Yesterday’s lesson was one of my longest yet. And it was worth it!

I took you through a foolproof method for naming chords correctly. And many of you were helped tremendously (per your comments and radio show feedback last night).

Today, I want to make it even plainer.

If you recall from yesterday, the whole idea was this — if your major, minor, dominant, diminished, augmented, and seventh chords skip one alphabet letter between each tone, then they pass the test. If they don’t skip one alphabet letter or skip more than one, then they fail. That’s why I call it “foolproof” because it’s too easy.

For example, if I write an F# minor chord as:

F# + A + Db

…it fails!

Why? Well, the first two letters pass because they skip an alphabet letter. In other words, between “F” and “A” is “G.” Get it? But the “Db” fails because it skips more than one alphabet letter. From “A,” I’ve not only skipped “B” but also “C” and that just can’t work.

Without getting too technical, erroneously using “Db” makes this interval a FOURTH. And major, minor, dominant, diminished and the rest of our friends aren’t made up of fourths… they’re made up of THIRDS.

(That’s review though because yesterday’s lesson covered all that.)

So what could we do with that Db to make it correct?

Answer:

Change it to C#… which is what it should be anyway!

F# minor
F# + A + C#

Passes the test! I’m happy. The F# is happy because I’m spelling her name right. Everyone’s happy!

But even with that said, some folks had a little trouble so I want to make it even more plain in this lesson.

Notice that I’ve limited this foolproof test to certain chords.

(The good news is that there aren’t that many “other” chords that don’t work with the foolproof test… most do).

What do these chords all have in common:

Major triad
Minor triad
Diminished triad
Augmented triad
Major seventh
Minor seventh
Dominant seventh
Augmented seventh
Major ninth
Minor ninth
Dominant ninth
Major eleventh
…
Major thirteenth (pretty much all the same variations as above: major, minor, dominant)

What do they have in common?

They are built on third intervals.

That’s most chords, too!

I mean, besides secundals, quartal and quintal chords (like tritones), and some others — all other POPULAR chords you’re used to playing and talking about are built on thirds.

For example:

• A major chord is a major third on bottom with a minor third on top (C to E is the major third… E to G is the minor third. Together they create C major).
• A minor chord is the opposite. A minor third on the bottom and a major third on top.
• A diminished chord is simply a minor third on bottom and a minor third on top.
• An augmented chord is a major third on bottom and a major third on top.

And all we do when we play seventh chords, ninths, elevenths, and thirteenths is add more THIRDS.

Yes! These chords get big but they can all be broken down into thirds.

And chords that are built with major and minor thirds are called TERTIAN CHORDS.

(Again, that’s most chords out there!)

So basically the foolproof test will work for almost anything because as long as it’s built with thirds, it MUST follow the rules.

It can’t extend more than 3 alphabet letters as a whole, which results in the “skipped” alphabet letter in the middle… ALWAYS!

Like C to E — that’s a third. It covers three alphabet letters: C, D, and E. The D is not played of course… just the C and E are. The “D” is the skipped alphabet letter I’ve been talking about.

Take F to A. It’s a third, too. Spans three alphabet letters in its interval: F, G, and A. Of course, G isn’t played but it’s contained in the interval. It’s the “skipped” letter.

So that’s how you can always check your naming. And that is always true on any part of the chord. Even if the chord has 6 notes, it should follow these rules (unless the notes start being altered, and, truth be told, even MOST altered chords will follow this rule… like a “flat 9″ alteration, for example, should still be flatting the same alphabet letter, not changing it).

But here’s another thing that can help you out…

You know the diatonic chords of the scale? You know, the ones I’ve covered in several past lessons…

Basically, the idea is if you take every other note (ummm, “foolproof method”) of the scale, you’ll naturally create certain chords on each tone of the scale.

Like if I take the C major scale and play every other note of the scale starting on C, I’ll get: C + E + G + B. If I scoot over to the right and do the same thing on D (using the same notes of the C major scale), I’ll get: D + F + A + C. As you keep doing that, you’ll get chords on every tone of the scale. Some will be major 7 chords. Others will end up being minor 7 chords. Another will be a dominant 7 and the last one will be a half-diminished 7 chord.

But that’s not what’s important here. You can find tons of lessons on that using the search box above.

