Hello Michael, sorry I couldn't find a way to contact you so I'll have to leave a comment here to discuss with you. I've been watched all of your videos and it definitely did a lot of help to me, which I appreciate so much. You are literally one of the best music teacher I've seen so far. So I'm thinking about translating your videos to Chinese so that people from China will be able to learn music knowledge from your great videos and you will be able to teach more people as well. So would you please permit me to translate your videos and put them on the following Chinese video websites?(we can't use UA-cam in China) I promise I will not make any profit on the videos except if you want to. Thanks a lot!
I've already whatched a great couple of your videos, Michael, and I got say, your are doing an awesome job. For real. Your dedication on teaching folks these very important things shows the real good side of internet. Damn, It's not all about cat videos, it's possible to really learn! Jokes apart, keep on, I hope someday to have this knowledge to pass on like you do. PS: And I'm from Brazil, there are no boundaries.
That really isn't a bad band name, sounds very indie. Oh, and I appreciate the videos dude, I've been watching your channel for a long time and I always learn something new from your videos.
Imagine the education as such that you don't have to go to school in a stupid uniform in the morning but you can learn everything at your convenience of time and place! Thank you for these lessons. These lessons are exact what I needed to explore in my journey of music. You sir is a part of it for sure!
I'm not a jazz musician but I think they call them b5's because often times they're just reading a chord chart so it's easier to comprehend especially when sight reading.
Awesome video! Really good points here. But just to clear up some confusion: in jazz, a chord is altered only if it fits into the altered scale: 1, b9, #9, 3, #4/b5, #5/b13, b7 (the 7th mode of melodic minor) So the Cmaj7#11 at 10:30, is NOT an altered chord according to the jazz definition. Thanks!
An altered chord is a chord in which one or more notes from the diatonic scale is replaced with a neighboring pitch from the chromatic scale. Wikipedia
I was terrorised of this lesson and yet you always somehow manage to make things clear and sensible. Looking foward to more practical applications in your future lessons. Keep it up, and as always, a big thanks.
Amazing job! Your videos have an approachable style that is helping me fill in huge gaps in my musical knowledge, not just theory, but also good practice. Thank you very much!
Always killing it with the videos Michael! The extensions would help to catch the listeners attention in a part where harmonizing instruments play the same key notes just an octave higher or lower.In a weird way that's the way I create melodies, I try to make extensions of boring chord progression which then eventually become a melody because of this awesome synergy between the two...your analysation really makes me understand what I daily do and get better at it. Thanks again Michael.
I think it's worth adding that a huge variety of these chords just come from stacking 3rds from different starting points within the key. Cmaj9#11 is the natural extension if you're in the key of G. The IV chord always has a major 3rd and 7th, perfect 5th and 9th, and a sharp 11 (in this case CEGBDF#). Typically altering one of those notes comes from using a non-major scale (melodic minor/harmonic minor etc.) unless your changing keys or using a secondary dominant. To me, this really makes Cmaj#11 the C Lydian chord (the 11 being what separates Lydian from the default major [Ionian] chord)...but that's probably another episode!
I can't quite wrap my head around 7th chords completely yet, I probably shouldn't have even been watching this video yet... but something clicked while I was watching it. I suddenly understood extensions more... in fact I think I found the concepts about it easier to memorize than the different types of 7th chords (which I still don't have memorized at all, though I can at least get the difference between a major 7th and a dominant 7th)
The reason jazz guys call them (the interval numbers) that way is that they (in a way) relate everything to the major scale, so that all the altered notes are altered from the normal "do, re, mi, fa. . . ". . which is ironic since jazz is the progressive genre, and yet it's based on very old harmonic and melodic ideas. Modes are rotations of the major scale, or alterations of the major scale. The dominant chord (well, all but the vii•) has a perfect fifth - as does the major scale. So an augmented chord is seen as having a raised (therefore sharp) fifth, or flat fifth in a diminished. The general chord symbols are usually written that way as well: I, IIm, IIIm, IV, V, VIm, VII•. All the chords use capital letters, so the small "m" has to be added for distinction with the minor chords. It is seen as an alteration of the major chord (which is the tonic chord of. . .you see where this is going). Or at least is that my take on the whole thing.
the m7b5 is kind of treated like an altered minor chord in jazz. in a minor ii V i progression it acts as the ii7b5 and it can even be used for the I chord if you're looking for that kind of dissonance. Also it can be used pretty interchangeable with the m6 in jazz since they are inversions of each other.
Outstanding. Extremely well done. Even tho I play guitar, your music theory vids are as good as any I've found and better than most. Thnks very much Mike.
You’re awesome! I watched some other videos about Altered dominants chord ，it can’t help me ! After I watched your video ,I got some idea thank you very much ! Pleases keep doing that!
Thanks for this vid!! I came across your page not too long ago and I really like your method for teaching. I'm a guitar player, but these lessons help my understanding of theory so that I can apply these concepts. I'm definitely looking forward to the uses of altered chords and their movement within a progression.
I've actually been a guitar player for a lot longer than I've been a piano player, but I tend to think about music theory on a piano. Personally I think all guitar players should know a little piano, just to help with the theory aspects.
I love learning new music stuff on your channel. You always have a way to explain theories so that it's easier to understand. Thank you for your hard work on spreading the knowledge! \m/
In jazz, half diminished chords are often notated with the flat 5 in parentheses because it's easier for bassists to read while there walking a bass line. Most times walking bass lines aren't written out in jazz charts, so it's easier for them to just treat it as a dominant chord with a flat 5 rather than having to think "man, what's in a half diminished chord?"
To preface, you're videos are absolutely amazing and have taught me a ton! And you should totally cover some atonal topics at some point. I.e. Hexatonic, octatonic, polymodal chromaticism, stuff like that. I think it'd be really cool and could help demystify some topics that many people don't know much about
My theory teacher's reasoning for calling it a -7 (b5) as opposed to half diminished is that it does not serve the same purpose as a diminished chord, or half of one (whatever that means.) Usually a -7(b5) is serving as the II chord in a II-V-I progression in the aeolian mode.
