I'm writing a chord progression for a poem my friend sent me. However, I'm not sure how to document it, as I'm stuck with this one chord I don't know how to write...
It consists of A, E, and F#.
I can't think of a chord name for this - I thought F#m7, but there's no third. When there's no thrid what do you do? At the moment, I wrote it as an F#/A (which is correct for the first chord, but not the second instance). Guitar Pro says A6 (no5)...
Actually, now I'm using guitar pro to find the chord names, so it seems to be alright. But is that how you notate something like that?
-lunchmeat
F#m7 is fine. There IS a third. It's A. There's no FIFTH - but unlike the third, the fifth is expendable.
The 'correct' name for a chord always depends on context. Not all guitar voicings of chords have every note in the chord, so it's sometimes very difficult to give the right name to a collection of notes.
If I had to take a stab at it all by itself, I'd say it's F#m7 (F#-A-C#-E) with no fifth - (A is the third; C# is missing)... but the 'right' name could be something else entirely, depending on your progression.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
YEah, I've got a nice little progression, but as for the correct chord names in this progression, I have no idea. How do you decide on the right names for a given progression? I mean, I guess you'd have to stay in key, but all chords do that...do you have to pay attention to leading tones or something? How does that entire thing work? I think in terms of the sounds themselves, not the names of the sounds...so it's a little difficult for me.
-lunchmeat
Chord names depend on the root motion in the progression.
Take a chord like Dm7 (D-F-A-C). It's the exact same tones as F6 (F-A-C-D)... they're synonyms of each other.
It's when you put the chord in the context of a progression that one name or the other stands out as being 'right'. If the chord progression is:
C7 -> ?
the chord would be F6; A dominant chord type usually moves down by a fifth (called an authentic cadence); a fifth below C is F.
On the other hand, if the progression was:
Am7 -> ? -> G9 -> C
the name would be Dm7; here the progression is again based on a root motion in fifths, vi-ii-V-I.
Other logical interval steps can be used too... a progression that went:
C -> ? -> Em7
would be a stepwise root movement, giving Dm7 for the name.
In some cases the progression itself isn't even enough; you need to take into account the character of the music. If the progression went:
C -> ? -> G7 -> C
it comes down to a genre call; if it's a blues/rock type of tune, you could make a case for a I-IV-V progression, so the chord would be F6... but if it's a jazzy number with some key modulations, it's more likely a ii-V-I, making the chord Dm7.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
