There are 7 unique and distinct types of chord that each have their own identity .
( for each of the 12 notes ) .

If we begin with the note C .

Let's look at these 7 unique chords
( displayed in the order of Bright to dark)

C maj7.........C..........E........G.........B.....
Cdom7.........C..........E........G........Bb....
Cmin7..........C..........Eb.......G........Bb....
Cmin7b5......C.........Eb.......Gb.......Bb...
Cdim7..........C.........Eb........Gb.......A....

Now the minor types ( Subset )

Cminmaj......C.........Eb........G.........B......
Cmin7..........C.........Eb........G.......Bb......
Cmin6..........C.........Eb........G........A......


We can now get used to what makes each of these different from each other and unique.

( we want to do this for each of the 12 notes )

 

Is the intention to file every chord out there? Cuz there are still a lot of other types of chords, especially tetrads. Wouldn't be also interesting to classify them according to their function and application in a due context? That would actually be an easier task, believe me.

 

Hi , how are you doing ?

Thanks for the conversation.

Could you write out some of what you mean by that ?

Thanks my friend .

 

I meant that there are other "unique" chords and when it comes to tetrads the list is huge, like for example the augmented chords family you didn't mention.

And for function and context it would be useful to correlate the detailed chords to a practical context, like, for example, here's Chico Buarque using maj7 chord to establish a tonal center (acting as a tonic):

Here's Debussy using augmented chords that don't have any clear function besides creating tension:

But augmented chords can have a dominant function, like in this example: Oh! Darling (Remastered 2009) - YouTube

Same thing with dom7 chords, that can act as dominant (most of the cases in the classical and romantic period) and not act as dominants (like in the case of Blues and Jazz).

And so on...

I believe this would be a more useful approach to your proposition.

 

Hi my friend ,

Augmented chord is a subset of the dominant chord .
( so it doesn't count as a unique distinct chord .)
It falls underneath the listed Dominant 7 chord family tree .

As for function, and of the 7 unique types of chord can be used on any function.

( function is a deeper level of detail than chord types.

Once you zoom into the function you are on
( if you are even playing tonal music language. )

Then you create a list of the specific chords which are available for your function .)

You begin by listing the 7 main type of unique and distinct chords ( for that function )

Then each of the 7 main type of unique and distinct chords has all the specific chords which are a subset of it .

Example .
12 tone e.t.
Tonal music language
Key of C major .

Establish the function
Step 1 [ Tonic Function ]

Step 2 establish the 7 type of unique and distinct chords ( in THIS context of tonic function key of C major )

Cmajor7
D7
Aminmaj
Amin7
Amin6
Emin7 ( Gmaj6 )
F#min7b5


Step 3 go into the subset category of the distinct chord types in order to create Voicings and use of color notes .

Cmaj7 - subset
----------------------------
C6 , Cmaj13#11 , Cmaj9
Emin7/C , Gmaj/C
Etc. ( including particular voicings of inversions)

So the information which you are describing related to other chords and voicings are all subsets .

Example .
The augmented is already implied as a subset of the
Dominant7 chord.

( these exist inside each of the 7 unique and distinct type of chord )

Thanks for the conversation with you .
I enjoy it my friend.

All 7 types of unique chord are in
Each function.

 

Last edited: Nov 13, 2021

A tetrad is a set of four notes in music theory. When these four notes form a tertian chord they are more specifically called a seventh chord, after the diatonic interval from the root of the chord to its fourth note (in root position close voicing). Four-note chords are often formed of intervals other than thirds in 20th- and 21st-century music.

Learned something new today, thanks.

 

Its pretty amazing realization that all of the 7
Unique and distinct types of chord are contained in
EACH function of a key !

Let's look at the key of C major for example .
12 tone e.t.
Functional harmony ( tonal music language )

Tonic function chords key of C major
Cmaj7 ( C6 )
Aninmaj
Amin7
Amin6
D7 ( D13 )
Emin7 ( G6 )
F#min7b5
Gmaj7 ( G6 )
-----
Cminmaj
Cmin7
Cmin6
Cdim7




Subdominant function key of C major
Fmaj7 ( F6 )
Dmin7 ( F6)

Abmaj7 ( Ab6)
Dbmaj7 ( Db6 )
Bb7
Dmin7b5
Fminmaj
Fmin7
Fmin6
F#dim7 ( F7 , Ab7, B7, D7 )


Dominant function key of C major
G7
Bmin7b5

Bdim7 ( Ddim7,Fdim7,Abdim7)
G7, Bb7, Db7, E7

Abminmaj
Abmin6
Fmin7b5
Gmin7b5
Db7
Db6. ( Bbmin7 )
Eb7

So , it really blows the doors open when we get to that point of realizing every chord type is available for each function .

