Our last radio show was awesome! We took several callers, gave away tons of prizes, and delved into some more music theory concepts!

One of our callers had a question about a particular altered chord and I spent some time unraveling it with her. In this post, I just want to take some time to review what I told her on the air. I think this will be extremely helpful for people in the same situation.

Her question had to do with playing a C diminished 7 chord over F bass. She wanted to know what type of chord it was.

So we broke it down…

F on bass
C diminished 7 on right hand: C Eb Gb A

Note: I’m using “A” on purpose. If you were taking a music theory exam, you’d make that “B double flat” (Bbb). But let’s just keep it informal so I can make my point easier. That disclaimer is just for my theory heads. Most people can careless (just being honest).

Here’s something to help you out…

Whenever you don’t know the name of a chord, try starting with the 3rd and 7th tones of the keynote. In this case, the keynote is “F,” our bass.

(This is when knowing all your scales as numbers is important. If you can know the 3rd and 7th of virtually any key without having to think much about it, then finding the names of chords will be super easy for you. So work on that in the meantime).

Notice there is an “A” and “Eb” in the chord. Immediately when I see that, I think “F dominant 7 chord.” I don’t even think about it. Unless there’s something crazy going on with the other tones we haven’t analyzed yet, this chord has a very high probability of being some kind of dominant seventh chord… but we’re not done yet!

So that’s the kind of the thought process I go through. I find and hold on to the best match until it is dethroned. Make sense?

Notice the “C” in this chord. What is its relation to the keynote?

The “C” is simply the perfect fifth. From past lessons, you know that the fifth isn’t really as helpful as the other tones because you’ll find it equally in major, minor, and dominant chords. So it can’t really be the deciding factor when trying to differentiate among those chords.

In this case, the “C” doesn’t change our answer. It just further confirms we’re on the right track by adding another note to our F dominant 7 chord, which is “F + A + C + Eb.”

Back to the chord that was posed on the show…

F on bass
C diminished 7: C Eb Gb A

There’s just one more tone left… the “Gb.” And that’s what makes this chord more than an “F dominant 7″ chord.

So what we do from here is figure out what tone of the scale Gb is based on.

First off, there’s no Gb in the F major scale so we know it’s not a tone directly out of the major key of F. Something is either going to be sharped, flatted, augmented, or diminished — we just haven’t figured out what it is quite yet.

“G” is the 2nd or 9th tone in the F major scale.

Yes, I know that may sound confusing but here’s where the numbers come from.

If you play an F major scale only using one octave and number each tone as you play it, “G” will undoubtedly be the 2nd tone of the scale. This is the norm. You probably already know this.

However, if you extend the scale another octave (basically keep going), “G” will be the 9th tone in the next octave. You don’t stop counting… you basically keep going.

1 > 2 > 3 > 4 > 5 > 6 > 7 > 8 > 9 > 10 > 11… and so on.

So that’s where 9s, 11s, and 13s come from.

But here’s the thing…

Just think of:

• 9 as 2
• 11 as 4
• 13 as 6

It will be so much easier.

Now, there does come a time when you use 2, 4, or 6 and this is usually when you’re playing simple triads with added notes. Like if I play an F major chord (F+A+C) and just add the “G” in between the “F” and “A,” I could simply say “add 2″ (F + G + A + C).

However, when you start getting into dominant seventh chords and your chords start reaching across octaves, that’s when the higher numbers come in. For example, some will say if you add “G” in the next octave and still maintain that regular F major triad (F + A + C + G), then you can reference it as “add 9.” Chord naming is very ambiguous like that but as long as you’re in the right neighborhood, people will know what you mean!

So, indeed, “G” is the 9. But “Gb” is what’s in the chord so we have to say “flat 9″ (a.k.a. - “b9″).

In other words, this is an F dominant 7 chord with a lowered 9.

Big picture thinking

Now how can you easily play this chord in every key?

Here’s what I like to do.

I try to find some commonality that I can turn into a “rule” that works any time.

Also, “rules” (in the way that I’m defining them) don’t use specific notes or else they wouldn’t be rules. They use universal numbers so that they can be applied to any situation.