Yes Michael, please do a video on non-tertian chords. Love this one the most so far. I've been writing these things down in very dubious ways over decades (entirely for my own use, but even I can get confused, though mostly trying to follow what others mean by things i come across elsewhere, so this video has been great, thanks) :)
yay more vids! is it weird that I click "like" 2 seconds in lol :) btw still would like to see some song breakdown videos, like someone else mentioned a while back. Like why the artist used what he used. maybe talk about different movements and how they can invoke certain feelings.
michael i apreciate everything you do i have learned a lot with yours videos if you have the time can you make a video on slash chords and the theory behind it and also passing chords thanks in advance
So, many of these "altered" chords or "extended" chords, I think of them more often than not (when composing something) as STACKED chords. Like a Bm over a C major or Bb over C major or Dm over C7 or Gm over Cm, etc...
I appreciate all of these videos. I am in the "needs practical work" category. The theory part of it is easier to comprehend for me than actual hands on keyboard. Looking forward to the next lession, sir. Side note: makes me wish i had more friends to talk theory with haha. it;'s such a deep and subjective topic. Again...Thanks Michael!
Hi Michael, Really enjoy your lessons, very well put together stuff. You originally had a flavour to the lessons of 'how to write your own music', and covered music theory that applied to it. Any chance you can keep including music composition in your lessons?
In classical they don't mark the half dim chord like that, it's just ii7, since the minor 3 and b5 already come with the key. Also if you borrow a chord from the same minor or major, they write "mod" after the degree.
Just to make it even more complicated. . . . there is also a very specific chord with extensions that is sometimes called an "altered" chord (again, in the jazz world). G7alt. (G seven altered) is a dominant 7th with sharp AND flat 9th, a flat 13 and usually with a flattened fifth (but sometimes not but the note is usually added as a #11 instead). The word "altered" is used a lot (but not as much as the word "tone"). Cool video.
With Jazz and Classical musicians having different definitions of what constitutes an altered chord (Jazz musicians generally discounting borrowed chords), it gets one step even more confusing, because when Jazz musicians say 'altered', they're often talking about a specific alteration of a dominant chord, rather than any chord with an altered extension. For example, if a Jazz musician says to play a G altered chord (abbreviated to Galt), what they mean is to play a G dominant chord in which neither the fifth nor the ninth appears unaltered, and the thirteenth may be altered too. By those standards, you could play G7(b5, b9), G7(b5, #9), G7(#5, b9), G7(#5, #9), G13(b5, b9), G13(b5, #9), G13(#5, b9), G13(#5, #9), G7(b5, b9, b13), G7(b5, b9, #13), G7(b5, #9, b13), G7(b5, #9, #13), G7(#5, b9, b11), G7(#5, b9, #11), G7(#5, #9, b11), or G7(#5, #9, #11), but not any G7, G9, G9(b5), G9(#5), G7(b9), G7(#9), or any extension thereof. To make things even worse, altered chords in Jazz may include both a flattened and sharpened form of the altered fifth or ninth, such that G7(b5, #5, b9), G7(b5, b9, #9), G7(#5, b9, #9), G13(b5, #5, b9), G13(b5, b9, #9), G13(#5, b9, #9), G7(b5, #5, b9, b13), G7(b5, #5, b9, #13), G7(b5, b9, #9, b13), G7(b5, b9, #9, #13), G7(#5, b9, #9, b13), and G7(#5, b9, #9, #13) are all also options.
The 7#9-chord can be tertian, though - you just have to use a scale that has an augmented third between the seventh and augmented ninth (granted, this does not happen often, but ... here's an argument: assume you're in the key of B, playing F#7(#9). What's likely to happen is that the scale you're using suddenly morphs slightly to account for the chord - what previously was B C# D#E F# G# A# contorts to fit {F#, A#, C#, E, G## (=A)}. This gives us B C# D# E F# G## A# B, a scale consisting of tone-tone-semitone-tone-augmented tone-semitone-semitone. This is a somewhat awkward scale, but since it's only used temporarily, we're not really suffering all that much from it - one of the points of the chord itself is its oddness. It's definitely worse than the melodic or harmonic minors (but duly notice how they too contain odd intervals - the harmonic minor contains an augmented tone, and the melodic minor ascending contains a diminished fourth, (and of course its inverse, the augmented fifth).) Of course, in jazz you probably do get people playing the "regular" second or even the minor second over the root of a 7#9-chord, and I've never looked into a big corpus of what composers really do with it. In those cases, we'd be dealing with a scale of eight tones, and the entire "naming scheme" for intervals would kinda break down.
You're right that you could be harmonizing a scale with an augmented third between the 7th and 9th (as you said, weird, but possible), but I have only ever seen tertian harmony defined as "notes separated by a major third or a minor third". There may be some theorists out there that define it differently, but I think at that point it turns into semantics. It is, in my opinion at least, much more useful to treat it as a non-tertian chord since it behaves very differently than a chord built from (major and minor) thirds.
Great video! I had lots of doubts on how to call (speak) those chords in english (since we speak Spanish in Argentina). Though, I desagree on C7(#9) at 16.20 not being a tercian chord... the distance between the notes Bb (the 7th) and D# (the 9th) is still a 3rd and not a 4th. If the notes were Bb and Eb, then there it would be a 4th interval instead. But it's not the case and the chord already has an E as the mayor 3rd. The interval between the notes Bb and D# is an augmented third - and they are rare - but it's a third nontheless. Hope it helps. Thanks for the video!
hi Michael, thanks for making these videos. You are the greatest music teacher. I really really appreciate your dedication to make these classes very useful to all of us. I have a question though, if I want to study more into music theory and classical composition, are there any (dead or alive people's) books or resources you would recommend? thanks a lot again!
I have a few questions. Feel free to answer as many as you want. • Why is it that when you play a DMaj9 chord, you add a 7th? Is the 7th implied when you label a chord as Maj? • When playing a 9th or 11th chord, would you just remove the note that either the 9th or 11th is clashing with? • If you play a chord in 1st inversion but add a 7th note to the left of the note of the chord that is being played, would it still be considered a 7th chord?