What’s important is what I’m about to share with you.

Did you know that the chords created from this one C major example can help you PROPERLY name any tertian chord out there?

Take a look at this guide I made below…

What I’ve done is highlight the chords created off each tone of C major. They show up in red. Print this out. You will never misname a tertian chord again.

See the “C + E + G + B” row?

What this means is that any C chord (I don’t care if it’s major, minor, dominant, or diminished) should have some kind of C in it… some kind of E in it… some kind of G in it… and if it’s a 4-toned chord, some kind of B.

The only exceptions are various altered chords and non-tertian chords (ones that aren’t built off third intervals but that’s rare).

Let’s see if this holds true.

What’s a C major chord?

C + E + G

Does it pass? Yes!

What’s a C minor chord?

C + Eb + G

Does it pass? Yes!

(Remember, it doesn’t matter what kind of C, or what kind of E or what kind of G. All the foolproof test is concerned with is the alphabet letters that are being used. It’s your job to make sure you’re playing “Eb” versus “E” in a minor chord because the foolproof test doesn’t get that involved. It just makes sure you’re meeting the minimum naming requirements and not calling “Eb” a “D#”… believe me, it happens all too often.)

How about a C minor 7 chord?

C + Eb + G + Bb

It passes! Some kind of C, some kind of E, some kind of G, and some kind of B.

What about a tricky one… C diminished 7:

C + Eb + G + Bbb

(Yes, “B” double flat. We covered this yesterday).

Most people, and I’m guilty of this when I don’t want to say “B double flat,” will just say “A” there. Of course, it will still sound right when you play it. LoL, just cause’ you spell it wrong doesn’t mean you don’t know how to say it right. But in terms of musical grammar, a TERTIAN chord starting on C will always have some kind of C, some kind of E, some kind of G — and if it gets bigger than a triad, some kind of “B.”

Same goes for every other chord on my chart. Any D chord you write out should have some kind of D, some kind of F, some kind of A — and if it’s bigger, some kind of C.

You get it?

This chart is just not a list of diatonic chords in C major. It’s a list of what alphabet letters your chords SHOULD have in them to pass the foolproof test.

So print that chart out and any time we do an exercise, make sure your chords pass this test and contain the same alphabet letters as the guide above and you’ll be fine!

Until next time —

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As you know, a lot of my blog posts have exercises at the end that invite readers to participate.

One exercise might be to figure out the introduced chord voicing in all 12 keys, with each reader taking a key of their own (I love those!)

Others are more complex.

And while these have been an overwhelming success, sometimes I’ve noticed some common mistakes when it comes to naming chords.

So in this post, I want to introduce a foolproof method (literally) that will ensure that you never misname a chord again. I’m serious! Read carefully as this may be one of the most important posts you read when it comes to “musical grammar.”

But let me say this first…

At the end of the day, even if you spell the chords wrong, they’ll probably sound totally right! So this may not revolutionize your sound. It’ll just make sure you’re calling something what it is.

For example, when you talk, you may say, “can you hand me that remote control over there please?” And no one knows if you’re really thinking of the word “there” as “their” or “they’re” or “dare” — because they all sound the same. No one knows because they can’t see inside your brain. When spoken, it’s a lot easier not to mess up. But on paper, one will know, definitively, if you write “there,” “their,” “they’re,” or even “dare.”

That’s what “enharmonic” pretty much means. Notes are said to be enharmonic when they make the same sound but are spelled differently. Isn’t that similar to the words “there”, “their,” and “they’re?” Spoken, you cannot tell which one I’m thinking of because they sound the same.

That’s exactly how it is for “ear musicians.” Many of us can get away with spelling it wrong because it supposedly doesn’t matter. All people hear is what comes out!

“So forget that I think the ‘F# major’ chord is F# + Gb + C#” (which is wrong WRONG WRONG). It doesn’t matter because people hear a nice major chord at the end of the day, right?

That’s one school of thought. And quite frankly, I don’t totally disagree with it either. That’s why I always say, “if you’re not studying for a music theory exam, you can call this what you want.” Because at the end of the day, most people just want to play.

Take someone from a remote island somewhere who doesn’t know English and assimilate them here in the States and they will be happy just to be able to communicate with others and ask for directions… the writing part can come later.

