which chord is this?

Putting music theory into practice
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Hotzenplotz
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Re: which chord is this?

Post by Hotzenplotz »

Well, I immediately understood what was meant with "feeling of resolution".

It was not said that it IS a resolution.
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prjacobs
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Re: which chord is this?

Post by prjacobs »

jdogric12 wrote:Ok, sorry I was snarky about it. I was just saying that D to C is not a resolution. D to G would be a resolution, but not much of one, if you've already gone and thrown a G note into the middle of the D chord voicing, essentially spoiling the end of the movie.

All these fun wacky "chord" names are kind of like naming a new species for all the billions of mutts in the dog and cat world. Oooh look it's a Dmaj7sus9#4b13! How cute! It still sounds cool, but the line has to be drawn somewhere. In this case, the E and G over the D chord are merely "color tones."

And while I'm certainly no expert, I do have a bachelor's degree in music from an AACSB accredited university and specialized in theory and composition while I was there (to answer your question).

Seriously, I think the "resolution" you hear on C is really just "relief" at being freed from all the dissonance in the DEF#GA cluster. Man On The Moon is the first song I thought of when I first read this thread, and that's how it operates there. I avoided the word "function" because that would imply a direct result exists.

Sorry I was jerky with the cereal box crack. Please don't let your feelings get hurt, it's just a guitar forum! And welcome! :D
Fair enough Jason. My comments are simply my take on things. By the way, my cereal box :) musical education includes 5 years of theory at Juilliard. However, take that with many grains of salt because the classical world is clueless about harmony. I've also taught theory on the graduate level in Denmark. (Which does as much for me as the Danish kroner in my dresser drawer :) ).
And yes... The resolution is relief from that dissonance. Isn't that what suspensions are all about? I just listened to Man On The Moon and I hear those first chords as Cadd9 to D add9. Or at times almost C/D to D. But whatever you call it, and despite the Em ending, (something every bar band has done at the end of a song to be cool), we're basically in G. So, it's just IV,V,I when you get down to basics.
Anyway.... Moving right along :) ....
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jps
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Re: which chord is this?

Post by jps »

I just love theoretical fights! :twisted: :mrgreen:
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jdogric12
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Re: which chord is this?

Post by jdogric12 »

Well I guess Paul ate my lunch!

I still say D to C is not a resolution, sorry.
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prjacobs
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Re: which chord is this?

Post by prjacobs »

jdogric12 wrote:Well I guess Paul ate my lunch!

I still say D to C is not a resolution, sorry.
And you'd be right. If it was just a simple D chord to a C. But the G and E are in this chord and they don't want to be ignored :) . In fact, they are the two classic suspended tones in a D chord and they literally make a C major chord with the note C. That's as basic as suspensions get. Classically, the chord would resolve to a D. But the IV,I or V,I cadences aren't necessarily the big dogs in the 21st century. Think about the last three chords, (especially the last two) in "A Little Help From My Friends." Ringo holds an E and the fab four play C/G, F#m7d5, or D9/F# to E. Does it feel like it resolves? Of course it does. Or... Sing that last E as you play a C,D and then an E chord. Are you feeling the force?
Help! Make me stop :) . And please take this in fun :) ....
Last edited by prjacobs on Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:35 am, edited 2 times in total.
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sloop_john_b
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Re: which chord is this?

Post by sloop_john_b »

Hold on a sec guys, my popcorn's ready...



















...aaaaand proceed.
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jdogric12
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Re: which chord is this?

Post by jdogric12 »

:lol:
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Hotzenplotz
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Re: which chord is this?

Post by Hotzenplotz »

prjacobs wrote:
jdogric12 wrote:Well I guess Paul ate my lunch!

I still say D to C is not a resolution, sorry.
And you'd be right. If it was just a simple D chord to a C. But the G and E are in this chord and they don't want to be ignored :) . In fact, they are the two classic suspended tones in a D chord and they literally make a C major chord with the note C. That's as basic as suspensions get. Classically, the chord would resolve to a D. But the IV,I or V,I cadences aren't necessarily the big dogs in the 21st century. Think about the last three chords, (especially the last two) in "A Little Help From My Friends." Ringo holds an E and the fab four play C/G, F#m7d5, or D9/F# to E. Does it feel like it resolves? Of course it does. Or... Sing that last E as you play a C,D and then an E chord. Are you feeling the force?
Help! Make me stop :) . And please take this in fun :) ....

Know exactly what You mean! Some here did not mention that we do not talk in technical terms at this point.
This is the first part of the communication.

The second one is about (only) the "right" name for a special thing, some call it chord.
At this point I am just interested in the name of it.

Back to the first part I enjoy talking about the effect of this and other "chords". That is beside technical terms - that are certainly very necessary to describe music the way a science does. But sorry, I understand absolutely nothing. I try to do and started to read a bit more about it. - Thank You!

All in all I see no dispute at all.

Nice thread!
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