Lukas Graham’s song Seven Years has become one of his best-selling pieces, written in just three chords with an above average Chord Complexity score and high Chord Melody Tension tension score, plus high chord progression novelty rating and minor key making it easier for most people to sing along.
Seventh chords
Seventh chords can add texture and interest to any harmonic progression, from jazz and rock music, all the way through pop and funk genres. They provide an opportunity for rhythmic training as well as fingerpicking exercise.
Triadic chords don’t include any added pitches that lie a whole step below their roots, creating a dissonant sound which requires resolution; typically this comes through either falling-fifth or rising-fourth motions.
Me and le chords are known as major seventh chords, while those on me or le are called dominant seventh chords. On re, dominant seventh chords can also be called dominant seventh chords while chords built with flattened leading tone on sol (5) or ti (7) contain minor sevenths; those built on re with raised leading tone will only half-diminish while on sol they become fully diminished.
Extended chords
Extended chords are an integral component of music theory and essential tools for crafting intricate, harmonically rich tracks. Extended chords add new dimensions of depth and emotion to songs from diverse musical genres.
An eighth chord is formed by adding chord tones above a basic triad, expanding its interval quality beyond the root note of a scale. A major triad can become a major seventh chord by adding C and minor ones can become minor seventh chords by adding B.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that not all notes can be used as chord tones; for instance a #9 may sound dissonant in conjunction with a major seventh chord. Therefore, knowing which notes can serve as chord extensions will allow you to avoid creating dissonant songs.
Major thirds
The Major third is an essential interval in chords and scales. As one of the most frequent intervals found within music, its use creates feelings of joy, happiness, and confidence in listeners. Chords that contain major thirds tend to have greater tension than minor thirds as well as being more harmonically complex than their counterparts.
Major intervals consist of two whole steps and four semitones, while diminished and augmented intervals contain one and three semitones respectively. An interval from C to E contains two large and two small whole steps; it is used in major scales, chords, arpeggios and can even be played on any string in guitar tuning; though beginners typically begin by learning chords with four strings due to fewer frets required for these types of chords.
Minor thirds
Minor thirds are an indispensable part of musical literacy for musicians, music students, or anyone simply exploring intervals. A minor third refers to an interval that spans three half steps (semistones), also referred to melodically as minor skip. As it spans only three staff positions instead of the larger major third interval it’s easy for listeners to recognize this smaller interval by ear.
Cradle song ‘Are You Sleeping?’ features an ascending minor third from A to C that’s also found in The White Stripes hit, Seven Nation Army. These intervals can be created by counting up or down from any note within any key signature, though remember that not every interval has equal dimensions – for instance C-D is slightly bigger than Cb!
Circle of fifths
The Circle of Fifths (CoF) can be an invaluable aid for learning how to harmonize melodies, create chord progressions and modulate between keys. As an essential component of music theory, the CoF can also make composition, transposing, transposition easier as well as helping you understand key signatures more clearly.
Start in C major, and clockwise around the chart; as each new key contains one additional sharp or flat note from its predecessor. This occurs because each key is one perfect fifth higher.
Note this when creating chords; this allows you to avoid accidentals and play more smoothly. This method of chord progression creation is particularly valuable to jazz musicians who use this strategy regularly.