• The 7th is always implied on any chord above a 7th, and thus it becomes redundant in terms of writing it. It's just a shorthand rule because they are always a part of the chord. If however you wanted there to be no 7th, you could actually write a 9th chord for example using (add9) to indicate that it's a simple triad with a 9th and not the full chord: Cm(add9). There are a few exceptions though, which I'm sure he handles in a different video... one notably being a 6/9 chord. There is no 7th as the 6th replaces it -- 1+3+5+6+9 instead of 1+3+5+7+9. • You don't remove notes... unless it's a matter of interpretation. What you think is a "clash" may be an intended "dissonance". However, if you are the composer, it's common to remove notes you don't like, so if you hear "clash" -- you might just remove the clashing notes to better suit your particular musical taste. • The 7th is the description of the note as it pertains to the root of the chord. You can place these notes wherever they make your point in terms of musicality. Again... it's a matter of interpretation. But it doesn't respell the chord structure to do so, and in fact moving notes around is arguably more common than to just leave them in a traditional stack of thirds. Take the 3rd and 7th down an octave in a 9th chord... still a 9th chord. You can "spread" notes out for color or for playability.
Your explanation of what constitutes an "altered chord" is incorrect. You say that in the jazz world, a Cmaj7#11 is an altered chord. But it's not. Just because a chord has altered tensions, doesn't necessarily make it an "altered chord". The confusion here is because the word "altered" describes a specific type of dominant chord - an altered dominant chord, or "alt" chord. You'll sometimes see something like D7alt in a lead sheet. Altered chords are derived from the altered scale. And the altered scale is a mode of the melodic minor scale - starting from the 7th degree. play a C melodic minor scale, starting on B, and you have a B altered scale. It's called an altered scale because it contains no natural 5th, 9th, 11th, or 13th - everything is altered. But it has the 3rd and b7 of a dominant chord. So altered dominant chords have any combination of b9, #9, b5(same as #4), and #5(same as b13). So for example a C7b9, played C - E - G - Bb - Db, is still not an altered chord because of the G. A C7b9b5, however, is an altered chord. It's a specific sound that can't be described, it sounds like an altered chord. Just try playing Cminb6/B - this is the same thing as B7b9#5 - and resolve it to E min. This should open plenty of musical doors.
Honestly, it depends on how you use the words. I've been playing jazz my entire adult life and back all 4 years of high school before that (I'm 40 now) and we never really referred to any of the chords as "altered" -- simply as chords... and the more complex ones maybe "jazz chords" just to imply that they weren't traditional pop music variants. In my circles, we would always consider a chord to be altered if it had an extension beyond the basic 6,7,9,11,13,6/9. Anything past that "alters" the chord in a sense. So, while your technical description of the meaning of an "altered chord" is likely to be correct, it's not really the only accepted usage of the word. Just as many composers prefer to write Cm(b5) instead of Co or Cdim. Some write C#5 instead of C+ or Caug. Some write CM or Cmaj. and some write Cm or Cmin. Others add a triangle to represent a triad instead of just using the root note name alone. Jazz music, perhaps arguably more than other styles tends to be a bit more relaxed for rules and terminology, which parallels in a sense how it is played. For the record... I've never seen a b6 notated before, so that right there is perhaps a good example of how theory and jazz don't always have to agree.
You have described the ALT chord perfectly. I have been trying to find a video that explains this concept for a friend with no luck. I could show him myself but I'm out of town right now. I guess I'll send him your comment. A point that this video misses is that there is never a natural (perfect) 5 in an altered chord, or natural 9 either. Personally I prefer the composer write out the exact chord tones they want instead of just "ALT". When I comp and I see ALT I understand what the music calls for but for inexperienced players it can be confusing.
Hi, May I ask why would the "G" in that chord cause it not to be an altered chord? What theoretical topic precedes this one and therefore is comprehensively prerequisite to this topic of Alterred chords?
Hey Michael! Thank you for the video! very informative :) A quick question. Let's say I come across with a set of chords (which I did): Abmaj7 / Galt / Cm9 / F13 How would I know which notes were altered on the G? Is there a way to realize it based on the other chords? Regardless, thanks again.
In jazz, the term altered chord, notated as an alt chord (e.g. G7alt), refers to a dominant chord, in which neither the fifth nor the ninth is unaltered namely, where the 5th and the 9th are raised or lowered by a single semitone, or left out. Altered chords are thus constructed using the following notes: root (typically in the bass) 3rd ♭5th and/or ♯5th (the ♭5th is often written as ♯11) ♭7th ♭9th and/or ♯9th ♭13th Altered chords may include both a flattened and sharpened form of the altered fifth or ninth, in your case: G7(♭5♯5♭9); however, it is more common to use only one such alteration per tone, e.g. G7(♭5♭9), G7(♭5♯9), G7(♯5♭9), or G7(♯5♯9).
Stop playing that Cmaj7(11) chord over and over please. Also, at the end, don't just say "it builds a lot of tension" without resolving it! You actually made me go to my piano and play an F chord, I just couldnt take it anymore :D
Janis Mittelstaedt good point but I’m pretty sure Cmaj7(11) is the same thing as Cmaj7add11 (without the 9th that is) so I would personally use Cmaj11 to reduce confusion. Although Cmaj9(11) works
In my opinion, I think that altered chords are one of the very few things that you can add to your compositions to give it a little bit better taste or perspective, making it not boring. The problem is that when I try to come up with a chord progression, I try as much as I can to use altered chords but not sure where to go, is this common? Or is it based on practice?
Great video! However I have a question. What if I were to play a half diminished chord/minor 7 (b5) chord, but I wanted to add an extension, like a flat 9. How would I write that? Would it be say Cmin7(b5 b9)?
Lets say I play the chord with the notes C F Ab C# (1 4 5# b9) where I intended C to be the root note as my melody has C as the root note, according to me this should be Csus4(#5 b9) most people will tell me its a slash chord C#maj7/C meaning its a 3rd inversion of the C#maj7 chord, where C (maj7 of root C#) is to be the bass note. But my intention of it was to be a Csus4 altered chord. When I use this chord for harmonizing with my melody whose root note is C. Will my chord sound like weird altered C chord (I degree) or a C#maj7/C (VII degree) chord ? Please let me know if anyone needs the midi file to hear how the chord harmonizes with the melody.
