A - something-or-other Chord......

Could be an A7sus4add13

A D E G F#
1 4 5 7 13

But I think Em9 (without the open A) or Em9/A (with the open A) sounds better.

Correction, that should be Em9 -5 or Em9-5/A

So never mind about it sounding better.

Thanks Nick.......

:) :) :)

Four choices for the root, five if you count the open A string.

Figure the spellings for each root...the notes are A-E-G-D-F#

A (1-5-b7-11-13) = A13 (no third, no ninth)
E (1-b3-b7-9-11) = Em11 (no fifth)
G (1-5-7-9-13) = Gmaj13 (no third, no eleventh)
D (1-3-5-9-11) = Dmaj11 or D11 (no seventh)
F# (1-b3-b7-b9-11) = F#m11b9 (no fifth)

I wouldn't call it any kind of sus chord - a suspended chord lacks a third, and only the A and G roots are missing thirds - but if G is the root, there's no fourth (or 11th) to suspend, and if A is the root, the 11th bridges the gap to the 13th, so no point in calling it suspended.

Chord names depend on context - that's why C6 and Am7 have the same notes. Starting from A, you build tension by suspending the fourth... the listener expects resolution to a D (the suspended fourth becoming the root), a G (suspended fourth becomes the fifth), or possibly a Bm (the fourth becomes the third). Instead, you continue to build tension by adding the b7; now the ear wants resolution to a root a fifth lower - some D chord.

If you resolve the new chord to something else, like Gmaj7 or something along those lines, I'd call your chord D11. If it's the end of the progression, I'd call it Dmaj11. And if you move directly to a D major, or something like it from the new chord, I'd call it A13.

Scary - I almost understood that!

Well, the sequence I was messing about with was A/Asus4/A7sus4/ then the un-named(!) chord, repeated 4 times in all: then for the last line of a 5-line verse, Gm7, F#m and E - so D11 in this context, then?

i'd just call it a
Dmajor 11 (no 7th)
D F# A C E G

it doesnt really 'make sense' as an A chord

Yeah, I'd go with D11. Ending on E, you're going V of iii - iii - ii - I for a chromatic finish, and the D11 resolves down naturally.

The reason I was calling it an "A-something chord,Alex, was purely and simply because of the preceding chords - A,Asus4,A7sus4 - its the A7sus4 chord with the 6th (F#/Gb) added.......So I figured (OK guessed!!!) at A7sus4 add 6........as I was building from the original A chord I thought it would have to be A-something........

Now that Tom has explained about context & resolution I understand a whole lot better.....

As some of you may have guessed by now, theory is not my strongest point...........

But every day, in every way, I'm getting a little better.......

:) :) :)

hey Tom can you explain that post about the D11 ending on an E, chromatically finished, D11 resolving down..

i cant connect the dots in my head.

Alex, jazz works the other way - you don't take theory and explain a progression that's happened, you use theory to make a progression out of something else. If you look took the chord tones he plays:

A = A-C#-E
Asus4 = A-D-E
A7sus4 = A-D-E-G
D11 = D-F#-A-(C)-E-G
Gm7 = G-Bb-D-F
F#m = F#-A-C#
E = E-G#-B

and you try to make a scale, you've got:

E-F-F#-G-G#-A-Bb-B-(C)-C#-D... you're only missing D# and you've got a chromatic scale. You'll go nuts trying to analyze jazz from the standpoint of traditional theory; jazz is about applying possibilities. It's kind of like putting stuff through a meat grinder - it's easy to grind up hamburger; it's impossible to reassemble the cow.

Let's work the other way instead: taking a basic chromatic progression in E minor, IV-III-iiº-i. In this case, A-G-F#º-Em. Now let's see if we can get from here to there...

You can substitute a major for a minor (borrowing from the parallel key) - we'll do that twice, on G and Em:
A-Gm-F#º-E

You can extend a chord for part or all of its duration: A-A7-Gm7-F#º7-E

You can add a root a half step lower than a note in a diminished 7th chord to get a 7b9 (F#-A-C-Eb becomes F-A-C-Eb-Gb): A-A7-Gm7-F7b9-E

You can simplify the 7b9: A-A7-Gm7-F7-E

You can substitute a m7 chord for a dominant chord when the m7 is a half step higher than the chord its replacing: A-A7-Gm7-F#m7-E

You can simplify that: A-A7-Gm7-F#m-E

You can lead into a chord with a dominant chord that's a fifth higher: A-A7-D7-Gm-F#m-E

And extend that: A-A7-D11-Gm-F#m-E

When a dominant chord is followed by a dominant chord that includes a third, you can suspend the first dominant - the suspension becomes the root, the fifth becomes the third: A-A7sus4-D11-Gm-F#m-E

And we can anticipate that suspended 7th by simplification: A-Asus4-A7sus4-D11-Gm7-F#m-E.

Look familiar? :)

And I just put them together 'cause I thought they sounded nice.......!!!

:D

that's what music theory does, organizes simplicity in complexity