Major Chords | Table O Contents
Major chords are harmonic, diatonic groups of simultaneous sounds …
- Major Chords | Table O Contents
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Chord Production
Hint. On the guitar, each fret represents a “half note”. Therefore, a stretch of Two (2) frets equals a “whole note”.
The note position template for any Major key is represented by a specific progressive series of whole notes and half notes, as follows:
W; W; h; W; W; W; h
To produce a Major chord, use the above postion template as your guide.
Key of C Major
The key of C major comprises the following progressive set of notes …
C; D; E: F; G; A; B;
Each note in the series may then be designated progressively by a corresponding Roman numeral according to one simple rule.
All “Whole” notes are expressed with a single Roman Capitol number while all “half” notes are expressed with a single Roman small number.
Wrong!
What?
Music ain’t so simple! Afterall, music represents the resonance of nature, does it not?
Would you not expect nature to be a bit more complicated?
If you answered “Yes”, you are correct.
Therefore, the notes of any Major scale, including the subject “C major” scale will only “expectedly” match up Roman numeral style, as follows:
C Major Scale
C; D; E: F; G; A; B;
Position Template
W; W; h; W; W; W; h
Expected Roman Nomenclature
I; II; iii; IV; V; VI; vii;
Not!
The Surface Path
Following the C Major Scale …
C; D; E: F; G; A; B;
Plus the above Expected Roman Nomenclature …
I; II; iii; IV; V; VI; vii;
Derived from the given Position Template …
W; W; h; W; W; W; h
A surface path does indeed appear!
The Progression of Notes
The “C” note of the C Major Scale is designated as the first note of the C Major Scale, a Whole note.
And, progressively …
The “D” note of the C Major Scale is designated as the second note of the C Major Scale, also a Whole note.
The “E” note of the C Major Scale is designated as the third note of the C Major Scale, a half note.
And, the “F” note of the C Major Scale is designated as the forth note of the C Major Scale, a Whole note.
Further, the “G” note of the C Major Scale is designated as the fifth note of the C Major Scale, also Whole note.
And, the “A” note of the C Major Scale is designated as the sixth note of the C Major Scale, a Whole note as well.
Finally, the “B” note of the C Major Scale is designated as the seventh note of the C Major Scale, a half note.
Alternate Course
The Position Template as drafted is flawed, however.
A true understanding and relection of the Position Template must take into consideration more than simply a one-to-one match of the The Progression of Notes.
What is further required is an understanding of the chords affiliated with each Major scale.
When we master this tidbit of information, we will then be able to construct an more accurate Position Template.
The Deeper Path
Expanding upon the principles laid down so far, each note in the subject C Major Scale will now be given its own corresponding chord.
The Progression of Chords
The “head” note of the C Major Scale is noteably the note “C”.
And, according to the “expected” nomenclature presented above, the first note of any Major scale shall be a “Whole” note designated by a Capitol Roman numeral, in this case “I”.
However, when we superimpose the Concept of Chord upon our “expected” nomenclature, we convert our Roman numerals according to which type of chord is required to make each harmonic, diatonic group of simultaneous sounds associated with each progressive note within the subject scale.
Note. A chord represents a separate and distinct harmonic, diatonic group of simultaneous sounds associated with a single base note.
Major Chord Template
maj; min; min; maj; maj; min; dim;
Major C Scale
C; D; E: F; G; A; B;
Note Position Template
W; W; h; W; W; W; h
Chord One
The first note of the C Major Scale, a “C” also a “Whole” note, requires a maj chord when expanded along this new set of guidelines.
Why? How so? Simply follow along for now.
Chord Two
The second note of the C Major Scale, a “D” also a “Whole” note, requires a min chord when expanded along this new set of guidelines.
Note. The tag maj represents a “major” chord and the tag min represents a “minor” chord.
Chord Three
The third note of the C Major Scale, a “E” also a “half” note, requires a min chord when expanded along this new set of guidelines.
Chord Four
The forth note of the C Major Scale, an “F” also a “Whole” note, requires a maj chord when expanded along this new set of guidelines.
Chord Five
The fifth note of the C Major Scale, a “G” also a “Whole” note, requires a maj chord when expanded along this new set of guidelines.
Chord Six
The sixth note of the C Major Scale, an “A” also a “Whole” note, requires a maj chord when expanded along this new set of guidelines.
Chord Seven
The seventh note of the C Major Scale, a “B” also a “half” note, requires a dim chord when expanded along this new set of guidelines.
Note. The tag dim represents a “diminished” chord.
Reconciliation
Let’s bring down that troublesome “expected” Roman nomenclature and convert the representation accordingly to our newly minted Progression of Chords.
Note. The following updated Roman nomenclature can be used with any set of chords derived from any Major scale, in this case the “C” major scale.
Presenting the previously expected Roman nomenclature …
Previous Roman Nomenclature
I; II; iii; IV; V; VI; vii;
Superimposing the type of chord required …
Type of Chord
maj; min; min; maj; maj; min; dim;
Yields …
Updated Roman Nomenclature
I; ii; iii; IV; V; vi; vii-o;
Where, maj represents a major chord required for the corresponding number of note represented in Capitol Roman numeral form.
And,
Where, min represents a minor chord required for the corresponding number of note represented in small Roman numeral form.
And,
Where, dim represents a diminished chord required for the corresponding number of note also represented in small Roman numeral form, but designated diminished with a superscript of “o” or small letter “O” commonly referred to as “naught”.
Summation
Applying the notes of the subject C Major Scale …
Subject Major Scale
C; D; E: F; G; A; B;
To our new found updated major scale nomenclature …
Major Scale Nomenclature
I; ii; iii; IV; V; vi; vii-o;
Results in the following set of progressive chords for the C Major scale …
Chords of the C Major Scale
Cmaj; Dmin; Emin; Fmaj; Gmaj; Amin; Bdim
How to Write Music in the Scale of C Major
Reviewing our new found set of Chords of the C Major Scale and applying music theory principles by way of our newly updated nomenclature …
We can set a few rules to guide our construction.
Methodology
First, let’s start our mix with the 1st chord of Cmaj and let’s limit our score to a total of Four (4) measures.
C Major Scale Nomenclature
I; ii; iii; IV; V; vi; vii-o;
C Major Scale Chords
Cmaj; Dmin; Emin; Fmaj; Gmaj; Amin; Bdim
Secondly, add Two (2) measures of any of the other chords available within the Key of C, either progressively or reversed, in any combination to fill measures Two (2) and Three (3).
As you shall see promptly, we’ll also reserve the set of chords Five (5) or “V” and Six (6) or “vi” for our final measure.
Note. For the purposes of this example we shall also exclude the possibility of bringing chord Seven (7) or “vii-o”, a diminished chord into our mix.
Finale
Finally, let’s close our Four (4) measure score with either chord Four (4) or “IV”, a major chord or chord Five (5) or “V”, also a major chord.
This will allow us to revert quikly back to our first measure from our forth measure under either a Plagel cadence (chord IV to chord I) or an Authentic cadence (chord V to chord I).
Note. The above excercise may be reproduced for any note - chord combination of the Major scale.
Note. The above synopsis was derived from a YouTube video performed by Jake Lizzio [1].
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