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Post subject: Music Theory 101
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 2:19 pm
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Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:49 pm
Posts: 409
What designated note(s) in a chord or power chord are the most important?

1. Root
2. Second
3. Third
4. Fourth
5. Fifth
6. Sixth
7. Seventh
8. Eighth (Root)
9. Ninth
10. Tenth (Third)
11. Eleventh
12. Twelfth (Fifth)
13. Thirteenth
14. All Of The Above
15. Root, Third And Fifth
16. Root And Third
17. Root And Fifth
18. Third And Fifth
19. None Of The Above


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Post subject: Re: Music Theory 101
Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 9:54 pm
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Professional Musician
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Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2009 4:50 pm
Posts: 1339
Location: Denver, CO, USA
None of the above, because it depends on the situation.

First, since you mentioned power chords, they aren't really chords and shouldn't be part of your question. Power chords are two tones -- typically root and fifth. Those tones may be doubled or tripled -- one common guitar E power chord is 3 E's and 2 B's (some voicings put the duplicated tones in different octaves, others duplicate the tones in unison), or you can just play a single E and a single B to make a power chord.

Blackmore called the power chords in "Smoke On The Water" fourths, but it can be argued that they're actually inverted fifths. Regardless, by definition a chord is three or more tones, so power chords aren't chords and should have been more properly named "power intervals".

Anyway, technically all of the notes of a chord are equally important -- if you leave one out it becomes a different chord. But in actuality, often you can leave certain notes out because they're implied by the progression -- your mind hears them even though they aren't there, because they're suggested by the preceding and following chords (or by the song's melody line, even if that line isn't being explicitly played at the moment).

And in ensemble playing, multiple instruments can form a chord together. If you're playing with a pianist and a bassist, both the guitar and piano might omit the root because the bassist is playing it. Or if the keyboardist is playing the root, both the guitar and bass might omit it.

Many common guitar chords are terrible versions according to traditional music theory, chosen simply so that all six strings are fretted and playing chord tones, or for ease of fingering. So they over-emphasize tones that traditional music theory says should only be used for coloring, or treat all inversions as if they're equal and interchangeable. On complex chords with extended voicings, tones are often omitted because there aren't enough strings to voice all of them, or enough fingers, or human fingers can't reach all the notes at the same time. But our ears have become used to hearing guitar chords, and those "errors" are often desirable now. (Not always -- sometimes a cowboy Gmajor or a 3rd position Gmajor barre aren't interchangeable or appropriate for the arrangement.),

I'm curious -- are you trying to learn something? Or trying to argue a viewpoint? Or just testing people? Or what?


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Post subject: Re: Music Theory 101
Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 2:12 pm
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Amateur
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Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2009 12:20 pm
Posts: 125
Sooo gang, what happened here, a few days ago there where a number of posts here including one of mine ,and now I see there all gone but one. What gives? Mark


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Post subject: Re: Music Theory 101
Posted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 3:43 pm
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Professional Musician
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Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2011 6:10 pm
Posts: 2261
Location: Elay
Are you sure you aren't thinking of his double post in the Lounge?
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=92909

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