 

Last edited: Nov 13, 2021

Oh, now its clearer what you meant, I have no problems with that, really useful insight

 

Plus , I also really enjoy yourself and everything that you bring into the conversation

 

This is fascinating. Could you expand on how an augmented chord is a subset of the dominant chord? I understand the rest of the relationships.
I don't use a lot of augmented chords so that could be part in my lack of understanding.
I know the augmented chord is 1 3 #5 (two major triads). How does that fit into a dominant chord family?
Dominant is 1 3 5 b7. I don't see the relationship at all ... dominant having a natural 5 and augmented having a #5.

 

Hello my friend,

Sure

Let's first look at how all 12 notes work in
a [ V7 / I ] in the key of C major

( using voice leading )

[ V7 / Imajor ] key of C major
G7 / Cmaj

C is root of C major ( B/C)( C#/ C)
C# is #11th of G7 ( C#/C ) , ( C#/ D )
D is 5th of G7 or 9th of Cmajor (D#/D)(C#/D)
D# is b13th or #5th of G7 ( D#/E)(D#/D)
E is 3rd of Cmajor (F/E)
F is 7th of G7 (F/E)(F/F#)
F# is #11th of C major ( F/F#) (G/F#)
G is 5th of C maj or Root of G7
G# is b9th of G7 ( G#/G)(G#/A)
A is 13th of C major or 9th of G7
A# is #9th of G7 ( A#/A)(A#/B)
B is 3rd of G7 or 7th of Cmajor (B/C) ( A#/B)
C is root of Cmajor ( B/C)(C#/B)


G augmented is G B D#
The D# is a sharp 5th of the chord , however
It is the b13th of G7
The D# resolves to D of C major or resolves to E of C major .

The Augmented chord is a subset of the dominant 7
Chord because it is an alteration tension note which creates an exclamation point when resolving to the tonic function.

( D#/D or D#/E )

V7 to I

G7 to Cmajor

Gaug to Cmajor
G B D# G C E


When we look above we can see that sometimes there are instances
When a note or chord can be used in more than one function

In the above example we have

D is 5th of G7 or 9th of Cmajor
G is 5th of G7 or Root of C major


The augmented is another one of these instances as well .
(The augmented as a Chord in the C majors relative minor)

A harmonic minor
A B C D E F G#

Aminmaj ACEG#

( the C augmented C E G# )

We can also see the 3rd mode of A harmonic minor

CDEFG#AB

Cmaj7#5 ( CEG#B)

So , here we can see that in this instance the
C Augmented is a Subset of A harmonic minor .

If we also look at A melodic minor
ABCDEF#G#

We have
Aminmaj
Cmaj7#5

So the Augmented chord
Is a subset of a dominant function or a tonic function .
Or subdominant function
If we look at the 7 main type of unique chord I list originally

The minormajor directly has the Augmented chord right inside of it.

So as with other situations where notes or chords can work in more than one function ,

The augmented chord is built right into
The MinorMajor
And it is built right into a dominant chord
( as an altered extension note )

The augmented chord is in two of our
Main 7 unique types of our chord .

 

Last edited: Nov 13, 2021

Wow, thanks! I'm going to have to read that over a few times.

 

A little bonus for fun lol

( G aug as G7 )
G aug to C maj

G To G
B to C
D# to E

G aug as B7

G aug to E major

G to G#
B to B
D# to E

G aug as Eb7

G aug to Abmaj

G to Ab
B to C
D# to D#

V7 to I key of C maj
V7 to I key of E maj
V7 to I key of Abmaj

 

This really is fun!!

 

Message from the Vatican follows...
Please forgive our Holy Father for his momentary lapse in moral judgement.
What he meant to say was "wow! - too much of this will make you go blind".
As for the circumstances - the devil is in the detail.