There’s several ways to approach coming up with your own internal rule for this chord.

Let’s try a few…

1) I can think of this chord as the keynote plus a diminished 7 chord played on the 5th tone of the keynote’s scale. Yes, I know it sounds complex but it really isn’t. Basically, I’m telling myself that whenever I want to play a dominant chord with a flat 9, all I have to know is the diminished seventh chord a fifth up from my bass note and I’m good to go!

If I want to play an Ab 7 (b9) chord, all I do is put Ab in my bass and go up to the 5th tone (Eb) and play its diminished seventh chord (F on bass + Eb diminished 7).

If I want to play a D7 (b9) chord, I do the same thing. Play D on my bass, go up to the 5th tone of D and play its diminished seventh chord (D on bass + A diminished 7).

If I want to play a C7 (b9) chord, my rule works there too (because my rule works in EVERY situation). I just play a G diminished seventh chord over C bass and “BAM,” there it is!

But this isn’t the only rule. If thinking of the “fifth” on the spot works for you, then go for it! But maybe I can get closer…

2) There’s something unique about diminished 7 chords. Take that C diminished 7 chord (C + Eb + Gb + A) and play it with Eb on the bottom. It still sounds like a diminished 7 chord right? That’s because it is a diminished 7 chord… Eb diminished 7 (Eb + Gb + A + C). Do the same thing with Gb… play the same exact notes starting on Gb — Gb + A + C + Eb. So basically, once you know 1 diminished chord, you know the other 3 in the group because they all share the same notes. So if that’s the case, maybe I don’t have to play the C diminished 7 because I have three other choices that will pretty much give me the same sound (…now if you want your melody to be on top, you’ll have to pick the chord that does that). With that said though, I’m going to use Gb diminished 7 (Gb + A + C + Eb). Keep in mind that the ONLY difference in this chord and the C diminished 7 is the order of notes. That’s all.

Now that I’ve figured this out, I can change my rule a little bit. I can simply think of this chord as the diminished 7th chord RIGHT ON TOP of my bass. Get it?

My bass is F right? Now, I’ve figured out that my C diminished 7 chord can actually be Gb diminished 7 if I want it to. And Gb is just one half step higher than F right? So that means instead of having to think of this chord as the keynote plus the 5th tone’s diminished chord, I can ease my mind a little bit by simply thinking of this chord as the keynote plus the diminished 7 chord a half step up!

Bam!

So let’s compare:

Rule #1
Keynote plus 5-diminished7 chord
F + C diminished 7
F + (C + Eb + Gb + A)

or

Rule #2
Keynote plus diminished 7 chord half step up
F + Gb diminished 7
F + (Gb + A + C + Eb)

Up to you!

But that’s the idea.

It’s not always about having to do a lot of thinking. For me, at least, it’s about finding universal rules I can apply on the spot. Heck, your rules are your rules… even if they don’t make sense to others! :)

So try taking some of your favorite chords and come up with some numerical rule that you can apply to easily take these chords to any key you want on the spot (assuming you know the underlying chords you’ll be using — if your rule includes playing a big 9th chord with smaller major chords, then you had better know all your major chords or even the rule won’t do you any good).

Well, this post was a little long but I hope it helps!

All the best —

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On yesterday’s radio show, I got a question from a fellow in Vallejo, California about polychords.

So today, I just want to take a second to explain what polychords are for those of you who missed the show.

First, it’s helpful to note what the word “poly” means.

It’s a greek prefix, meaning “many” so that should give us a hint as to what polychords are.

poly-chords
“many”-chords.

And that’s exactly what a polychord is…

It’s usually a bigger chord that consists of two or more smaller chords, one on top of the other.

You can also refer to this as “stacking” or “superimposing” one chord on top of the other.

So it really is that easy.

Let’s explore some examples:

What happens if you play a C major triad on your left and a G major triad on your right?

(C + E + G) + (G + B + D)

That’s basically stacking the 5-chord on top of the 1-chord.

Note: Since both chords have a G in it, you can choose to either use the left hand or the right hand.

Left hand: C + E Right hand: G + B + D

Left hand: C + E + G Right hand: B + D

(This chord is still not that huge so you can play it all with one hand: C + E + G + B + D).