I wonder: How to write the chord symbol if you would leave out the 5th. So if you would play a C9 without the 5th, would you write down 'C9 no 5th', or C9-5th?
C9(omit5) -- but you could probably just write C9(no5th) and it would be understood. It's more about readability for the musicians performing the piece rather than the exactness of the thing. If you can understand the meaning, it's written correctly! ;-)
So if you had (for example) a C7 (#11) chord, would that have a 9th? And how would write a chord that had this kind of structure: I III V IX XI or I III V VII XIII?
If you did that then technically it would be a 12th and therefore would violate the system we use to build chords if that make sense. Allthough most pepole dont really care if you say c flat or b
I am no Jazz muso. But on your question about b5. Firstly I think writing the chord using the b5 notation or even #5 would be clearer and faster to read vs say dim or aug or half dim. Secondly, how would you notate the half dim chord if not using the b5 notation. Cmb5 =Cdim., but Cb5 is C major with only the flatted 5th. I used to get confused with Cdim, thinking I am only flatting 5, but diong so will break the 3 gap rule in classical chords, forcing a flat 3rd also. So Cdim is really, Cminor flat 5, unlike Caug which is C major raised 5.
CΔ C E G (C major) Cm C E♭ G (C minor) C° C E♭ G♭ (C diminished) CΔ7 C E G B (C major 7th) C7 C E G B♭ (C dominant 7th) Cm7 C E♭ G B♭ (C minor 7th) C7ø C E♭ G♭ B♭ (Cm7♭5 or C half-diminished) C7° C E♭ G♭ B𝄫 (C 7th diminished)
I would say that if you don't like jazzy sound (like me) and you want to use 9ths, 11ths and 13ths just stick to the ones that come with the key in what you are. That will be safety and they would sound nice. Surely, the chords presented in this lesson are to me the ones to avoid since I hate jazz and similars.
+Asamiya Shin But if you stick to the key, like you said, they shouldn't be considered jazzy given the context. It is like having a major chord on a minor scale, it will sound sadish rather than happy.
***** There are certain alterations that always sound jazzy, no matter the key you are in. For example, the I grade of the mayor diatonic scale with a dominant 7th. Or a sharp/flat 9 in the same grade. The most natural sound (the real shit) is the natural pentatonic. If you stick to that no matter the notes you put, it will always sound good. The jazz stuff came with the modern and post-modern culture of change the natural things just to be original or a "rebel without cause" (I can feel even some hatred to nature in that). Maybe it can be felt some rage in my comments. It's because I'm quite tired of that jazz lovers who despise people like me, who like the natural sounds (which they despise as "simple", or "for kids", I had a piano teacher that even said that it sounds "female" (!?)). They think that you are a "musical uncultured" if you say that you hate jazz (and blues). I think that I'm the only voice in the Internet saying these bad things about jazz. That's one of the reasons why I put enphasis. Those cocky pedants who believe they are the apex of some "musical evolution" must be put in their place.
How does chromatic harmony work? Because i had a piece in C major and i used an F minor chord, and i was told that you can't hust flatten thirds, and that it was a tonic 6/4b. Why can't i just call it IV3b? Or just F minor? Notation for Liszt must require a university degree if you can't hust do that
Hello Michael, sorry I couldn't find a way to contact you so I'll have to leave a comment here to discuss with you. I've been watched all of your videos and it definitely did a lot of help to me, which I appreciate so much. You are literally one of the best music teacher I've seen so far. So I'm thinking about translating your videos to Chinese so that people from China will be able to learn music knowledge from your great videos and you will be able to teach more people as well. So would you please permit me to translate your videos and put them on the following Chinese video websites?(we can't use UA-cam in China) I promise I will not make any profit on the videos except if you want to. Thanks a lot!
Go for it!
"It depends on what dead guy's book you read." Funny! 😏
😆 I laughed at this too!
Me commenting on a 5 yr. old post = typical 😂
I've already whatched a great couple of your videos, Michael, and I got say, your are doing an awesome job. For real. Your dedication on teaching folks these very important things shows the real good side of internet.
Damn, It's not all about cat videos, it's possible to really learn!
Jokes apart, keep on, I hope someday to have this knowledge to pass on like you do.
PS: And I'm from Brazil, there are no boundaries.
Ironically a lot of my videos do feature cats.
Celso Eduardo Soares Dimov cool
@@MichaelNew I can't find the follow-up video you talk about in the end of the video. "...non-tertian harmony..."
I'm definitely forming a band and calling it the Major Elevenths now.
+Necromorph72 I'm not even mad, that's dedication.
That really isn't a bad band name, sounds very indie. Oh, and I appreciate the videos dude, I've been watching your channel for a long time and I always learn something new from your videos.
it should have 10 members, just so people will be disapointed and say that it should have been eleven
how about "Dead guy's book" for band name xD
Someone needs to name a band Significant Shrinkage (got the idea from an episode of Seinfeld)
Imagine the education as such that you don't have to go to school in a stupid uniform in the morning but you can learn everything at your convenience of time and place! Thank you for these lessons. These lessons are exact what I needed to explore in my journey of music. You sir is a part of it for sure!
Dude you've opened my eyes. I rarely ever leave comments but I just had to let you know that you did a great job with this series of vids.
A very nice treatment of a confusing topic; chord notation. Your explanation totally demystifies the issue for me. Thanks so much for your effort.
I'm not a jazz musician but I think they call them b5's because often times they're just reading a chord chart so it's easier to comprehend especially when sight reading.
Awesome video! Really good points here.
But just to clear up some confusion: in jazz, a chord is altered only if it fits into the altered scale:
1, b9, #9, 3, #4/b5, #5/b13, b7
(the 7th mode of melodic minor)
So the Cmaj7#11 at 10:30, is NOT an altered chord according to the jazz definition.
Thanks!
An altered chord is a chord in which one or more notes from the diatonic scale is replaced with a neighboring pitch from the chromatic scale. Wikipedia
This is a lesson video to watch and rewatch and rewatch again!
i appreciate your work very much Micheal! thanks a lot and go on that way!
I was terrorised of this lesson and yet you always somehow manage to make things clear and sensible. Looking foward to more practical applications in your future lessons. Keep it up, and as always, a big thanks.
