Delyth Knight

Certified Music Judge

LABBS Music Category Director
1. No question is a stupid question. If you
need to know, ask
2. We will make sure that all the basics are
understood
3. All animals are equal and even the tutor is
human
4. Sing whenever possible
5. This is part 1 of a 2-part course next part
is right after this one
6. Have we got four parts?

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 A bit of revision:
Vocabulary
Scales, major and minor
Intervals and how to identify them
Two-note chords
Three-note chords
Four-note chords
Some tag singing along the way (illustrations)

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Vocabulary
Scales
Intervals

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 Names of notes?

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Major scales have the same pattern of intervals
between the notes:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

T T T T T T T

Do re mi fa sol la te do

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 A minor scale has a different pattern of
intervals between the notes.

Melodic minor:
Flatten the 3rd note
Sharpen 6th & 7th going UP but flatten them going
DOWN

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 The harmonic minor is the same going up or
down the scale:
Flatten the 3rd note going up or down
Sharpen the 7th note (only) both going up and down

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 An interval is the distance between two notes.
Count up the scale from the lower note until
you reach the upper note
The number of the upper note is the name of
the interval.
An interval is ALWAYS calculated upwards
from the lower note and you count BOTH
notes.

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 Perfect: The octave, the 4th and the 5th are
called perfect intervals.
Major: All other intervals in the major scale are
called major intervals
C to D = major 2nd
C to E = major 3rd
C to F = perfect 4th
C to G = perfect 5th
C to A = major 6th
C to B = major 7th
C to C = perfect octave

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 Major second: God save our gracious Queen...
Major third: While shepherds watched...
Perfect fourth: Should auld acquaintance...
Perfect fifth: Baa baa black sheep
Major sixth: And now ..the end ..is near.....
Perfect octave: Some-where over the rainbow
Major seventh: Ba-li hai

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(1) If you flatten a perfect interval, the
result is called a diminished interval.
C to G is a diminished 5th
C to F is a diminished 4th

(2) If you flatten a major interval, the

result is called a minor interval.
C to E is a minor 3rd
C to D is a minor 2nd

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(3) If you flatten a minor interval, the
result is, again, called a diminished
interval.
C to E is a diminished 3rd

(4) If you sharpen either a perfect interval or

a major interval, the result is called an
augmented interval.
C to G# is an augmented 5th
C to F# is an augmented 4th

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 Minor 3rd: Whatll I do
Minor 2nd: .... It had to be you
= semitone

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 Django Bates' The Interval Song which he
wrote for, and is sung by, his children:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl2d4zS5
6cY

Intervals Roasting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF074CL5
vjI&list=RDdF074CL5vjI

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 Every scale must have all the letters in it
A, B, C, D, E, F, G
All chords should use the notes of that scale
Some notes have enharmonic equivalents:
e.g. on keyboard, C# and D share the same key
But they have different functions in a scale
and therefore in a chord
Dont confuse the baritones, spell it correctly

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1. Two and three-note chords

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 Two or more notes played together are
called a chord

The names for two-note chords are the

same as for intervals between pairs of
notes:
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, octave

Like intervals, two-note chords may be

major, minor, diminished or augmented.

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 A triad consists of three notes
the note on which the triad is based (the root, R), plus
the third (3) and
the fifth (5) above it.
The third may be major or minor
The fifth may be augmented or diminished
The interval between 3rd and 5th (which is also a
third) may be major or minor

In four part-harmony, one note will be sung by

two parts (doubled) ideally the root

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1. Major triad: home chord. No sense of movement.

1+3+5
M3 + m3

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Ladies key: E.
Tonic note
Tonic chords at start
is doubled
of the chorus

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2. Minor triad: plaintive-sounding chord. Home in
minor keys.
1 + 3 + 5
m3 + M3

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Triad chord of A
minor.
Root doubled

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3. Augmented triad: dissonant. Use when melody is
on 5#
1 + 3 + 5#

4.Diminished triad: uncommon, used in place of

dim7th
1 + 3 + 5

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2. Four-note chords

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 Four different notes: created by adding
multiples of major or minor thirds to basic
triads
Seventh: add a third to a triad
Ninth: add another third to a 7th
Eleventh: add yet another third (uncommon)
Thirteenth: add another third....
More common than youd think because of voicing
between tenor and bass, especially for men

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 All 7th chords have a innate instability and
therefore a strong sense of movement
Pull towards another chord
Tension and release
Hallmark of barbershop harmony
Ring like bells!

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1. Major-minor 7th: barbershop 7th . Use lots!

1 + 3 + 5 + 7

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 2. Major-major 7th: dissonant. Best when
melody is on major 7th
1+3+5+7

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Heart of My Heart (The Story of the Rose)

E major (tonic)
chords: passing
note in melody
using M7

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3. Minor-minor seventh: dissonant, modern
feeling
1 + 3 + 5 + 7

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4. Diminished 7th: strong sense of movement

1 + 3 + 5 + 7

5. Half-diminished 7th: likewise, a transition chord

1 + 3 + 5 + 7

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Sweet Adeline

Diminished Half-diminished
chord chord

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Add another 3rd to a 7th chord. May substitute for
barbershop 7th where melody is on 9th

Major-minor 7th major 9th

1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9

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G major
chord,
melody
on 9

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Add another 3rd to an 11th chord: only 4 voices so omit
5, 7, 9 and 11 and double the root.
Looks like a 6th without a 5th hence alternate name:
open 6th. Use when melody is on 6th
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 11 + 13

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An old tag:

C-E-C-A =
R-3-R-6 (13)

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 Major 6th: jazzy sounding chord. Little movement
1+3+5+6

Minor 6th: use sparingly. Features in Amen cadence

1 + 3 + 5 + 6

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E6: R-3-5-6

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Minor 6th
in passing
R-5-6-3

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 Major 9th: triad with added 9th. Used where
melody is on 9th and harmony is triadic
(stable) 1+3+5+9

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The Little Boy (Tom Gentry)

G major (tonic) chord

prevailing. R-5-9-3
A in melody is the 9th
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Major triad Minor triad
Augmented triad Diminished triad
Major-minor seventh Minor seventh
Dominant seventh Major seventh
Augmented dominant seventh Dominant seventh with flatted fifth
Minor sixth Major sixth
Half-diminished sevenths Diminished sevenths
Major chords with added ninth Incomplete dominant ninths

See BHS Music Category definitions

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 1. Write down the names of the notes - e.g. E, G, A, C
2. Stack them vertically in alphabetical order (ascending):
A, C, E, G
3. Re-stack until you have a stack of major or minor
thirds between each note - or as close as you can
4. Identify root, third, fifth
5. Identify any repeated notes or odd notes
6. Decide whether 3 is full or diminished or augmented
7. Decide whether 5 is full or diminished or augmented
8. Conclude whether it's a major or minor triad
9. Decide whether 4th note is a repeated note, or a 7th,
and if so whether minor or major
10. If not a 7th identify what it is
11. Name that chord
12. If in doubt use the chord chart

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 Any questions?

Take a chord chart with you

A copy of this presentation can be emailed to

you
My email: Delythk@aol.com

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