My New Favorite Chord
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2024
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I've got a new favorite chord! Last week we were looking at The Chain, and the breakdown contained the coolest harmonic device I've ever heard, so this week I thought I'd take the time to break down what that chord is, where it comes from, and sounds so incredibly good. Seriously, it's fantastic.
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Last: • Understanding The Chain
The Chain video: • Understanding The Chain
Script: docs.google.com/document/d/1p...
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Also, thanks to Jareth Arnold for proofreading the script to make sure this all makes sense hopefully!
![[柴犬ASMR]曼玉Manyu&小白Bai 毛发护理Spa asmr](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0TsXQ7z2Dh4/mqdefault.jpg)
Some additional thoughts/corrections:
1) One thing I left out is that another reason that augmented sus4 chords don't really work is that they're actually just minor triads in an inversion. E+sus4 is E, A, and B# (which is C) and A minor is A, C, and E, so E+sus4 is just A minor but with E in the bass. Obviously other labels are potentially valid, but I'm having a hard time thinking of a situation where the overwhelming stability of the minor triad wouldn't overwhelm the augmented sus2 interpretation.
2) That's it for now!
12tone Hey! Firstly, I would like to say that I love your work and your analysis is always interesting. However as someone who as just recently gotten into music theory I sometimes find myself confused at the jargon and some concepts, so I was wondering if you would consider doing like a video series on the basics of music theory. I know that most of your viewers are adept in music theory as evident by the discussions in the comments but I think that such a series would attract more viewers to the channel especially if the content is as engaging and well presented as it is with regular videos. It would be nice to see your opinion on this.
From: a regular viewer
That's what I was thinking. Also, an E+sus#4 would be E, A#(Bb), and B# (C) which is basically a C7/E chord without the fifth.
Also I love the sound of a minor IV chord resolving to a major I chord.
Wouldn’t an I+sus2 be the same as a bVI b5? In this form, the chord is much closer to a normal major chord and can be written as a stack of thirds (ie. a diminished third on top of a major third). Writing the chord this way, in my opinion, makes the chord sound much more directional.
final fantasy 8 ost - a succession of witches ?
+1 For Elephant in space and Duck ripping through the wallpaper.
2:10 OOOOOH DARLING!
0:00 - "This looks really interesting. Can't wait!"
0:15 - "I'm lost"
no sir. Grab your instrument, it'll make sense. WELL god be praised if your main ins is your voice. Keep practicing dude!!!
I hear it as a Amin6/E without the root. Resolves nicely to Emaj as a minor iv chord also.
Exactly, as if anyone would ever spell C as B# in the context of E minor.
Indeed. It can also be called something else; it can be a F#min(b5) without the 3. In the case of E as a root- whether it's major or minor, it's still just a II chord. Meaning you can resolve this to a E chord by going down half a step from the "root"note in the chord; E goes to D#, leaving you with a D#dim chord. This chord is in a way the dominant to E, since it's a B7(b9) without the root. So the only note missing in the Esus2(#5) to make it a F#min7(b5) is the note A. This is all based on context, though, but I heard the same thing you heard. So in short, yeah, I agree.
I would probably just call this some kind of Am6/E. The sound to me is definitely a iv minor thing in the key of E, which could also mean a ii mb5, or a VII9, which are all inversions of each other (or at least near enough for jazz).
I think perhaps the reason that augmented chords don't get out much so to speak is that they are so ambiguous that they can often be labelled as inversions of, or partial upper structure alterations to, chords that make more sense functionally within the context. For example the notes C-E-Ab-Bb could be read as a C+7 chord, but if I told you that we were in the key of G and the previous chord was Am, then it would make much more sense to think of it as some kind of D7 alt chord, albeit missing the tonic.
The interesting thing about chords is that the way we perceive any particular group of notes is largely dependent on what comes before and after it. The name we give to it is just something to help us understand how it is put together , and how it makes sense within the key (if there is one!)
What matters is often not even the particular quality of a chord so much as the harmonic motion it is part of. I've written chords into pieces that, on their own, you'd swear were absolute clangers, but in the context they turn out to work beautifully. At the moment I'm rather fond of Eb7(9)/E :)
Agreed, to me E+sus2 sounds like Am6/E without the root. In the context of E major, it's one of the most strikingly beautiful chords.
Agreed, in that A sounds like the root to me. I wrote a reply above where I called this Amajmin13 but I don't really know if that's the right thing to call it. Am6/E doesn't seem quite right either, since that doesn't really account for the G#, but we're at least on the same page about this being a sub for the iv chord.
Yeah, whenever I heard the chord, I kept hearing it as the iv6 of E. It’s kind of hard for me to not hear it like that, but it is a beautiful chord on it’s own.
@@paulthoresen8241 F#m7b5/E and Am6/E are the same chord. The only difference between F#m7b5 and Am6 is the root, which is the same for both chords in this case.
You are right This chord is based on Amin 6 with a maj7 and is typically used as a rootless D7+11 or Ab alt.
"It sits in it's dissonance" is a tongue twister for the UA-cam theorist generation. Great stuff!
The augmented chord is in minor too!! With the sharped 7 (in the scale: harmonic minor) the augmented triad is built on the third degree in minor.