Amazing job! Your videos have an approachable style that is helping me fill in huge gaps in my musical knowledge, not just theory, but also good practice. Thank you very much!
Always killing it with the videos Michael! The extensions would help to catch the listeners attention in a part where harmonizing instruments play the same key notes just an octave higher or lower.In a weird way that's the way I create melodies, I try to make extensions of boring chord progression which then eventually become a melody because of this awesome synergy between the two...your analysation really makes me understand what I daily do and get better at it. Thanks again Michael.
This stuff is really important for guitar, since we don’t often use open scores. And jazzers use the term “half diminished” routinely.
Your style of teaching is the best I have seen in a long time!
Thanks for coming back and teaching man . Hope ur feeling well now .
I think it's worth adding that a huge variety of these chords just come from stacking 3rds from different starting points within the key. Cmaj9#11 is the natural extension if you're in the key of G. The IV chord always has a major 3rd and 7th, perfect 5th and 9th, and a sharp 11 (in this case CEGBDF#). Typically altering one of those notes comes from using a non-major scale (melodic minor/harmonic minor etc.) unless your changing keys or using a secondary dominant. To me, this really makes Cmaj#11 the C Lydian chord (the 11 being what separates Lydian from the default major [Ionian] chord)...but that's probably another episode!
"My favourite band is major eleventh" :D
I can't quite wrap my head around 7th chords completely yet, I probably shouldn't have even been watching this video yet... but something clicked while I was watching it. I suddenly understood extensions more... in fact I think I found the concepts about it easier to memorize than the different types of 7th chords (which I still don't have memorized at all, though I can at least get the difference between a major 7th and a dominant 7th)
The reason jazz guys call them (the interval numbers) that way is that they (in a way) relate everything to the major scale, so that all the altered notes are altered from the normal "do, re, mi, fa. . . ". . which is ironic since jazz is the progressive genre, and yet it's based on very old harmonic and melodic ideas. Modes are rotations of the major scale, or alterations of the major scale. The dominant chord (well, all but the vii•) has a perfect fifth - as does the major scale. So an augmented chord is seen as having a raised (therefore sharp) fifth, or flat fifth in a diminished. The general chord symbols are usually written that way as well: I, IIm, IIIm, IV, V, VIm, VII•. All the chords use capital letters, so the small "m" has to be added for distinction with the minor chords. It is seen as an alteration of the major chord (which is the tonic chord of. . .you see where this is going). Or at least is that my take on the whole thing.
Hey michael, to be honest this is the best channel I saw in the last couple of years! Great content, great tools, keep up that good stuff!
the m7b5 is kind of treated like an altered minor chord in jazz. in a minor ii V i progression it acts as the ii7b5 and it can even be used for the I chord if you're looking for that kind of dissonance. Also it can be used pretty interchangeable with the m6 in jazz since they are inversions of each other.
Outstanding. Extremely well done. Even tho I play guitar, your music theory vids are as good as any I've found and better than most. Thnks very much Mike.
Good call on leaving out the 3th or 5th, I actually never thought about that.
You’re awesome! I watched some other videos about Altered dominants chord ，it can’t help me ! After I watched your video ,I got some idea thank you very much ! Pleases keep doing that!
Thanks for this vid!! I came across your page not too long ago and I really like your method for teaching. I'm a guitar player, but these lessons help my understanding of theory so that I can apply these concepts. I'm definitely looking forward to the uses of altered chords and their movement within a progression.
I've actually been a guitar player for a lot longer than I've been a piano player, but I tend to think about music theory on a piano. Personally I think all guitar players should know a little piano, just to help with the theory aspects.
Thank you for making these videos! You have no idea how helpful they have been!!!
Complex music theory, delivered in a digestible fashion! Great job, Michael!
You are the best theory teacher I ever had!
I love learning new music stuff on your channel. You always have a way to explain theories so that it's easier to understand. Thank you for your hard work on spreading the knowledge! \m/
In jazz, half diminished chords are often notated with the flat 5 in parentheses because it's easier for bassists to read while there walking a bass line. Most times walking bass lines aren't written out in jazz charts, so it's easier for them to just treat it as a dominant chord with a flat 5 rather than having to think "man, what's in a half diminished chord?"
To preface, you're videos are absolutely amazing and have taught me a ton! And you should totally cover some atonal topics at some point. I.e. Hexatonic, octatonic, polymodal chromaticism, stuff like that. I think it'd be really cool and could help demystify some topics that many people don't know much about
finally i understand this! i couldnt get my head around this for years. thank you (:
My theory teacher's reasoning for calling it a -7 (b5) as opposed to half diminished is that it does not serve the same purpose as a diminished chord, or half of one (whatever that means.) Usually a -7(b5) is serving as the II chord in a II-V-I progression in the aeolian mode.
bro your channel is so helpful! cheers for all the lessons man, love from london
Yes Michael, please do a video on non-tertian chords. Love this one the most so far. I've been writing these things down in very dubious ways over decades (entirely for my own use, but even I can get confused, though mostly trying to follow what others mean by things i come across elsewhere, so this video has been great, thanks) :)
Could you do a video on parallel fifths and why they're avoided?
It's on my list.
***** Yay! Thank you!
CM9#11 Beautiful, Wistful
Lee Anthony
Yeah I hoped I wasn't the only one who noticed how beautiful that chord sounds.
It's nice, it isn't an altered chord though, unlike what he says.
I'm not music theory literate, I only know the basics, I enjoy the sound of things. You could call it a mango and I'd still like it all the same.
yay more vids! is it weird that I click "like" 2 seconds in lol :) btw still would like to see some song breakdown videos, like someone else mentioned a while back. Like why the artist used what he used. maybe talk about different movements and how they can invoke certain feelings.
michael i apreciate everything you do i have learned a lot with yours videos if you have the time can you make a video on slash chords and the theory behind it and also passing chords thanks in advance
So, many of these "altered" chords or "extended" chords, I think of them more often than not (when composing something) as STACKED chords. Like a Bm over a C major or Bb over C major or Dm over C7 or Gm over Cm, etc...
