December 10, 2010: Added-Note Chords and their Resultant Slash-Chords

An added-note chord quite simply is a triad with the second or fourth added to it. This does not include 6th or 7th chords since added-notes to these chords become upper-voices,e.g., 9th and 11th.

Triads with an added-note have distinctive colors. Depending on context you may have the impression of suspensions and resolution simultaneously. The sound of a major second added to a major triad is a common sonority in bluegrass music which was carried over to the Appalachians from Ireland in the 17th and 18th centuries by the Scots-Irish.

A major triad with a raised second voiced with the #2 in the bass (C/D# or C/Eb) was a favorite chord of Bartok. He used this sonority in an effort to turn the parallel functions of major and minor into one.

Listing added-note triads also gives us the opportunity to show important slash-chords (triad/bass note) that result from voicing the added-note in the bass.

In the chord symbol I use parentheses to avoid visual confusion. The added-note chords are listed as:

Added-Note chord (Rb235, R235, etc.)
Symbol (C(add b2), C(add2), etc.)
Added-Note in bass Slash Chord (C/Db, C/D, etc.)

Rb235
C(add b2)
C/Db

R235
C(add2)
C/D

R#235
C(add#2)
C/D# or C/Eb

R345
C(add4)
C/F
R3#45
C(add#4)
C/F#

R23#5
C+(add2)
C+/D

R3#4#5
C+(add#4)
C+/F#

Rb2b35
Cm(addb2)
Cm/Db

R2b35
Cm(add2)
Cm/D

Rb345
Cm(add4)
Cm/F

Rb3#45
Cm(add#4)
Cm/F#

Rb2b3b5
Cº (addb2)
Cº/Db

R2b3b5
Cº (add2)
Cº/D

Rb34b5
Cº (add4)
Cº/F


For more than one added-note separate the added note with a comma.
Ex.: C(add2,#4).

Next: 6th and 7th Chords.

Copyright © 1993-2010 Jack DeSalvo