How is a chord named?

[BluesDisciple]

Is a chord designated from the lowest note played, middle, etc? What decides that the chord is a "d" or "a"? It seems inconsistent in a piece I am working on.

[Mesotech]

Chords are typically named with the root note. This however does not have to be the lowest note played. Chords with a different note of the chord as the bass note are called inversions. There are some chords that because of the key of the song and the particular chords voiceing, it might be named differently (but in fact be normally called another chord). This generally happens in jazz and classical music. But as a 'general rule', the root note of a chord dictates the name.

[Cogs]

It's all context, baby.
lol

[Offshore Angler]

It's all context, baby.
lol

Exactly. They are named according to the number of sharps or flats by the clef, aka, the key signature of the music.

[Offshore Angler]

Chords are typically named with the root note. This however does not have to be the lowest note played. Chords with a different note of the chord as the bass note are called inversions. There are some chords that because of the key of the song and the particular chords voiceing, it might be named differently (but in fact be normally called another chord). This generally happens in jazz and classical music. But as a 'general rule', the root note of a chord dictates the name.

The root note not being the lowest not, but the lowest note in the triad. Where it gets sticky is stacked fifths and similar chords with no third. In which case, we rely on the "chord scale" for the mode of the piece, such as in the Ionian mode I, ii, ii, IV, V, vi, vii(o).

[Rickenjangle]

It gets even trickier - consider Hallelujah (the Leonard Cohen song) - in the key of C - I was working on this with my group, and the other guitar player wondered what I was using...

"ell it goes (C) like this, the fourth (F), the fifth (G), the minor fall (Am) and the major lift (D/F#), the (G)baffled King com(Bdim)posing Halle(Am)lujah. "

I know that I have taken liberties with the progression - this is the way I play it...

Anyway, I spell the Bdim xx6767 (or xx1212 with the capo at V, because I play the song as if it's in G) but this is difficult for my friend to 'get'. So I found a chord that seemed to work with mine (xxx434) which is kind of like an E7 but I know that it is not, but because he is leaving out the root, to HIM it is an E7, so that's what he put on his lead sheet...

[curtisstetka]

Very often with the weird ones, how the chord is notated and how it works in context with the other chords has a lot to do with what you call it.

[refin]

What are chords?

[Cogs]

It's like soloing on a bunch of strings at once

[Offshore Angler]

It gets even trickier - consider Hallelujah (the Leonard Cohen song) - in the key of C - I was working on this with my group, and the other guitar player wondered what I was using...

"ell it goes (C) like this, the fourth (F), the fifth (G), the minor fall (Am) and the major lift (D/F#), the (G)baffled King com(Bdim)posing Halle(Am)lujah. "

I know that I have taken liberties with the progression - this is the way I play it...

Anyway, I spell the Bdim xx6767 (or xx1212 with the capo at V, because I play the song as if it's in G) but this is difficult for my friend to 'get'. So I found a chord that seemed to work with mine (xxx434) which is kind of like an E7 but I know that it is not, but because he is leaving out the root, to HIM it is an E7, so that's what he put on his lead sheet...

Johhny - great example. It perfectly demonstrates that you cannot name a chord out of context without considering both
i: the key signature
ii: what the rest of the band is doing

A diminshed chord could be a one guitar playing an inverted and rootless dominate 7th chord while the bass or another guitar plays a raised root.

For example: guitar one plays A#,E,G ( a 7th chord) and guitar two plays C#,E,G(preferably an octave down) --- neither chord is a diminished, but the result if the two is.

Or, in the above example, the first guy still plays A#, E,G but the BASS player lays a C# underneath it. The guitar is playing a 7th chord, but the BAND is playing a diminished.

[Rickenjangle]

A diminished chord could be a one guitar playing an inverted and rootless dominate 7th chord while the bass or another guitar plays a raised root.

One of the reasons I love Chuck is that he actually knows and can explain what it is that works about what a like me does.

On a side - but related - note...this thread has inspired me to seek out a couple of old guitar lesson books that cover jazz theory and chords from a conceptual and practical standpoint, and a Joe Pass guitar chord folio. Funny, they were in a pile with my Brian Setzer study guides and I didn't even know where they were until just last night. I can't wait to sink my teeth into this..

[Offshore Angler]

Johnny, we're a team. Shake and Bake, baby!

[curtisstetka]

It's like soloing on a bunch of strings at once

Brilliant.

[Cogs]

Yeah, I know. I can't help it, though.

[Rickenjangle]

Johnny, we're a team. Shake and Bake, baby!

OK Ricky Bobby!

[Doc W]

Chords are best understood in context. Once you understand basic scales and triads in the context of a key, naming chords becomes much more clear, and those huge books of chords some folks use become redundant.

Here is an interesting example. Take this chord:

xx2424x

B F A D

Most people would name this a min7b5, but it is also a min6 and a half diminished, depending on how you use it. In the key of A minor, it can be a Dmin6 with the 6th (B) in the bass voice. If you play it before a C major chord, it is a B half diminished (often incorrectly named a Bmin7b5, although this same fingering can be a Bmin7b5 in other circumstances).

They key and the context is everything.

[Timbo]

It's like soloing on a bunch of strings at once

[Offshore Angler]

... In the key of A minor...

Well, you need to clarify that a bit. There is no key signature for Am. You would have the key of C as the signature. ( No sharps or flats. )

[curtisstetka]

d minor... the saddest of all keys...

[Rickenjangle]

Well, you need to clarify that a bit. There is no key signature for Am. You would have the key of C as the signature. ( No sharps or flats. )

Offshore Angler, the musical theory professor, is ON THE JOB!! ;-)

[elicross]

I name all of my chords after old high school friends.

[refin]

d minor... the saddest of all keys...

[Offshore Angler]

Offshore Angler, the musical theory professor, is ON THE JOB!! ;-)

Hey Johnny, I'm thinking of stopping by the Landing tonight. Game?

[Rickenjangle]

Hey Johnny, I'm thinking of stopping by the Landing tonight. Game?

I think I have the Jackmeister again tonight...

[Offshore Angler]

I think I have the Jackmeister again tonight...

Gimme a call if you get free.

[Offshore Angler]

I think they should be named after the inventor.

"Well guys, you start with a Kaputnick, slide that down to a Murphy and then on the "and" you hit a Liebewicz..."

[pauln]

The correct answer was "context".

If you spend some time playing with the Chord Namer, you will notice that it gives multiple results for most chords, especially jazz chords. Those are just the most likely names.

In theory, you may "force" any chord to be described as taking any of the chromatic notes as its root, but the resulting description of the chord may have a lot of alterations (sharped or flatted notes), adds (additional notes), a non-tonic root on the bottom, or may be described as a poly-chord (one chord stacked over another).

Chords are often "forced" to another root and renamed from that perspective so that they make sense in that context. Most of that kind of thing is used in jazz progressions and some classical.

For example, you may have a series of chords that progress in steps of a fourth. This would make the root hop in jumps of a fourth. But the bass line might be descending chromatically so that it alternates playing the roots and the flatted fifth of these chords.

So, if you let the descending chromatic bass notes define the chords' roots, the chords' names change (to more complicated jazz chords), but in terms of keep track of what's happening it easier.

It's call tri-tone substitution, if you want to look at it. You've heard it, it's what makes jazz sound "jazzy"...