assitance with a chord

To name a chord (without a musical context), try arranging it in intervals of major and/or minor3rds.
If you call the Gb, F# instead, then you can arrange the notes as B - D - F#, which makes the chord B minor (a minor 3rd plus a major 3rd makes a minor chord).

FYI - A minor 3rd is 3 semitones or half steps and a major 3rd is 4

Naming chords though, does depend on context. If what you're playing on the guitar is arranged to go over a particular bass note or arpeggio, then the chord name could radically change.

one other question, am I correct that calling the next note in the chord F# vs. Gb had to do with being able to neatly arrange the notes in intervals of thirds?

one other question, am I correct that calling the next note in the chord F# vs. Gb had to do with being able to neatly arrange the notes in intervals of thirds?

Yes. The kind of everyday harmony in which chords are built and named is called 'tertian' harmony, meaning harmony based on 3rds. All standard chords are built this way. For example G major = G B D, which is three notes separated by 3rds. G7 = G B D F which is just G major with another 3rd on top. G9 = G B D F A, which is yet another 3rd on top.

Exceptions are chords such as Sus chords, which contain the interval of a 4th above the root instead of a 3rd. (e,g G sus = G C D).

thanks for the additional explanation. so let me try this then to see if this is sinking into my profoundly thick skull

Let say I play the following:

A (at 6th string, 5th fret)
C#/Db (played at 5th string, 4th fret)
A (at 4th string, 7th fret)

in this case, that C# is a major third above A so this is basically an A5 major? Based on what was shared by you guys, calling this a Db would have been incorrect since the Db would not be a third abouve a but a 4th? If I had played that C# up a half step to D, this would make a D5/A? Hope this doesn't sound completely ridiculous. Good exercise because it is forcing me to dig up some long forgotten concepts.

A - C# is a major 3rd but it wouldn't be an A5 chord. Where did you get the number 5 from?

In fact it would be an incomplete chord, or simply, an interval of a 3rd. A chord in tertian harmony needs at least two 3rds to qualify as a chord. So A major = A C# E (a major 3rd plus a minor 3rd)
In practice, though, your A - C#, could function perfectly well as an A major chord. Even though the E is missing, it's there in spirit and we would hardly notice its absence.

A5, as its name suggests, is based on a the interval of a 5th and its notes are A - E. It's another of the exceptions, I mentioned above.

Back to your A - C# interval. Yes calling it Db would obscure its simplest relationship with A, which is a 3rd.

Yes, raising the C# to D would give you a D5/A chord.

A5 - now that I see your explanation, I see that I commited an error in nomenclature. Was thinking power chord. But I think I am beginning to understand this a little better. Thanks again for the explanation. This has been a big help

I'll quibble that it is a chord.

In classical theory a chord is a combination of 3 or more notes. That guitarists call intervals chords doesn't make it so. But to be fair it's becoming a common nomenclature.

I'll quibble that it is a chord.

In classical theory a chord is a combination of 3 or more notes. That guitarists call intervals chords doesn't make it so. But to be fair it's becoming a common nomenclature.

Which one are you quibbling about? The A - C# interval or the power chord?

A - C# is technically an interval, as I said above, but it can easily function as a chord, and, in the right context, is accepted as a major chord by musicians of all persuasions, not just the guitar playing variety. Lots of Haydn string quartets, for example, end on it.

The (5) Power chord - yes, as we know, that's just a guitarists name for two notes forming the interval of a 5th, or a simple chord with a missing 3rd. So, technically an interval, but, again, it can also function as a chord in that, in the right context we can often tell whether the missing 3rd is major or minor.

The last time we had this discussion, two heavyweight authorities were quoted. If memory serves, Musenfreund quoted Grove's dictionary of music and musicians which defined a chord as 3 notes, and NoteBoat quoted Harvard dictionary of Music, which defined it as 2. (apologies if I've misquoted anyone).

This apparant contradiction confirmed my own belief that a chord, as its etymology suggests, is just a collection of different notes sounding together, and it's the context that determines whether or not it actually is a chord. If it functions as a chord and sounds like a chord, then it is a chord.
Also the difference of definition is only apparent, not real. Yes, in tertian harmony, a chord is a minimum of three notes, but not all have to actually be present. The 5th can often be omitted without adversely affecting its quality as a chord. So both definitions are correct.

This is similar to a 13th chord containing 7 notes separated by 3rds (as defined in tertian harmony) but still being a 13th chord if we omit notes such as the 11th or 9th.

Imagine a 100 piece orchestra with every pitched instrument ending on the notes A and C#. (as can easily happen at a V7 - I cadence, where the 5th (E) is avoided in order to avoid parallel 5ths). To call those dozens of As and C#s an interval and not a resounding final chord, misses the point of its function.

Which is why I said I'd quibble and not tell you you're wrong :)

I'm of the "3 notes is a chord" camp.

Though I also do contend that omitted notes can often be properly assumed when analyzing music to infer a chord. And as a Jazz player I'm more than guilty of playing just the notes I feel like rather than quite what's written. More than one 7th chord has passed over my strings as just the 3rd and b7th :)

But when I'm being pedantic I go for the 3 notes definition. I think that when talking about the function of what is played you are looking at it entirely in context, and in that context the notes that need to be inferred can be inferred.

But if you just give me a piece of music with nothing on it but the notation of a single power chord, I would not call it a chord.

I'm in the three-notes-for-a-chord camp too (and so's the Harvard Dictionary). But I think we're really talking about two different things here...

A dyad (or interval) can function as a chord, but it can't be assumed to. The notes F-B can imply a G7 chord when they resolve to C-E... but they can also imply a Db7, or any of a number of other chords. I use two-note chords all the time, especially if I'm playing with a large ensemble.

But without the resolution, it's simply an interval. In the case being discussed here, the notes A-C# might be an A major chord, but without context you simply can't tell. Since there's no tension present, they're not pressed to resolve anywhere, and we lack enough information to even name it - add an F# note and it's suddenly F#m; add F and you have a tension... is it F+? Db+? something else? We simply don't know.

I'm in the three-notes-for-a-chord camp too (and so's the Harvard Dictionary). But I think we're really talking about two different things here...

A dyad (or interval) can function as a chord, but it can't be assumed to. The notes F-B can imply a G7 chord when they resolve to C-E... but they can also imply a Db7, or any of a number of other chords. I use two-note chords all the time, especially if I'm playing with a large ensemble.

But without the resolution, it's simply an interval. In the case being discussed here, the notes A-C# might be an A major chord, but without context you simply can't tell. Since there's no tension present, they're not pressed to resolve anywhere, and we lack enough information to even name it - add an F# note and it's suddenly F#m; add F and you have a tension... is it F+? Db+? something else? We simply don't know.

Sorry for misquoting. It must have been that Grove said 2 and Harvard said 3.

But I don't think we're talking about two different things. I think we (and both dictionaries) are all saying the same thing. A chord in theory has at least three notes, but in practice, as you've noted, there are many contexts where only two notes of those three (or more) notes have to be actually present.

Psssst http://www.guitarchordsmagic.com/guitar-chord-finder.html