@Silvan van den Boom, he jabbered about it, i can't find it back, twas somehow pretty fast.
I gotta agree with you, that's a fascinating chord.
another, almbeit less satisfying way to resolve is by moving from E+sus2, to E+, to A minor. The E and the C stay in place, while the F# moves up through an A melodic minor scale, to G#, and finally resting on A.
Okay, im officially at the point on youtube where im being recommended year old 12Tone videos under 100k views and i love it
In the context of "The Chain" I hear it as a tritone over an E pedal, kinda like a simplified version of a viio7 over a tonic pedal. The only difference is instead of resolving to a tonic chord it resolves to a tonic based riff, which is very similar to something Bach would do. Maybe if it was used in the key of A major I could accept it as an augsus2 because the the C/B# would be resolving uo to C#, but even then it still makes sense to look at it as a C because it is a b13 borrowed from the dominant of the parallel harmonic minor, but in the key of E minor it doesn't make sense to me to think of E to C as a +5 when it wants to resolve down like the b6.
Personally for me it wants to resolve like a 6th chord in inversion with chromatic alternations enharmonically speaking.
So in the key of E: E G# B# E F# enharmonically becomes E Ab C E F# which resolves like Ab to G# (technically but it’s the same note), C to B, E stays, and F# goes to G#
Similar how A6 resolves to E
I'm not buying the Eaugsus2 analysis. For the chain chord, the second analysis, an Am6 with the missing A actually belongs to the key of E minor. While B# and C are enharmonically equivalent, they imply very different pitch tendencies in the key of e minor, and to me are very different notes. The note in the chain chord is very clearly to me a C, not a B#. It feels weird to me to call E-F#-C an E triad, since it doesn't contain any sort of G or B.
I can see how this is similar to how jazzers use #5 in their chord analysis, and I might be more okay calling it Esus2#5. To me, aug implies a triad, and the chord in The Chain is very much not triadic.
A third analysis could be that the E is a pedal tone, since this chord occurs right after a i chord that happens right on the downbeat of the beginning of a new section of the form. Then the F# and the C could be accented neighbor tones to G and B, or they could be an incomplete iidim over an E pedal.
That's what I'd call it in any case. I hope this didn't come across as negative, and thank you for this fun and interesting video!
I think that Esus2#5 is accurate but saying EaugSus2 easily indicates the quality of chord being suspended. Like the III+ chord of harmonic minor. So Eaugsus2 is derivative of C# harmonic minor, explaining the B#. I say this because I have seen dimsus4, where both the suspension and chord quality being suspended are indicated.
To me it sounds more like a Em -> C lydian sound (if you go with Rick Beato's idea of the "lydian" chord), making it a slightly more colorful i -> bVI sound, matching the Em -> C part in the chorus.
This is literally a *ii°(2) - I* progression in E minor. This video is pointless.
@@karlpoppins That's (almost; it's half dim, not full dim) exactly what it is, yeah, with a pedal E. I was confused throughout the video, the C in the example leads so clearly back down to the B in E minor, I have no idea where the idea that it was augmented came from.
@@brianbethea3069 I meant half diminished, too, I just confused the symbols when typing, ha!
Edit: I realised that I didn't actually confuse the symbols. I was using Classical notation, which relies on triadic harmony, whereas you're thinking in terms of Jazz notation, which includes the 7th. In Classical music there is no distinction between "fully" and "half" dimished chords, because the two triads are identical and the difference is in the 7th. *ii°* is necessarily half-diminished because of the harmonic context: you can have a diminished second degree only in a minor key, where the diatonic 7th of that chord is a minor and not a diminished interval. The only fully diminished chord in a minor key is *vii°,* which necessarily derives from the leading tone (and not the subtonic), and that is because the 7th of that chord is diminished and not minor or major.
6:39That's interesting. I can't help but hear it as ii of E major, with a flat 6 borrowed from E minor.
That would make it an alternate subdominant in the context of a I - iv - I cadence.
Maybe because I've been working with at least 2 pieces where this progression (E - F#dim7/E - E) appears all throughout.
As for resolving to G, my classically trained instinct would make me move the 7th downwards first.
EDIT: 5:29 conversely, with that chord in the context of E major, I immediately think "augmented sixth" (C E A#), which I imagine tends to resolve to E *minor* instead. Weird how that works.
Adam Neely's "How my brain processes harmony" comes to mind...
Totally agree. The E+sus2 resolving to E major sounds like IIm7b5, i.e. the "Christmas chord". :)
And yes, the E+sus#4 is the Italian augmented 6th chord in its first inversion (because it lacks the 5th). C7(no5)/E would probably be the most appropriate chord symbol.
This is exactly what I thought the second he played the f#dim chord and threw the E in the bass!
Exactly how I heard it, thanks for articulating it for me!
Funny enough, you mention the +sus2 chord like the “rubberband” in between chord resolutions.
I say, the +sus2 chord is more like... the chain
I just want to thank you for always having sounds to accompany the sheet music you write and the chords or intervals you're talking about. I learned to play by ear, so hearing the sound while you talk about it has really helped me learn music theory jargon and deepen my understanding.
This channel never ceases to amaze me with these interesting, well-put-together videos. I have never tried to use this chord or even heard it in any music, but after watching this video I will definitely play around with it. Good job yet again!
