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Double Bass Give me a name for this chord, please
- Thread starter TroyK
- Start date
- Dec 13, 1999
- 11,736
- 8,941
- 70
- Disclosures
- Chuck Sher publishes my book, WALKING BASSICS:The Fundamentals of Jazz Bass Playing.
Polychord from Hell
Whaddya got in there -
F diminished
B Minor
D diminished
Is that how you're voicing it?
Whaddya got in there -
F diminished
B Minor
D diminished
Is that how you're voicing it?
That would seem most appropriate with an A in the bass. If that's the case its an A major 13 with an augmented 5th. If not, let me know what you've got as the root note and I'll try to work it out 
That would seem most appropriate with an A in the bass. If that's the case its an A major 13 with an augmented 5th. If not, let me know what you've got as the root note and I'll try to work it out
There's no third there sonny. How're you comin up major?
It reminds me of the half-whole scale. Starting arbitrarily on F,
F-Gb-Ab-A-B-C-D-Eb
I don't know what that's called but I like the sound if it. Some kind of altered maybe. I use it all the time to riff off of 7th chords while soloing.
There's no 3 or 5 but it has a major feel to my ears. Having re-voiced it a bit I have a few names for it.
I agree with the half-whole thing though. It's probably some sort of half diminished chord...
It's a Dm with a flat 5, 6, #9, major 3, major 5 (thats a pain to write on chord charts)
Or a Bm with a flat 5, dominant 7, 13, natural 5
To be honest I don't think it has any specific name. Just my two cents...
It is the final, release chord of a tune that is written in the key of EFlat, but harmonically centered around F-. The chorus resolves to F-6/9, I'm just trying to add tension for the final chord of the song.
I don't especially care about the voicing, I'll let the piano player, pick one that they like and depending on what horns are there, we can find one of those notes for them.
At any rate, I can experiment with moving the bass note, but I was thinking F in the bass and I've been kind of looking at it as Fmin B5 triad under a D7. It's my tune, I have flexibility. It's not as important to me to dictate a voicing as to describe the color that I want my bandmates to find with me.
As it is, I don't even know how to describe it.
I don't especially care about the voicing, I'll let the piano player, pick one that they like and depending on what horns are there, we can find one of those notes for them.
At any rate, I can experiment with moving the bass note, but I was thinking F in the bass and I've been kind of looking at it as Fmin B5 triad under a D7. It's my tune, I have flexibility. It's not as important to me to dictate a voicing as to describe the color that I want my bandmates to find with me.
As it is, I don't even know how to describe it.
It doesn't look at all like me.
It starts out as a diminished chord and then adds to it.
Is it an F dim? B min7? Ab min7 b5? There are several options.
To my ears the two tritones have the most gravity. The Gb and A are color if they are voiced up high. Really any of the notes in a diminished chord work as the root. I don't hear a D7 myself. There is too much of an overarching diminished sound. What are you hearing?
Hey, this is the point in the program where I start an argument with myself. The tune is in the key of F- / Ab, not Eb, that's just stupid. Sorry, I was trying to get it down and rush out to a rehearsal and triple tasking.
Throughout the sound it's resolving to either F-7 or F- 6/9 depending on how I want it to on that measure. I'm looking for a chord to finish the coda with and was going for F- with upper extensions. Standard voicings of F dim sound too unresolved to me in this context.
What I'm hearing is F Ab B D Gb A D (or Db), I do like the #5. But, i'm still searching. It's possible that if I voice a dim chord right it could emote what I was looking for, but I haven't done it yet. It might be that I should just use the F- 6/9, but specify the voicing so that 6 and 9 are on top, meaning the 6 is really a 13 and the 9 is above it.
I usually arrange on guitar, so I'm kind of slave to how it's laid out, though I have been going to the piano on this one.
Thoughts?
The good news is that the new composition was a hit at my weekly Friday afternoon session. Just need to clean it up, now.
Hey Congrats on your new composition!
Not every simultaneous sonority has to be a chord. Remember passing tones, accented passing tones, suspensions and the like from harmony and counterpoint class?
If this F - Ab - B - D - Gb - A
resolves to F 6/9
F - A - C - D - G - A
Then the Ab, B, and Gb can be chromatic approach tones that resolve upward by semitone. They don't fit in the chord, they are embellishments to the F 6/9. It really all depends on how you voice lead each line.
In the old days sometimes people used common-tone diminished chords. So say C7 resolves to F ... diminished, which then resolves to F major. Or there was a pedal that went, F , F dim, F . It's the melodic voice leading that drives it, and the sonorities end up happening. Perhaps your progression evokes those sounds but with 6/9 chords instead of triads?
I don't know how you can voice F Ab B D with anything else and not make it sound unresolved. Two tritones. No matter how you voice them the inversion of a tritone is a tritone.
It doesn't look at all like me.
It starts out as a diminished chord and then adds to it.
Is it an F dim? B min7? Ab min7 b5? There are several options.
Indeed. You are much SHARPer than that chord.
(rim shot please)
just from what you told us one name for all those notes, (from lowest to highest im guessing)
Fdim 6th maj7 add maj3
Fdim 6th maj7 add maj3
Thanks and good point. I do like that sound. I my need to label it is simply wanting to be able to communicate it on a lead sheet. I normally don't "compose" voicings for the other musicians, I want them to bring their own thing to the song. But, I'm trying to paint a picture. I could just write the notes on the stave and leave it be.
Fingers, no melody note. It's the classic, melody ends on 1 rest on 2, 3, and 4 and then all hit some big colorful chord on beat one of the now coda and hold it for 5 beats.
Thanks and keep the ideas coming. I'll keep playing with it too.
Can we upload .pdfs?
I don't know. We don't have that chord in bluegrass.
Well, maybe that's just because we haven't named it yet.