I appreciate all of these videos. I am in the "needs practical work" category. The theory part of it is easier to comprehend for me than actual hands on keyboard. Looking forward to the next lession, sir. Side note: makes me wish i had more friends to talk theory with haha. it;'s such a deep and subjective topic. Again...Thanks Michael!
You gotta find more music-nerdy friends :) But yes, I definitely recommend lots of hands-on time.
I couldn't agree more. thanks for all of the instruction and I patiently await the next in the series :)
We are deep in the theory here. My head now hurts. Thanks! :)
Hi Michael,
Really enjoy your lessons, very well put together stuff.
You originally had a flavour to the lessons of 'how to write your own music', and covered music theory that applied to it. Any chance you can keep including music composition in your lessons?
In classical they don't mark the half dim chord like that, it's just ii7, since the minor 3 and b5 already come with the key. Also if you borrow a chord from the same minor or major, they write "mod" after the degree.
Just to make it even more complicated. . . . there is also a very specific chord with extensions that is sometimes called an "altered" chord (again, in the jazz world). G7alt. (G seven altered) is a dominant 7th with sharp AND flat 9th, a flat 13 and usually with a flattened fifth (but sometimes not but the note is usually added as a #11 instead).
The word "altered" is used a lot (but not as much as the word "tone"). Cool video.
With Jazz and Classical musicians having different definitions of what constitutes an altered chord (Jazz musicians generally discounting borrowed chords), it gets one step even more confusing, because when Jazz musicians say 'altered', they're often talking about a specific alteration of a dominant chord, rather than any chord with an altered extension.
For example, if a Jazz musician says to play a G altered chord (abbreviated to Galt), what they mean is to play a G dominant chord in which neither the fifth nor the ninth appears unaltered, and the thirteenth may be altered too. By those standards, you could play G7(b5, b9), G7(b5, #9), G7(#5, b9), G7(#5, #9), G13(b5, b9), G13(b5, #9), G13(#5, b9), G13(#5, #9), G7(b5, b9, b13), G7(b5, b9, #13), G7(b5, #9, b13), G7(b5, #9, #13), G7(#5, b9, b11), G7(#5, b9, #11), G7(#5, #9, b11), or G7(#5, #9, #11), but not any G7, G9, G9(b5), G9(#5), G7(b9), G7(#9), or any extension thereof.
To make things even worse, altered chords in Jazz may include both a flattened and sharpened form of the altered fifth or ninth, such that G7(b5, #5, b9), G7(b5, b9, #9), G7(#5, b9, #9), G13(b5, #5, b9), G13(b5, b9, #9), G13(#5, b9, #9), G7(b5, #5, b9, b13), G7(b5, #5, b9, #13), G7(b5, b9, #9, b13), G7(b5, b9, #9, #13), G7(#5, b9, #9, b13), and G7(#5, b9, #9, #13) are all also options.
Great videos! Learning a lot about music theory.
Fantastic. Thanks for posting this! Well done.
Great video as always, thanks Mike
On major 11th chords I omit the 3rd in the left hand. It has a cleaner sound.
Thanks Michael! Could I suggest chord substitutions as a future video? :D
This would be a great topic as I am desiring to rearrange my scores on several of my pieces. "You Raise Me Up" is one that I will rearrange.
I would love it if you explained when and when not to leave out a 5th, or a 3rd!
The 7#9-chord can be tertian, though - you just have to use a scale that has an augmented third between the seventh and augmented ninth (granted, this does not happen often, but ... here's an argument: assume you're in the key of B, playing F#7(#9).
What's likely to happen is that the scale you're using suddenly morphs slightly to account for the chord - what previously was B C# D#E F# G# A# contorts to fit {F#, A#, C#, E, G## (=A)}. This gives us B C# D# E F# G## A# B, a scale consisting of tone-tone-semitone-tone-augmented tone-semitone-semitone. This is a somewhat awkward scale, but since it's only used temporarily, we're not really suffering all that much from it - one of the points of the chord itself is its oddness. It's definitely worse than the melodic or harmonic minors (but duly notice how they too contain odd intervals - the harmonic minor contains an augmented tone, and the melodic minor ascending contains a diminished fourth, (and of course its inverse, the augmented fifth).)
Of course, in jazz you probably do get people playing the "regular" second or even the minor second over the root of a 7#9-chord, and I've never looked into a big corpus of what composers really do with it. In those cases, we'd be dealing with a scale of eight tones, and the entire "naming scheme" for intervals would kinda break down.
You're right that you could be harmonizing a scale with an augmented third between the 7th and 9th (as you said, weird, but possible), but I have only ever seen tertian harmony defined as "notes separated by a major third or a minor third". There may be some theorists out there that define it differently, but I think at that point it turns into semantics. It is, in my opinion at least, much more useful to treat it as a non-tertian chord since it behaves very differently than a chord built from (major and minor) thirds.
Sweet can't wait for the next video!
Awesome lesson
All of the music teachers on you tube should have links to the next lesson in the sequence. Hard to track'm. Rich Dunn. BTW...SUPERB!!!!
Great video! I had lots of doubts on how to call (speak) those chords in english (since we speak Spanish in Argentina).
Though, I desagree on C7(#9) at 16.20 not being a tercian chord... the distance between the notes Bb (the 7th) and D# (the 9th) is still a 3rd and not a 4th. If the notes were Bb and Eb, then there it would be a 4th interval instead. But it's not the case and the chord already has an E as the mayor 3rd. The interval between the notes Bb and D# is an augmented third - and they are rare - but it's a third nontheless. Hope it helps.
Thanks for the video!
"Or whatever dead guys book you were reading"
I wasn't expecting that lmao
Couldn't you also call the Cmaj9(#11) chord a type of C Lydian Chord? Because it's basically a diatonic 11th Chord in the C Lydian Scale
“MY FAVOURITE BAND IS CALLED THE MAJOR 11ths, or whatevah 🙄😏”
The teacher-vibes are strong with this one.
Love the cat in the background! :)
Thanks Michael, this is really fascinating :)
Ey, my favourite band is called the major 11th!