 

Last edited: Nov 14, 2021

Some Pros and Cons of what I've read so far. having narrowly avoided a Papal orgasm

The idea of categorising chords into types and subtypes is OK - BUT...
I think you need to emphasise (maybe more than you already have done) that any such categorising is totally dependent on your assumed functional harmony framework.

So if I wrote these two statements
[Statement 1] These chords are a subset of those chords.
[Statement 2] In a traditional functional harmony context, these chords can be viewed as a subset of those chords.

It may sound like I'm just saying the same thing twice - but no.
[Statement 1] is dogmatic, absolute, and has a misleading 'here are the rules' tone.
[Statement 2] is possibly interesting to explore, with a 'here are some guidelines' tone.

and that means your thread would benefit a lot from clarifying the functional harmony context which you think is relevant
- what are the all the available harmonic functions.
AND from discussing the relevance (or not) of that functional harmony context in today's music - and that will be far more controversial.

For example,
@Djord Emer already mentioned a Debussy example and he described it as
"Debussy using augmented chords that don't have any clear function besides creating tension"

Your response was...
"Augmented chord is a subset of the dominant chord .
(so it doesn't count as a unique distinct chord.)
It falls underneath the listed Dominant 7 chord family tree."

And I claim that this is an example of the [Statement 1] dogmatic answer.
It avoided addressing the still unresolved issue that Debussy's use of augmented seems to fall outside of your categorisation scheme.

Why am I exaggerating the above distinction? Well, I am actually not trying to be a contrarian.
I am just recognising that for huge swathes of modern music this categorisation system may be less useful than hoped.

Huge swathes of modern music simply neglect traditional functional harmony.
You may (legitimately) claim that modern pop music is still using functional harmony but just doesn't know it (in ignorance).
But an equally valid claim is that lots of modern music has simply drifted very far away from using traditional functional harmony and, for anyone composing in this context, your chord categorising system may propose pseudo-rules that are actually unhelpful.

To summarise...

I (sincerely) wish you well in your attempt to categorise chords into families with subtypes, etc.
But the dependence on assumed traditional functional harmony needs to be acknowledged and made much more explicit.

It would be a very valuable, and hopefully not off topic, addition if notions of function in modern music got discussed far more.
i.e., how different is harmonic function today compared to the quaint (but still valuable) tonic dominant pre-dominant, etc, of yesteryear?

Good luck with that though.
I for one am more inclined to heed the warning of our resident Pope and avoid too much orgasmic interaction with this aspect of theorising.

=============

UPDATE-EDIT:-
(1) Firstly, I just noticed that most of what I recommended above is what @Djord Emer already suggested (I just woffle more)
(2) If you do decide to spell out more clearly, the functional harmony context within which your chord categorisation might apply, then please try to use other people's already valiant attempts at keeping it simple.
I know that's insanely difficult - but it's worth trying.

Here's an example of what I think would be a nice balance between simple and complex and may help your readers to see your functional harmony context.

From https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/HarmonicFunction.html

 

Last edited: Nov 14, 2021

Hi my friend,

Its nice to speak with you .

The 7 types of distinct and unique chord as shown in the o.p. is independent of which type of harmonic language it is .

12 tone e.t.
Is broken up into
Tonal language ( functional harmony)
Modal language
Polytonal language
Atonal language .

Each of these languages works totally different at the deep level of meaning ( how the harmony relationships work ) even though they all use the same patterns of information.

In terms of the 7 types unique types of distinct chord , this information is equally used in any of the four languages of 12 tone e.t.

I addressed some aspects related to functional harmony when it was brought up the relevance of that context.

In terms of your question about the augmented chord .
The augmented chord is a subset of a dominant 7 chord or a Minor major chord .
One of the really cool things we writers can do is how when we write or play things we can use ambiguity in our composition.
This means stripping what is played down.
For instance say the harmonic blueprint of the portion of the song is AminorMajor for a section and as a composer
I decide to play C augmented.
Its a way for me to leave space.
A minmaj is ACEG#
But what being played is CEG# ( C aug )
( for reasons of simply liking that stripped down sound

Another example say the key is C major the harmonic blueprint for a portion of my song is

G7 / Imaj

And I decide to play this

G B D# to G C E

G augmented pulling us toward C triad.