Thanks for the lesson on this! I just came across your channel this week & I am blown away! You do a great job explaining music theory & make it easy to learn. This is a radical lesson about a radical chord & I LOVE IT!!!! :)
Ho-wow. I had never thought of an augmented chord as able to behave like a suspended chord before. I've always loved suspended chords but avoided augmented chords like the plague, but this chord and this video shows that maybe I don't have to avoid it if I use it the right way.
A C+sus2 chord can resolve to either C major or C minor pleasantly, although the augmented 5th feels more like a b6 suspension than a true chord tone in those resolutions.
A C+sus4 chord sounds more like an Fm chord and creates a minor plagal cadence which is always nice.
A C+sus#4 chord like from (5:30) doesn't really feel like it wants to resolve to C though, that tritone makes me want to resolve it to G just like an F#dim chord. Then that #5 of the C could turn into a 2 of the F, making an F#dim-sus2 chord.
Back to the C+sus2 chord, by filling in the gaps in different ways it can feel like a D-half-diminished-7 chord, or a D-major-diminished-minor-7 chord (is that a thing? if its not it should be a thing [1,3,b5,b7]), or an Ab-half-diminished-7 chord with a 4 instead of a 5, depending on how you look at it.
The point is it doesn't have to be used in isolation. In different contexts it can be given meaning through voice-leading, resolution patterns, or just note arrangement and emphasis. And if multiple of those happen in the same time and it takes on a double-meaning, that doesn't need to be a bad thing, and the surrounding melody and harmony can help it feel like it belongs.
Thanks for the info! I'm still pretty new to theory and you gave me some things I'm excited to look up
C+sus#4 is just a dominant 7th chord in its first inversion that lacks a fifth. You have C, G# and F# which is enharmonically the same as C Gb Ab - play that in a different order and it's Ab C Gb (1 3 b7). It's an Ab7/C chord without a fifth. This chord resolving to a G would be called the Italian augmented 6th chord in classical terminology (and would actually be spelled Ab C F#) and a tritone substitution in jazz terminology.
I also think the root of a C+sus2 isn't really C - it sounds more like the root would either be G# (or more correctly Ab) when it would be an Ab(add#11), or D (or F) when it would be Dm7b5/C or a rootless Fm6/C. To me the sound of C+sus2 resolving to C major or minor is very similar to bVI-I or IIm7b5-I or IVm6-I. Or you could see it as a C major or minor chord with suspended 2 (that resolves to the 3rd) and b6 (that resolves to the 5th).
7b5 is a thing (dominant 7th flat 5) - it's a pretty common chord in jazz music (it's the second chord and also the second last chord in the A section of "The Girl from Ipanema" - Cmaj7 D7b5 Dm7 Db7b5 Cmaj7), but you can find 7b5 chords in classical music too (the 7b5 chord built on the b6 scale degree is the French augmented 6th chord, and you can for example find that chord in the B section of Chopin's C minor prelude - it's also the second chord in "Aquarium" by Saint-Saens).
@@MaggaraMarine Oh, thanks!
"I had never thought of an augmented chord as able to behave like a suspended chord before" - it's because _it doesn't._ This analysis is garbage.
Well great you just initiated four hours of aimless piano "playing" for me as I struggle to comprehend this
Lol but man o man isn't it such a RUSH when you finally get it?
Ahhh the quickening is what makes all the painful plucking, fiddling, frustration and self doubt as we poke around in the dark with it. 🥰
your videos are so high quality, and yeah that chord is awesome :D
I was hoping you would do a video on this!!! I'm using thus video as a starting point for a sonatina for piano. Thank you for the inspiration
My favourite chord is Gsus4 7b9 chord, it is used in Chopin etude op 10 no1. It's the 4th "wave" (when going up)
@mixuaquela123, fantastic chord with a beautiful resolution. well isn't it a bit more complex way to point at an fm6 on sustained pedal g. or too classical approach
@@keescanalfp5143 Indeed! Chopin was a genious. Also thats why i have played half of his etudes. When I analyze chords i always check where the current chord leads to. In this case it leads to normal G7 so in my opinion it makes more sense to name it suspended chord rather than chord with root F. Another way to help analyzing is to actually listen to what it sounds like. Imo it sounds like the chord resolving to G7. And in this case it sounds like suspended resolve to my ear. Im not saying you're wrong since this things can be interpreted in countless ways. Also sry for my bad english.
kees canal fp
Another chord that I like from a specific piece is that chord towards the end of fugue in c sharp minor. I don’t even need to find the specific measure, you will hear it.
I love the Tristan chord.
The chord progression in op 6 no. 1 measures 5-8.
Etc..,
thanks for your high quality content, which is consistently interesting. my bandmate is also a fan!
Love your videos! So insightful without being too heavy 😘
"If you're at all familiar with how numbers work." This line made me giggle for some reason.
Just woke up my cat. That is now one of my favorite quotes
I'm not so sure about the augmented triad not being directional. Sure, it isn't as directional as say a diminished 7th(which is itself ambiguous but it is also a dominant function chord giving directionality) but I find that when I use an augmented chord there are 2 natural resolutions. And guess what, both of those involve the fifth moving down a half step while the rest of the chord stays put. But one of these resolutions is more natural than the other and I think I know why. Sticking with C aug, here are the natural resolutions I find:
Caug -> C in root position
Caug -> Am in first inversion
Out of these 2, the resolution to Am feels more natural. Here is my hypothesis as to why. It has to do with harmonic minor.
