A Player's Guide to Chords and Harmony

a player's guide to

choiIshorfflooy

Music Theory for Real-World Musicians

by Jim Aikin

CONTENTS

Preface
.................................................... vii

Acknowledgments
........................................... ix

Chapter 1:
Getting Started
.................................. 1

How to Study This Book
................................... 2

The Elements of Music
.................................... 3

Pitch
.................................................... 5

Playing In Tune
.......................................... 6

Lines, Intervals & Chords
.................................. 8

The 12-Note Chromatic Scale
............................. 10

Do-Re-Mi
............................................... 15

Key Signatures & Accidentals
............................. 16

Major Keys, Scales & the Circle of Fifths
.................... 18

Enharmonic Equivalents
.................................. 20

Chapter 2:
Intervals
........................................ 23

Narrowing & Widening the Intervals
....................... 25

Intervals vs. Scale Steps & Chord Members
................. 29

More Ways to Alter Intervals
.............................. 30

Stacking Intervals
........................................ 32

Inverted intervals
........................................ 34

Sound Colors
........................................... 35

How to Hear Intervals
.................................... 37

Chapter 3:
Triads
.......................................... 41

The Diatonic Triads in the Major Scale
..................... 42

Chord Names of Triads
................................... 43

Inversions of Triads
...................................... 46

Open & Closed Voicings
.................................. 47

Doubled Notes & Dropped Notes
.......................... 49

Chapter 4:
Chord Progressions
............................. 53

Measures & Beats
........................................ 54

Assigning Chords to Measures & Beats
..................... 56

Choosing Chords by the Numbers
......................... 58

Figured Bass
............................................ 59

The Importance of the Tonic
.............................. 61

Phrases & Cadences
...................................... 63

Major & Minor Keys
..................................... 64

Other Diatonic Progressions
.............................. 66

Chapter 5:
7th Chords & Chord Symbols
.................... 69

Stacking Another 3rd on a Triad
........................... 69

Chord Symbol Abbreviations
.............................. 73

Inverting 7th Chords
..................................... 76

Progressions Using 7th Chords
............................ 78

The Circle of Fifths
...................................... 82

7th Chord Voicings
...................................... 84

Altering Single Notes
..................................... 86

Chapter 6:
Extended Chords
............................... 89

9th Chords
............................................. 91

More About Chord Symbols
.............................. 93

11th Chords
............................................ 94

13th Chords
............................................ 96

Voicings Using 9ths, 11ths & 13ths
........................ 97

Ambiguous Voicings
.................................... 101