TRIADS The most fun you will be having all day…DON’T DISPUTE ME!

FUN DAMENTALS The triad is a 3-note chord consisting of a 5 th divided into superimposed 3rds 4 possible ways to combine Major and minor 3rds to create our triad M3m3M3m3 M3M3m3m3 Major and minor are the MOST commonly used Augmented is used the least often +5P5 ◦5◦5

SEVENTH CHORDS If we are feeling dangerous and want to add another 3 rd on top of the 5 th of the triad, the result would be a 4 note chord (oooooooh, aaaaaaaaah) Since the interval between the root and the added note is some kind of 7 th we call it a…….SEVENTH CHORD Due to the high volume of 7ths and triad combinations, there are many more 7 th chord possibilities than triad possibilities We will only be using 5 seventh-chord types What are the 5 types you ask? Well good think you asked…

SEVENTH CHORD TYPES Major Seventh Major Minor Seventh Minor Seventh Half Diminished SeventhFully diminished Seventh M7Mm7M7Ø7 ◦7 Major Triad & M7 Major Triad & m7minor triad & m7 Diminished triad & m7Diminished triad & ◦7

TRIAD + SEVENTH CHORD INVERSIONS Let the games begin!

INVERSIONS (AND A LITTLE FIGURED BASS) So far all we have seen is the ROOT being the bottom note (AKA Root Position) What happens if we change the bottom note to another part of the chord? If the 3 rd of the chord is in the bass we have FIRST INVERSION If the 5 th of the chord is in the bass we have SECOND INVERSION For Seventh Chords you would follow a similar route: If the Root is in the bass we have ROOT POSITION If the 3 rd is in the bass we have FIRST INVERSION If the 5 th is in the bass we have SECOND INVERSION If the 7 th is in the bass we have THIRD INVERSION

INVERSION SYMBOLS AND FIGURED BASS

LEAD SHEET SYMBOLS A correlation is demonstrated between the 18 th and 19 th century figured bass system and the frequently used jazz chord symbols Only difference? The jazz symbols show you the chord to be played (with inversions or sevenths) instead of just the bass note with a symbol next to it