So if you take the harmonic minor scale and stack it up into triads, the III chord is augmented. In the key of Am that is Caug. Now Caug as I said can naturally go to C major in root position. But that would require viewing the G# as a downward leading tone to G. And this would imply that the G# is actually an Ab and it is going to the subdominant of G phrygian. But a major subdominant in a minor mode is kind of odd. More odd than the minor plagal motion in a major key, that's for sure. I mean how often do you see IV -> V -> i in minor? Probably very rarely. More commonly you will see this:
iv -> V -> i, a minor subdominant leading to a major dominant
or this:
V -> vii°7 -> i, a dominant extension via a diminished seventh
or even this:
viiø7 -> vii°7 -> i, a very common resolution of the half diminished 7th is to first go to the fully diminished seventh and then to tonic
In contrast, if Caug resolves to A minor in first inversion, everything makes more sense. The mediant is acting as a dominant function chord here. While the C and the E don't want to move, the G# does because it is the leading tone of A. That leading tone blasts away the tonic feel of the C and E and the leading tone resolves as expected to A, giving us a first inversion A minor triad. You get a similar thing going on with the minor-major 7th. Again, the leading tone is the only note wanting to move. But this time, the root of the minor-major 7th and the root of the minor triad resolution are the same so no inversions.
What do you think of my explanation of how the augmented triad functions 12tone?
Caters Carrots that is a really cool analysis. I wrote a small comment about how harmonic minor is far more common than the whole tone and it would probably provide a more common analysis. I talked about C+’s resolution to C as a pivot chord to modulate into C which is the relative of A natural minor so this seems like a very natural use of the chord. I also mentioned that sus2+ and sus4+ both exist in harmonic minor as well.
another interesting way to think about this chord (Eaugsus2) could be to treat it as a D7 in 3rd inversion without its root. This still leads you to resolve at G as it's just taking what you were calling the root and b5 of the viidim and turns them into the 3rd and 7th of the V chord. You can always do this with diminished chords, so it's not that interesting until you consider how dominant chords can resolve place other than a 5th down, namely a half step down, a whole step up, or a major third down (this one is particularly cool and not used much). With this logic, you can resolve this Eaugsus2 to G, C#, E (which fascinatingly is just the stable version of the tension chord), or Bb.
Whether these were major or minor isn't that important but for each resolution, a certain chord type would be stronger based on voice leading. You could also resolve to the relative major or minor of any of these, although it won't sound nearly as strong.
I like to think of this chord as a sus4 chord but the root note is sharp. For example: C# and F and G. This would then resolve nicely to C major.
so nice a chord sequence!
think that the voicing c#-c works rather as a disappointment. Db-c more like a resolution. for some people a clearer way of noting the second step.
isn't the root of it the G7 b5, the third B left out, leading to C.
That makes sense
I love these kinds of tutorials, when I have to race from point to point and be barely keeping up by minute 2. Thank you !
Dope. It is a great voicing! Really common one too.
If you look at this pitch collection as an incomplete F#Ø/E a common motion would be to move to the cadential 6/4 (either Major or minor). You somewhat alluded to this, except that you called it by its apparent name (G∆/D) and said it's a weak "resolution." If used as part of a cadential function (or cadential progression) in a theme the half-diminished is going to be, most likely, a prolongational chord and the real resolution comes from the motion of V to I (or i) following the Cadential 6/4.
This is commonplace in Baroque music and other periods of the CPP, but it's probably more often that you hear a fully diminished 7th chord rather than a half diminished due to the intensified pull toward a Cadential 6/4 (i.e. b6-5).
The motion to F#Ø/E to E- is very common in the minor mode. i - iiØ4/2 - i is often used at the beginning of minor mode pieces during the Tonic prolongation. One of my favorite ways to immediately set up a heavy mood. It's often part of a larger Tonic pedal, such as E- F#Ø/E E- D#°7/E, etc.
Thanks, your comment expressed the points I wanted to try to make much more clearly than I would have.
In a more modern context, I’ve heard the band Leprous use this chord quite a few times (The Last Milestone, The Flood for instance). I usually hear it as a iiØ with no third (or a rootless ivm6).
(btw, love your channel @GUIM)
@@lyoug Thanks for the kind words. Glad to hear you dig the channel. Got a new video coming out tomorrow!
I'll have to check out those tunes by Leprous. I'm not familiar with that band. And yeah, it's still a commonly used technique in modern music! I'm just more familiar with retro VGM and music of the Common Practice Period, haha.
@@GUIM1797 You’re welcome. Meanwhile I just found a few more examples in Leprous’ songs: Bilateral, Slave, Leashes. There are probably more, I feel like they just love this chord (so do I).
(also feel free to check my channel, I think you could like the silly baroque harmonizations: ua-cam.com/video/St7S3YrxqW0/v-deo.html )
Wow owkay those are wild. Great job on explaining the chords thoroughly. :D
Always happy to see new videos
You could also use that VIIdim7 as a II-V-I of the VIm, in G you'd go to Em in that way
Yes! Love that chord in the outro to ‘Strange News From Another Star’
Saw this video and I was like "wait suspended and augmented so that's a raised 5th and the--wait that's just a minor chord" aaaand then I remembered sus2 chords exist. Whoops.
