December 12, 2010 Seventh Chords, Seventh Chords with Suspensions and the Harmonic Continuum

In the experience of listening in the moment, any combination of notes/tones is a sonority unto itself. When composing for improvisors, however, one must be aware of the harmonic continuum implied by each sonority. Like everything else in 3-dimensional existence, there is the seen and the unseen. For improvisers it is the heard and the unheard made manifest.

For the advanced improviser (soloist and accompanists) this means being aware that there are infinite possibilities of melodic and harmonic expression implied in each sonority. This may then be framed by one’s aesthetic sensibility and the interpretation of the composer’s intensions.

There is no irony in the fact that the manuscript musicians are given to read, play and interpret are called charts. Charts are literally maps and composers are cartographers.

Seventh Chords

The way these seventh chords are listed is:

Seventh Chords (R357, etc.)
Symbol (Cmaj7, etc.)

Except in the case of Cºmaj7), slash-chord inversions are not listed as they are easy enough to extrapolate from the following method:
For R357 (Cmaj7) first inversion use Cmaj7/E, second inversion use Cmaj7/G and and third inversion use C/B. The only inversions that are list are for Cº(maj7) as they are not as obvious. There are some alternative names (depending on context) listed as well.

R357
Cmaj7

R35b7
C7

Rb357
Cm(maj7)

Rb35b7
Cm7

Rb3b57
Cº (maj7) Inversions: B/C, B(add b2)/D#, B(add b2)/F#, B(add b2)

Rb3b5b7
Cm7b5 Alternative Name (depending on context): Ebm6

Rb3b5bb7
Cº7 Inversions: Ebº7, Gbº7, Aº7

R3#57
Cmaj7#5 Alternative name: E/C

R3#5b7
C+7 Alternative name: C7(b13)

Rb3#57
Cm(maj7)#5 Alternative names: Cm(maj7)b13, Abº (add b6)

There are additional possibilities, i.e., Rbb3b57, from far less commonly used modes and scales and we will look at them when we investigate these modes and scales.

Seventh Chords with Suspensions

In most cases clarity is served and context generally agrees that seventh chords with suspensions be view with alternative names. The important exception to this is R45b7 (C7sus4) and perhaps the far less common R457 (Cmaj7sus4). Otherwise, because when a 7th is present 2, 4 and 6 become 9, 11 and 13 we will use the term (no3) meaning the 3rd is not present in the voicing with a 3rd being implied by the context.

The symbol for the voicing R#457 with C as root would be Cmaj7#11(no3). In the case of R257 we could follow the same method and use the symbol Cmaj9(no3), but in root position it gives us a G major triad with a C in the bass so we will use the symbol G/C. In other inversions it would be written G(add4).

To add upper voices to seventh chords, an unaltered upper voice can be written where the 7th would be, Ex.: Cmaj9, C13, Cm11, etc. If the upper voice is altered it is added after the 7th in the symbol, Ex.: C7#9, Cmaj7#11, Cm7b13. If several upper voices are in the chord the same method is used, though with the additional upper voices separated by a comma if needed for clarity, Ex.: C9#11, Cm11,b13, C7b9,#9, Cmaj13#11.

Next we will look at upper voices, 9, 11 and 13 (and their alterations) as emerging from the harmonic continuum implied by the chord.

Copyright © 1993-2010 Jack DeSalvo