From: mvinskus@wpi.WPI.EDU (Michael J Vinskus)
Subject: Re: More theory questions (groan)
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1992 18:21:06 GMT

In article <1992Aug20.154416.21245@wam.umd.edu> peugh@wam.umd.edu (Arthur Dent) writes:
>
>  When i asked about the chords someone said that in the ninth chord you should
>play a seventh chord and move the root up to the ninth, an 11th chord is a 7th
>with the third moved up to the 11th, etc. 
>  I don't quite get the moving of the root or the third.  How is this 
>accomplished, and what does it do?
>
>  I was also wondering about resolution theory.  Resolving means when you play
>suchandsuch a note in suchandsuch key they next note should be suchandsuch, 
>right?  Well how does this work?
>
>  Thanks.
>

All chords are formed from harmonizing a particular scale.  The most common 
scale to harmonize is the major scale.  The harmonization is usually done in
thirds, although fourths and fifths can also be used.  The process is simple:
choose the note you want to harmonize and add a note a third above it.  Add the
next note a third above the second one, etc.  The key to all of the
harmonization is that you stay in the choosen key.  For example choose the
key of C major.  The harmonized chords are:

  I.  C maj. 7   -- C E G B
 II.  D - 7      -- D F A C
III.  E - 7      -- E G B D
 IV.  F maj. 7   -- F A C E
  V.  G 7        -- G B D F
 VI.  A - 7      -- A C E G
VII.  B - 7 (b5) -- B D F A

Only the first four notes have been shown.  Usually only one more note is 
added to the stack of thirds for each root.  These are the ninth or second
intervals in the chords.  Remember to stay in the correct key.  The only 
chord that generally has more than one upper partial (notes beyond the 4th
note in the stack is the V. chord, in this case G7.  Since this is the dominant
seventh chord of the key, the 9th, 11th, 13th are common notes to be played.

As far as voicings on guitar go, it is not to critical in what sequence the
notes occur.  In fact, most of the chords have difficult fingerings when played
as written.  If you decide to drop notes from the voicing(usually a good thing
to do if the chord is complex), a rule of thumb is to drop notes from the
bottom of the following list first:

1.  Color notes (ie. 9th, 13th, #11, b5, etc.)  They give the chord its *flavor
2.  The seventh of the chord. (distinguished between dominant or major 7th )
3.  The third  (tells whether major or minor)
4.  The root of the chord.  (self-explainatory)
5.  The fifth (adds thickness)

As far as the resolution theory, the 7th degree of a major scale has a tendency
to resolve up to the octave, and the 4th degree has a tendency to resolve down
to the third.  A musical example is this:

Play the following two notes together:  B (4th fret 3rd string)
					F (6th fret 2nd string)

    Now play these two notes together:  C  (5th fret, 3rd string)
	       			    	E  (5th fret, 2nd string)

This was the harmonic underpinning of the V I progression prevalent in almost
all western music.  These notes correspond to the G7 to C maj 7 progression
in the key of C.  As far as single notes go, try looking up examples of 
counterpoint.  Good luck.

--Mike Vinskus.
mvinskus@wpi.wpi.edu














From: fredh@hpcvlx.cv.hp.com (Fred Handloser)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 20:57:59 GMT
Subject: Re: Another plea for pedal-mods
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Corvallis, OR, USA