Another example is key of C major

Subdominant/ tonic

As harmonic blueprint of a song .

And I might use

Fminmaj / Cmajor

F Ab C E to E G C E

( Ab augmented)

So in these above examples I showed
The augmented chord used in
Tonic , subdominant, or dominant function.

( because you asked about functional harmony)

And we can see demonstrable information

( its not someone's opinion, but a mathematical relationship , a pattern in harmony that the augmented is a subset of the 7 distinct unique chords .
I have demonstrated it. )
The augmented chord is a subset of a MinorMajor
( which is a distinct and unique chord)
The augmented chord us a subset of a Dominant 7
( which is a distinct and unique chord )
This isn't some type of insult to augmented, calling it names or saying it is less than .
It is simply about prioritization of the relationships of patterns and the order they emerge in harmony.
( the structures that SUBSETS of the 7 distinct and unique chords are not thought of as less than , its only about making it easier to understand the relationships of patterns in harmony)

For example.

Let's take one of the 7 distinct and unique chords

C major 7

Next , as a subset nested inside of this is
The major 6
C6 CEGA

( this doesn't at all mean its crappier than the major 7 not at all )


Next , let's add the 9th D to it .

So C maj 6/9 CEGAD ( Amin pentatonic)

( just because this specific chord is a subset of Cmajor7
Does not in any way imply it is less than .
It ONLY shows that it is a subset in the major 7 family tree .
This specific chord C maj 6 / 9
Regarding myself , is used much more than
The C major7 CEGB

So , being a subset of a family tree
( such as augmented)
Is not implying that it is less important or even less used.

Its just that , there is so much information related to harmony ( in terms of a human being memorizing it )

We have to understand the patterns and relationships in terms of their order of emergence.

When it comes to the 7 distinct and unique types of chord . It gives us a small package of information on the surface
( which then we can expand to include all the minutiae of full detail so we don't have to think of pages worth of information in our mind at once )

Let's look at how it works a little bit more .


Let's take the G7 GBDF (G dominant 7)
distinct and unique chord.

And look at its subset .

G7 GBDF
Bmin7b5 BDFA
Bdim7 BDFAb
Ddim7 DFAbB
Fdim7 FAbDB
Db7
Eb7
Fmin7b5
Gmin7b5
Db6
Bbmin7
G aug
B aug
D# aug


G Mixolydian
GABCDEFG

G half whole diminished
G G# A# B C# D E F G

G altered
G G# A# B C# D# F G

G lydian Dominant
G A B C# D E F G

G wholetone
G A B C# D# F G

We can see all this information is a subset of

G7 GBDF

It is nested inside ( what G7 actually means )

And when it comes to things we play using it

( whether simplification such as
V7 to I
G7 / Cmaj
Playing BDF to CEG

Or G7 to Cmaj

Played as

C#FG#A#D#GG# to
CEGBDF#A

G7 / Cmaj

C# to C
F to E
G# to G
A# to B
D# to D
G to F#
G# to A


Either case are nested inside one of the 7 distinct and unique chords ( this case G dominant 7 G7
As a subset of information.


Regarding your chart of functions moving through a progression, I am going to create a entire thread about that. ( a mini bite)
Because there is a more fundamental relationship
Called ( ' the 3 functional blueprints ')
Which the information in those charts is emergent from .

Thanks for your conversation, I appreciate how much your interactions add to this thread making it more enjoyable and I really enjoy when people get involved in interacting .

 

Last edited: Nov 14, 2021

A) When you subdivide an 8va in 2 equal parts, what do you get?
B) When you subdivide an 8va in 3 equal parts, what do you get?
C) When you subdivide an 8va in 4 equal parts, what do you get?
... simmetry = tension... right? Why?
D) What is the single ratio which ends up forming the 12 TET, thus all other intervals?
E) Why sets of 5 tones are predominant (melodically) ?
F) Why then the Major scales has seven tones (harmonically) ?
G) Now define diatonicism...

Cheers

 

I'll take [ Basic , Trivial , yet Pedantic ]
For one penny please....

 

My apologies if going back to the obvious basics spouts such reaction in you - it was not a sort of personal attack intent.
I just felt I had to do it, given your previous statements here (not to mention the other ones found in other threads you've opened).
Would you care going through from A to G?

Cheers