This is one of my favourite chords, nice to see a video on it! I also love min(add9) chords and Maj(b5)!
Some alternative ways of looking at it: (let's use A+sus2):
A,B,E# > rewriting it as A,B,F for convenience.
FAB = FACb = Fdim#3 = Fmajb5(/A if we keep the A as the root and have a particularly good reason to consider it an F chord)
This way of looking at it also makes it easy to realize every second degree in the dim scale will have it.
i just discovered these myself last week!! epic I reckon :D
Probably one of the best, most concise videos TwelveTone has published, very niceeee
Just like the +sus2 chord can be viewed as third inversion half diminished, the +sus#4 can actually be viewed as a dominant chord in first inversion (which is why it sounds good). And with such a strong function this chord could be, you need a really good excuse to treat it as a +sus#4...
You could also look at that augmented sus2 as a "negative dominant shell voicing" since it's a dominant shell voicing but with inverted intervals.
I just realised that the Vb5 chord in the neapolitan scales and the double harmonic major scale is an inversion of the #5Sus2. You can use it to create Vb5-I resolutions.
You can also use IVb5 in the major scale, or bVIb5 in the minor scale. the bVIb5 resolves to the i, which is pretty useful.
This chord is all over Trapped in the Closet by R. Kelly btw. Fun fact.
thanks, just spent half the day listening to all the parts
I'm not a Patreon sustainer, but I wanted to share an idea I had.
I've been working on quartile leaps on my instruments. I think often when I learn music by ear I just pick an easy key and so if a song starts on a fourth it's almost always C to F or G to C. I mean, I can say the Circle of Fifths backwards if I need to, but since I don't use the totality of the twelve keys actively enough, I'm not usually likely to know how to jump a fourth quickly from any location.
So I was practicing and I was like, "What is this? I've heard this. . . " and I realized that the local news station in Philadelphia where I grew up ends its song with stacked quartile leaps. C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Gb-Gb G. So it's a very tense way to do a I-V (which in its own sense is kind of interesting. . . I wonder if it leaves on the V because its less tense than the tritone it was one before that, but more tense than if it did the usual expected V7-I resolution).
The Action News song has seriously replaced the birthday song as my way of hearing fourths, because it works seven deep! That's crazy!
In any case, I wonder how local news stations determine their songs. In the case of 6 ABC/WPVI, I'd probably not be stretching much to say that their song is one of the local themes of the area, almost up there with the Rocky song or some other Philly pride stuff. My cousin moved to Cincinnati and promptly turned his phone ringtone into the quartile leaps resolving on the I-V, because I guess there's somewhere with the magic of the internet you can do that.
Are other songs this iconic in other regions? I lived in New England for a while, and the Rhode Island stations did not seem to have this level of pride associated with them, but maybe I just didn't pick it up because of my out-of-town-ness. You lived in Boston, and what, California? What's the situation there?
ua-cam.com/video/BFJ2yoTsBds/v-deo.html
If you add both sus2 and sus4, you end up with an iv6 chord. So going back to the root could be seen as a variation of the minor Plagal cadence, and to me it feels a lot like it functionally. If the song in in major mode, this would also briefly introduce modal mixture.
You discussed how context and voicing affect the function of enharmonic chords. You also mentioned that by adding an A to the E-F#-C Aug-Sus-2 chord, one can obtain a half-diminished seventh chord. My two cents is that the interpretations can be even more varied. For example, the half-diminished seventh chord is enharmonic with the "Tristan chord" (of Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde"), which is, in its initial presentation, might seem like a diminished seventh chord, but in its melodic resolution, proves to be a type of augmented sixth chord. All of this is to say, yes, context and voicing do affect functionality (whether harmonic or linear) - and your "New Favorite Chord" has even more connections than discussed in this video. As an aside, I note that "suspensions", per se, are generally thought to resolve downward, whereas "ritardations" are generally thought to resolve upward. Considering that your accounting of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" chord is third-less, but does contain the supposed root (E), I might call it a third-less E augmented-fifth major-ninth chord... but whatever... figured bass would clarify it all. Anyway, thanks for another interesting video.
Here is some possible resolution for this chord : it can be found in the harmonic minor scale, (with the IIIm as root), it is very easy to resolve in this scale playing the root or third chord;
In A harmonic minor > Caug(sus2) to C or Am
I'm late to the party, but another way this chord can resolve: move the E and B# down a half-step, and you get B major in first inversion. Of course, the fact that E was just in the bass makes me hear the B chord as a V chord in E minor, so the only natural place I hear it going is, you know, right back to E minor.
(This can of course also be seen as stemming from the interpretation of E+sus2 as an F# half-diminished 7 with no third; F#dim is the second chord in natural or harmonic minor, so it makes sense that it would lead into V -> i.)
Interesting video! Here's some food for thought:
When listening to the chord in the Fleetwood Mac tune, my ear immediately gravitates toward calling that chord a iv add6 chord, without the root, played over a tonic pedal. I think when I hear that riff, it does sound like it's cadencing to a degree, so I would be more tempted to call it two separate entities (chord and pedal), as opposed to one chord built on e.
