Tip: THE "5"
In a previous post we tinkered with a chord’s 9. This time we take a look at a major chord’s 5.
Five, Nine? What are these? Quick refresher. Let’s see the notes of a chord and the numbers we refer to them with:
C, E, G
One, Three, Five
Take a look at the bigger picture: ONE of the scales that includes the C major chord:
C D E F G A B C D
If you count to the D, you’ll see it is nine. But back to the fifth of the chord. Here’s what happens when you increase the fifth of a C major chord by one half step, or one fret:
--- -1- -1- -2- -3- ---
That’s a C Major Augmented or a C+5. What can you do with such a creature? How about put it in place of a regular C major chord:
|-1-1--|--------| |-3-0--|-1-1----| |-2-0--|-1-0----| |-0-3--|-2-2----| |------|-3-3----| |------|--------|
You won’t find a C+5 in any major scale — that’s one of the reasons it might sound kind of surprising to you. You will find it in these two minor scales: harmonic and melodic minor. And because it shares two notes with the minor chord whose root is a third below the root of the plus 5 chord, you can experiment with substituting the plus 5 for that minor chord. Here’s an example:
|-----|------| |-6-6-|-5----| |-7-7-|-5----| |-7-6-|-6----| |---7-|-3----| |-7---|------|
Have fun exploring the Major Augmented chord. Thanks for reading.
Copyright © 2008 Darrin Koltow
This first appeared in the Guitar Noise News – September 1, 2006 newsletter. Reprinted with permission.