08/11/2022
***** PIANO DIET*****
TOPIC: FOUR NOTE CHORD
Four note chords are build the same way as triads, but they contain one more
(major or minor) third, and therefore there are twice as much possible
combinations as for triads. Not all these possible combinations are really useful
in practice; in fact, some chords that do not consist exclusively of intervals of
thirds are used more often than some “pure” thirds based chords.
Four Note chords are simply triads with 1 note added. The four note chord Cmaj7 would be played C, E, G and B from bottom to top.
By the addition of just one more note to the triad we get much more color. There are basically seven types of four note chords. Like the triads we can build four note chords on any of the 12 different keys on the piano. Thus there are eighty four four note chords ( 7 x 12 ). Four Note chords are either 6th or 7th chords.
When playing a four note chord in the left hand the total span of the chord will always be smaller than an octave. This enables even students with a small hand to be able to reach four note chords. Below is Misty arranged with four note chords in the left hand.
The most important types of four note chords are:
• Maj7 chord: a major triad with an additional major third. The topmost note
is located a major 7th above the root, hence the name. Example: Cmaj7 =
(C, E, G, B). This is sometimes written as CM7.
• Major 6th chord: a major triad with a major 2nd. The topmost note is located
a major 6th above the root, hence the name. Example: C6 = (C, E, G, A).
Although this chord is not made of thirds only, it can be considered the
first inversion of Am7 = (A, C, E, G), which is made of triads only (see
below for a discussion of inversions). Whether you call this is 6th or a m7
chord depends on the harmonic context.
• Dominant 7th chord (7): a major triad with an additional minor third. The
topmost note is located a minor 7th above the root. Example: G7 = (G, B,D, F).
• 7sus4 chord: a dominant 7th chord in which the third degree is replaced by
the fourth degree – as if the third was “suspended”. Example: G7sus4 =
(G, C, D, F).
• Augmented 7th chord (aug7): a dominant 7th chord in which the 5th has
been raised by a half tone. Example: Gaug7 = (G, B, D #, F)
• Minor 7th chord (m7): a minor triad with an additional minor third.
Example: Em7 = (E, G, B, D)
• Minor 6th chord (m6): a minor triad with an additional major 2nd Example:Cm6 = (C, Eb, G, A).
• Min7(b5) chord: a minor 7th with a flatted fifth. Example: Cm7(b5) = (C,Eb, Gb, Bb). (This chord is different from the diminished 7th chord where the minor seventh is flatted an additional half tone: Cdim7 = (C, Eb, Gb,Bbb), although you will often find it called this way).
It is convenient to consider 4-note chords as "spiced up" versions of their basic
triad counterparts. In other words, they are functionally equivalent to and can be
used exactly as triads.
The harmonization of the major scale in 4 note chords is as follows:
Imaj7 ii7 iii7 IVmaj7 V7 vi7 vii7(b5)
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PIANO CLINIC
Dr. Paul