Also, when you discuss the resolution of the e+sus4, I think another more tonally appropriate way to classify/resolve the chord at that point would be as an incomplete Fr+6 chord. At that point, it would be missing an A# (the augmented sixth interval funny enough), but could still resolve to a tonic 6 4 chord, and cadence from there.
That's an inversion of Maj b5, right? Love that too! This progression for example:
C - Cb5 - Bsus4 - B.
I like this explanation instead of aug sus2.
Hi there, I really love your vids.
So, I too love this chord and when you first played it it sounded like a chord that I often use which is C E, F#
I've always used it in a Lydian or Lydian dominant context so as a IV degree to a major scale and IV degree to a melodic minor.
You made me think about it and I started inverting it and considering different contexts:
E, F#, C. To me this can resolve both to C#min and Amin. In the first case I see and hear a G#7(#5)/G#7(b6) without the root. In the second case, yes, Esus2aug which resolves to Amin. I see as a chord built on the Amin melodic scale that it's originaly just an Eaug chord (E, G#, C) but with F# instead of G# (sus2). It kind sound satisfying resolving also on C# and A.
C#,F#,E. As I said I mainly use it in a modal context but it resolves nicely to Bmin and even better to B.
F#, C, E. This is just an half dimished chord which, I mean, is still part of a G#alt chord and part of a C(#11).
Anyways, I was just experimenting at it does sound satyisfing when resolving to an F(omit 3) chord.
If we imply or play a G# on the top, instead, so F#, C, E, G#, it can go quite well to Cmin imho.
In this for, as other have said, it resolves nicely to E as well.
I think that's it XD
not enough people see augmented chords as having dominant function, especially for minor chords (and it sounds really awesome by the way !! like v+ to i- sounds really cool and almost mysterious and spooky which is great)
i really like the E+sus2 > E motion, it just feels so bright and satisfying. come to think of it, isn't it just an Am6/E > E resolution?
In the original song, it's i - ii° - i with an E pedal and the third omitted, so it's F#ø7(omit 3rd)/E
You can find this chord quite often in metal, usually the darker kind. Another similar chord I love is the diminished sus2 chord, it can even be used together with the aug sus2!
After watching this video, I decided to try out a stacking major thirds on C then adding a 9th, or sus 2, and it definitely sounds like a dominant tonality with the major third instead of the flat 7th, you have the major 6th, which gives a tritone to the sus 2 or added 9th. Thanks so much for this cool chord! Sounds great in melodic minor, try A melodic minor and C+sus2 (or add 9th) super cool!
I think one of the most famous uses of this is in the Wedding March by Mendelssohn right after the intro. The chord consists of C, E, and F# (exactly like the example given in the video) over A minor, which made me think of this as an F sharp half diminished. The C and E resolves a semitone down to B major.
To my ear what you call augmented sus 2 sounds like a rootless dominant chord: C-D-G# = B#-D-G# = E7#5 rootless. Also: an augmented triad functions like a dominant chord, just like diminished. C-E-G# will resolve to an F triad where the G# is a leading tone to the third A in the F chord.
I always liked the augmented VI chord in mixolydian b 6, so I'm glad it can sound even prettier
My music theory isn't good enough for me to get anything out of this although I much appreciate your work and the time and effort involved. I would love to see this explained with your doodling split screen with a guitar neck.
dont know how late i am, discovered the channel and started to watch what looks interresting. but just a little thought, i go to czech music school and we take the augmented triad as a diatonic chord since it appears diatonicaly in fex harmonic minor, so then it has a function, usable tentions and for me it was much easier to approach it. since the sound is so exotic and it might be hard to get it in your ear, by this way you can even create excercises for a more elegant use of it, since its symetrical, it was hard for me to use it well on my instrument and adding a function worked pretty well, the whole tone scale is than much easier to learn later
sori for bad greek
Augsus4 is one of my favorite chords. Im not a theory nerd. All i know is i love starting with something called an augsus4 chord and working with it
It's a lovely sound. But to be honest i hear it as a Half Diminished 7th/Min 6th chord missing the Root Which should resolve to the Maj a tone above. F 1/2 dim 7th to G maj. Lovely .
yeah it kinda does feel like it
I hear it the same way except moving to E minor. Same thing, really.
I hear it the same way except moving to E minor. Same thing, really.
The "augmented sus2" reminded me of a cadence in minor. I don't know the English names for these, but:
C -> B -> B
(A -> A -> G)
F# -> F# -> E/G
E -> D# -> E
Basically, it's the third inversion of a seventh chord built on the second degree of the harmonic minor scale, with subdominant function of course.
This is pretty cool!
very interesting, i checked what i could do and i found out that is basically a major chord with b5 (#4 actually), and also its a half diminished chord, missing the 3rd, so for example, E+sus2; E F# C, if we invested it to F# and add the 3rd, we end with F#m7b5, which kinda explains why resolves to itself (Em)
I'm sure someone has mentioned this by now, but on the off-chance that they haven't... Are you familiar with "e" by Adrian Belew? On the whole, it's a cycle of five compositions titled a, b, c, d, e. The final one, e, uses the very chord you play here to great effect. If you haven't heard it, I'm sure you'll get a huge kick out of the ways that he played with it.
