Re: Re: [Harp-L] RE: Harp-L Digest, Vol 61, Issue 2

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Questions of temperament aside, when you spell a chord, you start with the note names that fit the skeleton pattern (letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G), and then use sharps or flats as needed to lower or raise notes as needed.

For instance, any chord that starts on A (or A flat or A sharp) has a third and a fifth. By counting up from A to a third (1-2-3 = A-B-C) you get the third of the chord, which is C ( or C-flat or C-sharp, depending on the chord). By counting up to a fifth (1-2-3-4-5 = A-B-C-D-E) you find out that the4 fifth is E (or E-flat or E sharp, again, depending on the chord).

Why don't we use D sharp instead E flat for the fifth of an A-flat chord? Because D isn't the fifth; it's the fourth and the fourth doesn't belong. 

For the same reason, an A-flat major chord has a major third, represented by C natural, and not by B sharp (B is the second in the scale, not the third).

And again, when we need to lower the third of the chord to make it minor, we lower C natural to C flat. C flat may (or may not) be the same note as B natural, but only C flat is the third of a A-flat chord.

True, it's convenient in conversation to tell someone to play B instead of telling them to play Cb and getting a look of puzzlement or even contempt (why ya gotta make it hard, man?), but it can lead to confusion when you're trying to sort out the big picture. By following simple principles on the local level, you can keep the big grid from turning into a tangled mess.

Winslow

--- On Tue, 9/2/08, Tim Moyer <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Tim Moyer <wmharps@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re:  Re: [Harp-L] RE: Harp-L Digest, Vol 61, Issue 2
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tuesday, September 2, 2008, 8:55 AM

Not to pick nits, but the Cb doesn't *always* sound exactly like a B, 
especially in the context of a chord.  In the interest of consonance of 
the chord, the Cb might be pretty significantly different from a B in 
in some other context.  This is especially true for diatonic 
harmonicas, where chord consonance is more common.  

-tim


Iceman wrote:
> Let's start to think like real musicians - 
>
> flatting the third for the minor would make the C a Cb 
> (which sounds exactly like a B)
 
> Ansel.Barnum@... writes:
> > arpeggio  for the Ab minor chord as Ab-C-Eb. But that looks 
> > like the major triad, so  flatting the third for the minor 
> > would make the C a  B....



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