to communicate with one another. It allows for the tangible expression of musical ideas, and is impervious to the thwarting limits of human memory. So congratulations, you’ve now acquired a musical skill that Paul McCartney does not possess! The journey to understanding music has begun.

(For a visual/audio representation of reading sheet music in real time, see this video. And don’t worry about those pesky hashtag symbols that appear after the clef symbol–we’ll cover that next time.)

All of us listen to music. We hear it in the car. We hear it on the radio. We hear it in restaurants, gyms, hotels, and shopping malls. We hear it at parties, concerts, sporting events, and religious services. It is difficult to walk down any street on a college campus without passing droves of students sporting a pair of AirPods as they travel to their next destination.

By now, I believe I have made my point clear: music is everywhere. We are constantly consuming it in our everyday lives. For millennia, it has permeated cultures across the globe. From Gregorian chant to K-pop, it endures as an integral part of the human experience. This begs the question: why are we as humans drawn to music?

There could be a few explanations. Perhaps it is due to the workings of our biology. Perhaps it represents the dichotomy of order and chaos that characterizes the nature of reality. Perhaps it is a catalyst of unification among groups of people. Perhaps it offers comfort in times of pain. Perhaps it distracts us from being alone with our thoughts. Or perhaps it is simply a multifarious aesthetic.

The truth is, the force which draws humans to music is a mystery. However, this does not mean we should shy away from making sense of music’s innerworkings. Quite the contrary: by studying the mechanics of music, we not only come to better understand it, we attain the ability to participate in its genesis. With the necessary knowledge, we can evoke glee, sorrow, anger, lust, patriotism, nostalgia, and other complex emotions through our musical voice.

This is the utility of music theory — the study of how music works. Rhythm. Melody. Harmony. Tempo. Dynamics. Timbre. Texture. All of these components make up the wide variety of music that is now available to us at the tap of a button. There is a reason you like the music you do, and with an understanding of theory, you can discover it.

By studying compositional and performance techniques in a variety of genres from a variety of artists, we can detect patterns and apply certain principles to our own composition and performance. In this way, we grow as composers, performers, and listeners. Music theory holds the key to the expression of self and the appreciation of others’ art. We take a step closer to understanding why music is such a prominent force in our lives. We come closer to uncovering the mystery of music.