I thought of it as an F# half diminished 7 resolving to E, which has really nice voice leading in a plagal kind of way. Try sticking an E chord after the example
I don't understand chords and/or notes at all, yet I watched through this entire video. I can't say I learned anything, but it was at least entertaining.
Oh, and on the matter of otherwise tertian triads containing major 2nd/9th tones, it might be interesting to do a video on Pink Floyd's use of the device in "Comfortably Numb" and Simon and Garfunkel's use of the device in "My Little Town". (I'm recalling these by ear, so forgive me if I'm imagining the major 2nd/9th.) In the former case, the added tone seems to give a buzzy headachy feel (appropriate to the song's topic) and in the latter case, the added tone seems to imply a sort-of unsettling musical commentary matching the lyrics, "Nothing but the dead and dyin' here in my little town." On the topic of a cool use of the augmented triad, listen to the scherzo (third movement) of Bruckner's 7th symphony. (Again, I'm recalling this by ear, but I think that I am correct.)
The same IIm7b5/I chord shows up in Rachmaninoff's Prelue in C-sharp Minor for Piano solo at the end where there is a repeating C# octaves in the low register and a few different chord on top eventually leading to a C#m. However the second last chord is a D#m7b5/C# just like you eventually got to. The biggest difference would be that the D#m7b5 part of the chord includes all 4 notes in addition to C# in the bass. So therefore not exactly a C#+sus2. In-fact u can write as a C#+sus2/4, a bit ugly, but oh well. Have a listen and see how Rachmaninoff also resolved it to a C#m just as you suggested in the video.
interesting point! could you write or functionalize it as d#-f#-g##-c# with bass tone c#, in the plagal cadence.
I think it would’ve been worth noting that by itself the aug sus2 can be heard as a major chord with a flat 5 in inversion
What I hear in The Chain is the guitar playing in the Japanese minor pentatonic scale. The scale has the root, major second, minor third, fifth and flat sixth as its notes. In E, they are E-Fb-G-B-C-E.
Notably, this scale implies a minor third whereas your interpretation implies a major third.
This chord is enharmonic to an inversion of Maj#4no5, which is one of my favourite chords.
b5 is enharmonic to #4 in 12-TET, but they are not the same thing. Maj#4no5 fits into diatonic scales, but Majb5 doesn't.
They do sound the same. What you call the chord depends on its function.
Good evening Mr. 12tone
I just wanted to add, that augmented Triads, and also suspended augmented triads can very nicely resolve in the first inversion of the augmented fifth by moving the suspended third one halfstep up.
Try it out, it sounds very beautiful if you have a supporting Bass.
(e.g.: C+sus2 -> Ab major (by moving D to Eb))
Nevertheless, a very cool and fascinating chord you found there Sir.
Worth playing around with, thats what i just did to resolution by invertion
@@franzenstein439, @Franzenstein ,
excellent example of a suspended chord! could you please explain what is the augmented element, i mean third? or fifth of course, of it.
@@keescanalfp5143 I am not certanly sure what exactly you want to have explained, but in case of C Major, the augmented 5th is G#/Ab.
So if you take a C+sus2 chord (build out of C, D and Ab) you can resolute it by raising the D to a D#/Eb and get a Ab Major chord in the first inversion (C, Eb, Ab (Ab Major is build of Ab,C,Eb))
@@franzenstein439, thanks for clarifying the point. well i see the triad C-Eb-Ab. my thought was that the c-a flat is certainly rather a _minor sixth,_ as it can remain sounding in your resolution with the eb.
in case of the c-g# this remaining would *not* be possible, would it. you prefer to call it Ab. a kind of event in the key of Eb, or cm, so no d# ! And right then there is not a bit of C+ with its g#. just the inverse of the third Ab-C.
but now, a real augmented fifth g# wishes to be followed for example, by
. either b-g#, a major sixth; combined with your d in a diminished triad, and together getting to go further to a-c-a or a-c#-a, an event in the A/ Am key.
. or by c-a, a major sixth, having several possible follow ups, e.g. in the F major key.
. or also, in a pretty extreme case, at first to a seventh b-a, possibly combined with d#, then together leading to b-e-g# or e-e-g#.
this all in order to have it clarified in what way G# and Ab are different tones fitting in really different contexts. (a pretty delicate matter for composers and publishers.)
so my question on the example c-d-aflat was, these are not quite the tones of an augmented C+sus2 chord, so very well they sound and resolve. because we are missing the augmented interval.
hope you can play and compare the things. it's got to become a long text story ..
*
@@franzenstein439, + i would like to add, please DON'T try to understand that text. please just try and taste the examples within their key environment, i.e. the mentioned scale.
How about viewing it as a major triad with a diminished 5th, in this case C maj b5/E (C, E, Gb).
Nice sounding chord regardless.
That is honestly the best way to label it. When you really get down to it, there is no such thing as a sus2 or a sus9. They are simply inversions of the sus4 chord. Ex: Csus2 = C, D, G Gsus4 = G, C, D. Therefore, Csus2 = Gsus4/C. There is only one sus chord and his name is sus4. The whole sus2 or sus9 thing is a very new concept. Musicians never started using those terms until the late 20th century.