This is a C major ninth chord.

C + E + G + B + D
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9

What if you changed all these chords to minor?

C minor on left and G minor on right?

C + Eb + G + Bb + D
1 + b3 + 5 + b7 + 9

This is a C minor 9 chord.

What if you played a C major triad on the left hand and a Bb major 7 on the right hand?

So that’s basically the 1-chord + b7 chord (”flat seventh chord”)

C + E + G + Bb + D + F + A
1 + 3 + 5 + b7 + 9 + 11 + 13

Wow! This is a huge chord. A “C13″

So basically, polychords are composed of smaller chords stacked on top of each other. Regardless of whether you’re playing a ninth, eleventh, or thirteenth chord, they can always be broken down to smaller chords because all of those extended chords are essentially polychords.

Why is this important to know? Well, for one, if you’re playing with a bass player, it’s helpful to know what you can play on your left hand and what might work well on your right hand. Then you can start inverting chords on either hand to make different combinations. From there, you can start altering chords and now you’ve just entered the world of “two-hand” altered chord voicings. It’s crazy indeed!

I hope you enjoyed this lesson.

Until next time —

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At first look, the word “superimposition” may sound like a complex concept… but I assure you, it is easier than it looks!

For a chord to be superimposed on top of another chord means just that! Usually, you’d play one particular chord on your left hand while playing another chord on your right (both at the same time).

Major, Minor, and Dominant Chords

You’d be surprised how many superimposed chords you already know how to play.

In fact, any 7th, 9th, 11th, or 13th chord can be considered two chords superimposed on top of one another. You’ve probably heard the term “polychords” to describe these chords as well. Basically, polychords consist of two or more chords that are stacked to create one larger chord.

Think about it…

What does a Cmaj7 chord consist of? (I don’t know my maj7 chords)

Cmaj7 = C + E + G + B

Well, obviously a Cmaj triad: C + E + G

But you could also play an Emin triad: E + G + B

Combine them together, and you have one C, two E’s, two G’s, and one B.

Cmaj: C + E + G /// Emin: E + G + B

… Now get rid of any duplicate notes and you have: (C E G B)

So playing an Emin over a Cmaj creates a Cmaj7 chord.

…Moving on…

What about major ninth chords? What two chords do they consist of?

(I don’t know my maj9 chords)

Let’s look at Cmaj9.

Cmaj9 = C + E + G + B + D

If you look closely, you’ll see one major chord superimposed on top of another.

If you see Cmaj on the bottom and Gmaj on the top, then you’re absolutely correct!

Cmaj + Gmaj = Cmaj9

What about major eleventh chords? (I don’t know my maj11 chords)

Cmaj11: C + E + G + B + D + F

There are several smaller chords in this huge polychord. It just depends on how you look at the chord.

How many different chords do you see?

Cmaj, Cmaj7, Emin, Emin7, Emin9, Gmaj, G7, Bdim

How many different superimposed relationships?

Cmaj + G7

Cmaj + Bdim

What about major thirteenth chords? (I don’t know my maj13 chords)

Cmaj13: C + E + G + B + D + F + A

Cmaj7 + Dmin

Cmaj + B half diminished

Cmaj + G9

Here is a “cheat” chart for all the major, minor, and dominant chords covered above:

Type	9	11	13
Major	1maj + 5maj	1maj + 7dim	1maj7 + 2min
Minor	1min + 5min	1min + b7maj	1min7 + 2min
Dominant	1maj + 5min	1maj + b7maj	1dom7 + 2min

In order to read the chart above, you will have to know your major scales. I will demonstrate how to use this chart in the key of C major, but feel free to check out my 300-pg course to learn all twelve major scales along with tons of major, minor, dominant, and diminished chords like the ones above!

C major scale

C — D — E — F — G — A — B — C

1 — 2 — 3 — 4 — 5 — 6 — 7 — 8

If you wanted to play a Cmaj9 chord, you would use the row titled “Major” and the column titled “9.”

Notice the formula for a maj9 chord is 1maj + 5maj.

If you know your major scales, then this will be very simple.