Seriously though, thank you for these videos. I really appreciate them :)
get well soon dude!
hi Michael, thanks for making these videos. You are the greatest music teacher. I really really appreciate your dedication to make these classes very useful to all of us. I have a question though, if I want to study more into music theory and classical composition, are there any (dead or alive people's) books or resources you would recommend? thanks a lot again!
I have a few questions. Feel free to answer as many as you want.
• Why is it that when you play a DMaj9 chord, you add a 7th? Is the 7th implied when you label a chord as Maj?
• When playing a 9th or 11th chord, would you just remove the note that either the 9th or 11th is clashing with?
• If you play a chord in 1st inversion but add a 7th note to the left of the note of the chord that is being played, would it still be considered a 7th chord?
• The 7th is always implied on any chord above a 7th, and thus it becomes redundant in terms of writing it. It's just a shorthand rule because they are always a part of the chord. If however you wanted there to be no 7th, you could actually write a 9th chord for example using (add9) to indicate that it's a simple triad with a 9th and not the full chord: Cm(add9). There are a few exceptions though, which I'm sure he handles in a different video... one notably being a 6/9 chord. There is no 7th as the 6th replaces it -- 1+3+5+6+9 instead of 1+3+5+7+9.
• You don't remove notes... unless it's a matter of interpretation. What you think is a "clash" may be an intended "dissonance". However, if you are the composer, it's common to remove notes you don't like, so if you hear "clash" -- you might just remove the clashing notes to better suit your particular musical taste.
• The 7th is the description of the note as it pertains to the root of the chord. You can place these notes wherever they make your point in terms of musicality. Again... it's a matter of interpretation. But it doesn't respell the chord structure to do so, and in fact moving notes around is arguably more common than to just leave them in a traditional stack of thirds. Take the 3rd and 7th down an octave in a 9th chord... still a 9th chord. You can "spread" notes out for color or for playability.
That was awesome! Thanks man!!
My pleasure.
Your explanation of what constitutes an "altered chord" is incorrect. You say that in the jazz world, a Cmaj7#11 is an altered chord. But it's not. Just because a chord has altered tensions, doesn't necessarily make it an "altered chord". The confusion here is because the word "altered" describes a specific type of dominant chord - an altered dominant chord, or "alt" chord. You'll sometimes see something like D7alt in a lead sheet.
Altered chords are derived from the altered scale. And the altered scale is a mode of the melodic minor scale - starting from the 7th degree. play a C melodic minor scale, starting on B, and you have a B altered scale. It's called an altered scale because it contains no natural 5th, 9th, 11th, or 13th - everything is altered. But it has the 3rd and b7 of a dominant chord. So altered dominant chords have any combination of b9, #9, b5(same as #4), and #5(same as b13). So for example a C7b9, played C - E - G - Bb - Db, is still not an altered chord because of the G. A C7b9b5, however, is an altered chord.
It's a specific sound that can't be described, it sounds like an altered chord. Just try playing Cminb6/B - this is the same thing as B7b9#5 - and resolve it to E min. This should open plenty of musical doors.
Honestly, it depends on how you use the words. I've been playing jazz my entire adult life and back all 4 years of high school before that (I'm 40 now) and we never really referred to any of the chords as "altered" -- simply as chords... and the more complex ones maybe "jazz chords" just to imply that they weren't traditional pop music variants. In my circles, we would always consider a chord to be altered if it had an extension beyond the basic 6,7,9,11,13,6/9. Anything past that "alters" the chord in a sense. So, while your technical description of the meaning of an "altered chord" is likely to be correct, it's not really the only accepted usage of the word. Just as many composers prefer to write Cm(b5) instead of Co or Cdim. Some write C#5 instead of C+ or Caug. Some write CM or Cmaj. and some write Cm or Cmin. Others add a triangle to represent a triad instead of just using the root note name alone. Jazz music, perhaps arguably more than other styles tends to be a bit more relaxed for rules and terminology, which parallels in a sense how it is played. For the record... I've never seen a b6 notated before, so that right there is perhaps a good example of how theory and jazz don't always have to agree.
You have described the ALT chord perfectly. I have been trying to find a video that explains this concept for a friend with no luck. I could show him myself but I'm out of town right now. I guess I'll send him your comment.
A point that this video misses is that there is never a natural (perfect) 5 in an altered chord, or natural 9 either. Personally I prefer the composer write out the exact chord tones they want instead of just "ALT".
When I comp and I see ALT I understand what the music calls for but for inexperienced players it can be confusing.
Thank you for adding this David! The way how the word "altered" is used in this video isn't right..
Would playing C - E - Bb - Db then make it altered, by avoiding the fifth?
Hi, May I ask why would the "G" in that chord cause it not to be an altered chord?
What theoretical topic precedes this one and therefore is comprehensively prerequisite to this topic of Alterred chords?
bless ur soul
Great video and great cat.
Do you play much jazz music? 13th chords are everywhere and quite enjoyable to interpret.
Hey Michael!
Thank you for the video! very informative :)
A quick question. Let's say I come across with a set of chords (which I did):
Abmaj7 / Galt / Cm9 / F13
How would I know which notes were altered on the G? Is there a way to realize it based on the other chords?
Regardless, thanks again.
In jazz, the term altered chord, notated as an alt chord (e.g. G7alt), refers to a dominant chord, in which neither the fifth nor the ninth is unaltered namely, where the 5th and the 9th are raised or lowered by a single semitone, or left out. Altered chords are thus constructed using the following notes:
root (typically in the bass)
3rd
♭5th and/or ♯5th (the ♭5th is often written as ♯11)
♭7th
♭9th and/or ♯9th
♭13th
Altered chords may include both a flattened and sharpened form of the altered fifth or ninth, in your case: G7(♭5♯5♭9); however, it is more common to use only one such alteration per tone, e.g. G7(♭5♭9), G7(♭5♯9), G7(♯5♭9), or G7(♯5♯9).
Galt in this context is probably just G7(♯5♭9)
Such didactics... best teacher
"my favorite band is called major 11th" haha!
Or jazz trio is actually called "Minor Seconds". Go figure.