But isn't Gsus4/C simply an inversion of Gsus4? Csus2 is C, D, G and Csus4 is C, F, G so no matter how you invert Csus4 you can't get a Csus2, right?
@@debirumusic Correct, there is no D in the Csus4 chord. The sus4 is the only suspended chord. Period. Any other "sus" chord is just a sus4 in inversion. Think of it this way: C Major = C, E, G Yes? Well, when you invert it to E, G, C, what would you rather call it? C/E or E minor (#5)? Obviously the second option is ridiculous. It doesn't represent the harmonic function of the sound you are hearing. The same principal applies to the whole "sus 2" thing. It is not practical to the harmonic function.
@@vinniebasile9404 What about 7sus2? _e.g._ It is really strange to say that G7sus2 = D(#9)sus4/G.
@@mnfen9792 The chord you are referring to is a G9(no3). Most people would prefer that, but that doesn't mean that people don't use "G7sus2." You have to think about the sound. We usually don't hear that chord as any type of suspended. We recognize it as a Dominant chord with an implied 3rd.
Great video!!! 12tone sounds kinda tired though
AugSus4# are actually common in classical.
Exist in melodic minor
Considering the key signature for that song is E minor, this is better analyzed as the ii chord - F#m7b5. A ii diminished makes more sense than an altered minor I chord here.
Thanks for reminding me of deceptive cadence, which tend to resolve to its 6th chord. Ex= in key of C, but ends in Am
idk about you but to me that chord sounds like it very much wants to resolve to E major. perhaps that's because in my mind I'm hearing it as not an E+sus2 but as an Am6 in second inversion which to me resolves really nicely to E.
It seems like most people actually thinking about how this *sounds* agree with you. If anything this video should be a case study on actually listening to stuff and not just trying to figure out on paper what you think something is. For me there's no question that the real root here is A and that it resolves to E.
My favorite chord are the Mystic Chord and DbMaj7#13
The good thing about calling it aug sus2 chord, is that you refer more to a mode. Rather than F#min(dim5)/E which sounds pretty functional.
By the way, I love the idea of a dissonance that sits on itself, not asking for resolution. That chord kinda reminds me of Steve Reich, and I think this concept of non resolutive dissonance applies in his music.
I like using augmented add #4 chords. For example, Ab+ (add #4)
Ab
C
D
E
It’s very dark and clashy at the same time.
Woudn't it be a Cadd2aug5 with Ab in the bass?
Rodrigo Marques I mean, that’s another way of naming it. Both the same chord.
i guess it's time to learn!
Im Sorry but i think the E+sus2 to Em works because the notes E-F#-C are easily treatable as a diminished chord with a soul being the B7, resulting in Just a colorful V to I
@ 0:35 - 0:45 ish: Hinting at a new modded Minecraft let's play using Feed the Beast there? :P
So, I'm wondering how often these kinds of chords pop up in music meant for fantasy media. I think I've heard a similar chord in the Diablo soundtracks.
2:40 Oh, Darling! By the Beatles
Could the augmented sus2 work as five chord? I know in Mario music, for example, it’s not uncommon to see a V+ chord in order to make it more fun (it works, I’ve used it in my own writing). Seeing this made me wonder: Could an E+sus2 -> A progression work and how would it?
I’m confused. I like the sound but isn’t it just a French Augmented 6th without the b6? I mean you have 1, 2 and #4 basically. I guess the tricky part can be the enharmonics and the functionality, but I’m curious on what your thoughts are! Great video by the way!
I got a question, if you take a major chord and flatten the fifth, is there a name for it? (Like C E G > C E Gb)
What if augmented triads are dissonant because they recontextualize the minor 6th from "8/5 ratio that's 14 cents flat" to "25/16 ratio that's 28 cents sharp"
I don't know if someone has mentioned this yet but that chord sounds pretty much like a m6 chord to me. If you put an A on it, it becomes Am6 which is a plagal cadence to E. Meh, just a thought, don't even know if it's relevant.
Now I wanna make a song that resolves from a major chord to a suspended.
E f sharp c sharp is also the second inversion of a triad made of fourths built on the fourth degree of c sharp minor melodic scale fsharp b sharp e
It’s like this dude aint even speaking english, i just listen for his soothing voice
Could it also be called a F# half-diminished 7th in 3rd inversion? Or a 4/3 F# half-dimished?
(And with no third.)
4/2*. And yes, that is actually what it is in the song he's referencing, with the E serving as a pedal tone.
For me, it has the colour of a IVmd in pedal point of the I. Why is that you didn't choose?
Just out of curiosity (and course cause you're a musicologist and probably do care :)):
A diminished 5 isn't exactly a tritone, is it? Only enharmonically. But a tri-tone, as the name suggests, is three (whole) tones stacked on top of each other - and by that etymology, an augmented 4.
Do I get that right?
personally, all i could hear in my head was that chord resolving to a major chord with the same root. so E+sus2/F# to E. i feel like i've heard it before somewhere
oh, i think it's just acting as a minor plagal cadence in my head
thats a major flat five chord ? E F# and B# which is C E and gb enharmonically. Nice inversion, love your videos
Evan Taylor I could also call a c major chord an E minor flat 6 chord... its all contextual