But…

There’s the side of me that believes that knowledge is power and why would I want to spell something wrong if I don’t have to? And that’s what premise this lesson takes :)

Here’s the big secret…

Most chords (major, minor, major 7, minor 7, diminished, diminished 7, augmented, etc) use thirds.

And here’s the secret about thirds (regardless of whether “they’re” major or minor thirds)…

They always encompass three alphabet letters in their intervals. There’s never a time when they don’t.

That is the key!

Which means these are thirds…

A C
A C#
C E
C Eb
C E#
B D
B D#

…I can go on and on.

And these aren’t thirds.

Gb A
Ab B
Db E
Bb C#
E F#

…and so on.

What’s my point?

Since the chords I mentioned above ONLY use thirds (in other words, they’re usually constructed with some type of third on the bottom and some type of third on the top — or if they’re bigger seventh chords, they have a third on the bottom, a third in the middle, and a third on top), that means you can never get around this “three alphabet letter” rule.

But let me make it super plain…

“Encompassing three alphabet letters” basically mean that you’re always skipping an alphabet letter. It’s that simple.

Take a look at the correct thirds again:

A C
A C#
C E
C Eb
C E#
B D
B D#

Notice between the “A” and “C” intervals, they skip “B.”

Look at the “C” and “E” intervals. They always skip “D.”

Even the “B” and “D” intervals. They skip “C.”

So when I say “encompass,” you can think of it two ways:

1) “A” to “C” includes three alphabet letters: A (B) C (the “B” isn’t played, of course, but it is “wrapped” inside the interval).

2) “A” to “C” successfully passes the test because it skips one alphabet letter, “B.”

The second option is what I call my “foolproof” method! Because it’s just too easy!

Make sure any time you write a major, minor, dominant, diminished, major seventh, minor seventh, diminished seventh, augmented, augmented seventh, etc — that the notes you use always skip an alphabet letter and you can’t go wrong.

Why is the “informal spelling” of C diminished 7 wrong (C + Eb + Gb + A)?

Well, the first three notes pass the foolproof test. That is, C to Eb skips the “D” alphabet letter. Eb to Gb passes the foolproof test, too. It skips the alphabet letter “F.” But the Gb to A. Hmmm, it fails. It doesn’t encompass three alphabet letters which means it’s impossible to skip one. G and A are right next to each other in the alphabet. That “A” needs to be some kind of “B.” It can’t be a real “B” because that’s not what the chord needs. It basically needs a “B” that sounds like “A” — and the only way you can get a “B” that sounds like “A” is to flat it TWICE: “B double flat.”

(I used to think music theory just made up its own rules when it needed them. Lol, “double flat?” But really, “flatting” or even “sharping” something for that matter doesn’t mean to make it a black key. That’s what people think since the black keys are called “sharps” and “flats.” Sharp means to raise and flat means to lower. It’s that simple. If you sharp “C,” yes, it will give you a black key, “C#.” But you can sharp or flat a black key, too, making it a white key. You can even sharp or flat some white keys and they will still be white keys (e.g. - “E#” is basically “F”). And in this case, you can flat something TWICE making a white key another white key. It’s crazy!!!! I know!!!)

This may still confuse people right now! But if you think about it, some still don’t know the difference between “there,” “their,” and “they’re” so it’s the same battle. No worries. It will click over time if that’s the case.

So, let me take one example from a student (which actually inspired this post)…

Gb minor chord

(First off, it’s very hard to write a Gb minor chord without using crazy spellings. That’s why when you run into these sorts of problems, you should try changing the chord to its “enharmonic” counterpoint. Regular terms: Change the flat version to its sharp version and see if that makes things easier. So, that’s what I would do here. I’d make that Gb an F# minor in a second! Helps out a lot).

But let’s take on that Gb minor anyway.

For that to work, we must make sure we follow the foolproof method. We MUST skip a letter between each note but it still needs to sound like a minor chord.

Gb minor
Gb + Bbb + Db

(Not Gb + A + Db!)

There you have it! But as you see, it got ugly again with a “B double flat.” But we had no choice. Gb to A would have failed the foolproof test.

So Gb to Bbb works because it skips a letter. And Bbb to Db works because it also skips a letter. Bingo! Passes the test!

Until next time —

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