The number in front of “maj” corresponds to the major scale. The “1″ of C major is obviously C. So you’d play Cmaj on your left hand. The right hand chord, according to the formula, needs to be the 5maj chord of the scale.

Count up the C major scale…

C is 1 … D is 2… E is 3… F is 4… G is 5. Ding Ding Ding!

So on your right hand, you’d play Gmaj.

Cmaj9 = Cmaj + Gmaj

*Follow these same steps for all the other types of chords.

Altered Chords

In my GospelKeys 202 video course: “Mastering Worship Chords”, I cover a number of chord progressions that are used in worship music.

If you already have the course, you will know that one of my favorite progressions is the “7-3-6″.

This is a bit more advanced but certainly relevant for this section.

Instead of playing a major or minor chord on the left hand as I’ve demonstrated above, we will play a tritone on our left hand and a major chord on our right hand.

We’ve covered tritones in other newsletters but here is a brief summary:

1) Tritones are made up of diminished 5th intervals.

• From C to Gb would be a tritone interval.

2) Tritones are 3 whole steps apart.

• C to D (1 W) … D to E (2 W) … E to Gb (3 W)

3) Tritones split the piano in half.

• From C to Gb is the same distance as Gb to C. Gb is exactly the middle of C and the octave C.

4) Tritones also create the shell of dominant chords (3 + b7).

• C + Gb is the shell of an Ab7 chord (Ab + C + Eb + Gb). C is the 3rd of Ab and Gb is the b7.

There are twelve tritones but really only six unique ones because they start to repeat. Let me explain…

C to Gb

Db to G

D to Ab

Eb to A

E to Bb

F to B

— repeating starts —

Gb to C

G to Db

Ab to D

A to Eb

Bb to E

B to F

* Notice that the bottom sets of tritones are the same as the top but backwards.

Now… back to the 7-3-6 progression:

Normally, in the key of Db, I’d play a 7-3-6 like this:

Cmin11 —> F7 (#9#5) —> Bbmin9

Cmin11 = C on bass /// Eb G Bb D F on right hand

F7 (#9#5) = F on bass /// A Db Eb Ab on right hand

Bbmin9 = Bb on bass /// Ab C Db F on right hand

For the F7 (#9#5) altered chord, you can actually substitute the shell of F7. Remember, we are calling a “shell” the 3rd and b7th notes of any 7th chord. So the shell of F7 would be A and Eb. This is also called an upper structure voicing.

You should also know from above that A + Eb is a tritone!

So… on your left hand, play the A + Eb tritone.

On your right hand, simply play a Dbmaj chord (or the major chord of the key that you’re in). Wasn’t that simple?

Moving on…

Since the A + Eb can be played either way (with A on top or bottom), let’s switch our left hand to Eb + A instead. I like this sound better.

Left hand = Eb + A.

Now, here’s the trick with any 7-3 progression. We’ve covered the superimposed substitution for the F7 (#9#5) above. But what about the Cmin11 chord right before it? Can that be substituted?

It sure can!

Just take the: Eb + A /// Dbmaj and move it up one-half step.

E + Bb on left /// Dmaj on your right hand. This will take the place of your Cmin11 chord.

… So just to recap:

What used to be:

Cmin11 = C on bass /// Eb G Bb D F on right hand

F7 (#9#5) = F on bass /// A Db Eb Ab on right hand

Bbmin9 = Bb on bass /// Ab C Db F on right hand

Is now:

D major superimposed on top of (E+Bb) tritone

Db major superimposed on top of (Eb + A) tritone

* For the Bbmin9 chord, I would change the right hand to create:

Ab maj over Bb bass.

Here’s an audio example of how this progression should sound:

Concluding…

 

We didn’t even scratch the surface when it comes to superimposing chords on top of one another.

 

Yes, I covered major, minor, and dominant chords but there are series of other combinations that we couldn’t get to because of limits on space in this e-mail.

 

If you are truly serious about learning how to play the piano by ear, I recommend that you check out my newest gospel series: GospelKeys 202 video course: “Mastering Worship Chords”

Also, considering that the holidays are quickly approaching, GospelKeys 202 is a wonderful gift for any aspiring Gospel musician. In fact, since chords and progressions are used across different genres of music, there are tons of chords and voicings in GospelKeys 202 for R&B, jazz, and blues musicians!

