What chord is this ?

[Slevage]

The opening piano riff to Color My World by Chicago is a major 7th chord arpeggio.

( now I’m showing my age)

 

[Elfsocks]

No. A - C - G# is better understood as A minor with major 7th (still no 5th, but it's usually implied). A - C# - G# is A major 7th, no 5th, as others have explained.

Sorry, I'd misread it, I didn't take notice of the open A string, I'd only picked up the C and the G#. My Bad.

 

[Elfsocks]

What about that open "A" mentioned in the original post? Where does that fit in to this whole G# major idea?

Sorry, I might have been leading you down the garden path there and getting confused between posts!

 

[MVE]

I tend to think of everything by shape, rather than by the notes the scale contains. I could play you an F# Mixolydian in a second, but would have to think through my fretboard to tell you the notes in it.

Why would you say “Mixolydian” instead of just saying “Dominant” or just 7?

 

[Elfsocks]

Why would you say “Mixolydian” instead of just saying “Dominant” or just 7?

I was thinking of it in terms of an isolated scale/mode ie a Major Scale with a flattened/minor 7th (as in I could play the scale but would have to think about the actual notes that are in it, rather than memorising the notes that are in it). I wouldn't describe something as as a "Mixolydian chord"; if I was playing it as a chord, I would say F#7.

 

[MVE]

I was thinking of it in terms of an isolated scale/mode ie a Major Scale with a flattened/minor 7th (as in I could play the scale but would have to think about the actual notes that are in it, rather than memorising the notes that are in it). I wouldn't describe something as as a "Mixolydian chord"; if I was playing it as a chord, I would say F#7.

Thanks, and FYI, I wasn’t trying to be a d I was really just curious. I reread my question and realized it could have sounded a little D-ish. Thanks for not taking it the wrong way. Lol.

 

[Elfsocks]

Thanks, and FYI, I wasn’t trying to be a d I was really just curious. I reread my question and realized it could have sounded a little D-ish. Thanks for not taking it the wrong way. Lol.

Haha no, that's cool, I didn't take it that way. I think what makes it complicated is that there are so many terms, for what in practical purposes, amounts to basically the same thing, that if someone like the OP is trying to figure stuff out, it can end up being more confusing!

 

[Whousedtoplay]

N.B. For serious TB members, please regard this post as a humorously-sarcastic comment, or just disregard it completely and put a block on me.

Sorry, I might have been leading you down the garden path there and getting confused between posts!

It's too late my dear TB colleague. I've spent 49 minutes working on your "vision".

I took your C#, G#, and A as the fundamental notes, and finally got the following chord structure for the first 4 bars (something you said about those "messed up chords").

(I played those notes on the piano because I have no idea how to transfer it to my 4-string bass.)


Left piano hand = C# and G# (or Db and Ab) - a power chord of Db/C#,
and
Right hand - A D F - Second inversion of D minor chord.
Plus, some "my mood-wise diatonic" chromatic notes.

Next 4 measures - it's like some kind of modulation to some kind of "subdominant world/chord".

Left piano hand = F# and C# (or Gb and Db) - a power chord of Gb/F#.
Right hand - Cminor6. C - Eb - G - A.
Plus, some "my mood-wise diatonic" chromatic notes.

I liked that sound because it clearly expressed my mood after a humiliating defeat in the Metronome thread.

Now, I'd like to ask you a few questions.
If I play a Db power chord (most probably from Db major scale) with my left hand and D min with my right hand, how many flats (or sharps) should I put in the key?
What notes should I use for the melody and/or soloing?
Do I have some kind of mode?

Should the bass clearly follow the piano left hand?


https://www.talkbass.com/attachment...6/?temp_hash=2c6481da266fd88fda73c4e9afa3b058

 

[Elfsocks]

It's too late my dear TB colleague. I've spent 49 minutes working on your "vision".

Haha yeah, sorry, I wasn't thinking about the open A, I was talking about a little two not chord transition! It does work, but probably not what you were thinking

 

[Elfsocks]

A very unusual point of view, among the rest of the standard answers.
Over the weekend, I'll check on your idea.

This is what I was thinking but probably cos I misread the post!! Still, it entertained me for 23 seconds during my sister's birthday barbecue (bit more of a sausage fest than I was hoping for when she asked if I could host it at my house).

 

[Nickweissmusic]

Okay thanks.

Is it considered an A major 7th Triad ?

NO. A triad is not a catch-all term for any group of 3 notes. A triad is a specific term for the simplest true chord, consisting of the first three notes of the chord only, root, 3rd and 5th. When you add a 7th, you now have a 4 note chord. If a note is voluntarily omitted as part of a particular chord voicing, that doesn’t change the chord or its symbol. It’s common to omit 5ths in bass chords, it clears the muddiness up. Heck, on guitars it’s common to omit roots of chords.

 

[THUNDERGODX]

That's a fingering pattern for any major triad. There are 3 other species of triad.
minor, augmented and diminished triads will of course be a different shape on the fingerboard. And there are multiple ways to finger any of them.

You are correct, Sir!
Thank You