Stop playing that Cmaj7(11) chord over and over please. Also, at the end, don't just say "it builds a lot of tension" without resolving it! You actually made me go to my piano and play an F chord, I just couldnt take it anymore :D
Sounds like I made my point in both cases :)
+Janis Mittelstaedt hahah I visualized it, then your relief face at the end lol
The guy couldn't handle that amount of tension.
Janis Mittelstaedt good point but I’m pretty sure Cmaj7(11) is the same thing as Cmaj7add11 (without the 9th that is) so I would personally use Cmaj11 to reduce confusion. Although Cmaj9(11) works
😂
When you dropped the duster you scared the cat away
In my opinion, I think that altered chords are one of the very few things that you can add to your compositions to give it a little bit better taste or perspective, making it not boring. The problem is that when I try to come up with a chord progression, I try as much as I can to use altered chords but not sure where to go, is this common? Or is it based on practice?
will you make a video about slash chords as well?
Hey your videos are really useful! I produce hiphop beats and I was wondering, should I get piano lessons, or just learn theory to make better beats?
do both.
can u do a tutorial on alternative chords please?
I'm definitely hungry. You said "key F C" and I'm like did somebod say KFC?
the naming of these chords is still way better than IUPAC nomenclature of organic compounds. XD
thx for these videos
Great video! However I have a question. What if I were to play a half diminished chord/minor 7 (b5) chord, but I wanted to add an extension, like a flat 9. How would I write that? Would it be say Cmin7(b5 b9)?
8:32 What if I don't want the 7 in there?
Lets say I play the chord with the notes
C F Ab C# (1 4 5# b9)
where I intended C to be the root note as my melody has C as the root note,
according to me this should be
Csus4(#5 b9)
most people will tell me its a slash chord
C#maj7/C
meaning its a 3rd inversion of the C#maj7 chord, where C (maj7 of root C#) is to be the bass note.
But my intention of it was to be a Csus4 altered chord.
When I use this chord for harmonizing with my melody whose root note is C.
Will my chord sound like weird altered C chord (I degree) or a C#maj7/C (VII degree) chord ?
Please let me know if anyone needs the midi file to hear how the chord harmonizes with the melody.
I wonder: How to write the chord symbol if you would leave out the 5th. So if you would play a C9 without the 5th, would you write down 'C9 no 5th', or C9-5th?
Massimo Beckers I was wondering the same thing because Hendrix definitely leaves out the 5th in his infamous E7(#9) chord
C9(omit5) -- but you could probably just write C9(no5th) and it would be understood. It's more about readability for the musicians performing the piece rather than the exactness of the thing. If you can understand the meaning, it's written correctly! ;-)
So if you had (for example) a C7 (#11) chord, would that have a 9th? And how would write a chord that had this kind of structure: I III V IX XI or I III V VII XIII?
You can add a natural 9 if you want.
First of all, thank you so very much for your very informative videos. At 10:46, could I take F13 as: F A C E G Cflat, rather than FACEGB, as shown?
If you did that then technically it would be a 12th and therefore would violate the system we use to build chords if that make sense. Allthough most pepole dont really care if you say c flat or b
So if this is used in a different scale the way you would get an extension would follow the notes of the scale?
Thanks
I am no Jazz muso. But on your question about b5. Firstly I think writing the chord using the b5 notation or even #5 would be clearer and faster to read vs say dim or aug or half dim.
Secondly, how would you notate the half dim chord if not using the b5 notation. Cmb5 =Cdim., but Cb5 is C major with only the flatted 5th.
I used to get confused with Cdim, thinking I am only flatting 5, but diong so will break the 3 gap rule in classical chords, forcing a flat 3rd also. So Cdim is really, Cminor flat 5, unlike Caug which is C major raised 5.
CΔ C E G (C major)
Cm C E♭ G (C minor)
C° C E♭ G♭ (C diminished)
CΔ7 C E G B (C major 7th)
C7 C E G B♭ (C dominant 7th)
Cm7 C E♭ G B♭ (C minor 7th)
C7ø C E♭ G♭ B♭ (Cm7♭5 or C half-diminished)
C7° C E♭ G♭ B𝄫 (C 7th diminished)
Do you have a video on chord clusters?
Hi, Can you please cover the theory between when a
13th is formed with either a Maj. 3rd or min. 3rd and why?
Love ur vids
I would say that if you don't like jazzy sound (like me) and you want to use 9ths, 11ths and 13ths just stick to the ones that come with the key in what you are. That will be safety and they would sound nice.
Surely, the chords presented in this lesson are to me the ones to avoid since I hate jazz and similars.
these are the kind of chords you look forward when wanting to give tension or a certain mood. not just jazz
***** But it's a jazzy tension. There are other ways to add tension more pentatonic, more natural, for example sus chords, that don't sound jazzy.
+Asamiya Shin But if you stick to the key, like you said, they shouldn't be considered jazzy given the context.
It is like having a major chord on a minor scale, it will sound sadish rather than happy.
***** There are certain alterations that always sound jazzy, no matter the key you are in. For example, the I grade of the mayor diatonic scale with a dominant 7th. Or a sharp/flat 9 in the same grade.
The most natural sound (the real shit) is the natural pentatonic. If you stick to that no matter the notes you put, it will always sound good. The jazz stuff came with the modern and post-modern culture of change the natural things just to be original or a "rebel without cause" (I can feel even some hatred to nature in that).
Maybe it can be felt some rage in my comments. It's because I'm quite tired of that jazz lovers who despise people like me, who like the natural sounds (which they despise as "simple", or "for kids", I had a piano teacher that even said that it sounds "female" (!?)). They think that you are a "musical uncultured" if you say that you hate jazz (and blues).
I think that I'm the only voice in the Internet saying these bad things about jazz. That's one of the reasons why I put enphasis. Those cocky pedants who believe they are the apex of some "musical evolution" must be put in their place.
+Asamiya Shin Unless you're playing blues or modulating, you shouldn't have a tritone on your I chord.
Do you have any suggested books for theory? I would say I'm at the intermediate-advanced level.
How does chromatic harmony work? Because i had a piece in C major and i used an F minor chord, and i was told that you can't hust flatten thirds, and that it was a tonic 6/4b. Why can't i just call it IV3b? Or just F minor? Notation for Liszt must require a university degree if you can't hust do that
Thanks alot for that!