Explore these chord types along with the GospelKeys 202 video course:

• Major triads; see pg chapter 5 of 300pg course

 

• Minor triads; see pg chapter 8 of 300pg course
• Major sixth chords; see pg chapter 13 of 300pg course
• Minor sixth chords; see pg chapter 13 of 300pg course
• Seventh (dominant) chords; see pg chapter 10 of 300pg course
• Minor seventh chords; see pg chapter 10 of 300pg course
• Major ninth chords; see pg chapter 14 of 300pg course

Well, I hope you enjoyed my November newsletter and I’ll be back in December! Take care!

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This concludes your November Online Classroom Lesson

If you were intrigued by the online classroom lesson above,

then you would definitely benefit from my course!

*** “The Secrets to Playing Piano By Ear” 300-pg Course ***

With 20 chapters and over 300 pages, the home piano course provides several resources, techniques, tips, principles, and theories to playing the piano by ear. Along with hundreds of chords and scales, you’ll also learn how to turn them into gospel, jazz and blues chord progressions and better yet, how to use them to play ABSOLUTELY any song you want … IN VIRTUALLY MINUTES! Again, don’t miss this opportunity. I’ve even added an additional bonus if you purchase the course this week — You can read more about the course at:

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Jermaine Griggs

www.HearandPlay.com

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Further References “The Secrets to Playing Piano By Ear” 300-pg Course [5] Chords & Progressions: pgs 65-78, 105-130, 147-165, 182-227. Do you know what a “2-5-1” or “3-6-2-5-1“ progression is? Or perhaps the famous 12-bar blues chord progression? In this piano course, you will not only learn how to play gospel, blues, and jazz progressions, but how to recognize them in songs. In addition, you will learn the simple techniques to playing these progressions, hymns, and songs in all 12 major keys! … Enjoy learning: The famous “2-5-1″ Chord Progression: pgs 114-120, 153-156, 208, 235-236. I - IV - I - V - I Chord Progressions: pgs 66-70. I - IV - V - IV - I Chord Progressions: pgs 77-78. Techniques behind the famous “5–>1″ progression: pgs 68-72. I –> IV, I –> V Chord Progressions: pgs 74-75. “Circle of Fifths” Chord Exercises: pg 78. Major and Minor Chord Progressions: pgs 105-130. “6 - 2 - 5 - 1″ Chord Progressions: pgs 121-122, 157-159. “3 - 6 - 2 - 5 - 1″ Chord Progressions: pgs 122-123, 160-162. “7 - 3 - 6 - 2 - 5 - 1″ Chord Progressions: pgs 124-125, 190-191. Gospel Chord Progressions … ranging from “up-tempo praise” chord Progressions to “worship-oriented” chord progressions: pgs 65-78, 105-130, 147-165, 182-227. Various Blues Progressions … 12-bar, seventh chords, diminished chords … and others: pgs 163-165, 192. Jazz Chord Progressions … using dominant ninth, eleventh and thirteenth chords: pgs 193-240 Study the different types of Root Progressions — closing, opening, circular and other types of progressions: pgs 121-122. Study how chord tones and scale degrees relate to each other [which chord progressions are most likely to be compatible]: pgs 122-130. Learn various “turn-around” progressions [used in gospel music]: pg 213-214. If you don’t have the 300-pg Course, click here to read more about it.

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“The Secrets to Playing Piano By Ear” 300pg Course - Learn the secrets to playing literally any song on the piano with a few simple, “easy-to-understand” techniques and principles! Join Jermaine Griggs in learning tons of music theory, concepts, and tricks that will help you to learn piano by ear! Thousands of musicians have already taken advantage of this excellent program … why not you? “The Secrets to Playing Piano By Ear” is full of easy-to-understand tricks, tips, techniques and secrets to playing piano by ear! For this month only, I’ve also been able to throw in a few bonus items (3 additional piano software programs). Click here to learn the secrets to playing absolutely any song on the piano in virtually minutes! You won’t regret it!

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