SECTION ONE CHORD FORMATION

Basically there are four TYPES of chord used in popular Western m

MAJOR
MINOR
DIMINISHED From the book:
AUGMENTED
JAZZ & POPULAR
They can be expressed by the following simple formulae:- KEYBOARD
by Kenneth Baker
MAJOR AM31584 bk $19.95 (US)
MINOR
DIMINISHED read rnorelbuy it now
AUGMENTED
The figures above refer to HALF STEPS (SEMITONES).

HALF STEP OR SEMITONE: The smallest possible distance between notes

(white or black) on a modern piano or organ
keyboard:

E-F

Three examples of HALF STEPS

As a practical example of how to form a chord let us now construct a chord

of C MAJOR:-

CMAJOR = (2-4-3

Starting from the note "C" (The letter name of the chord we wish to find),
count UP (i.e. to the RIGHT) in HALF STEPS:-

The three notes arrived at:-

This is the chord of C MAJOR ("C" for short).

Example 2. AIM:- To construct a chord of Bb MAJOR (Bb for
short): -

The chord arrived at:-

Bb

Example 3. AIM:- To construct a chord of C MINOR (Cm for

short): -

Cm = C-3-4 ("Minor" formula)

The chord arrived at: -

Cm

Example 4. AIM:- To construct a chord of Bb DIMINISHED

(Bbdim, or Bba for short):-

BbO = Bb-3-3 ("Diminished" formula)

The chord arrived at:-

Example 5. AIM:- To construct a chord of C AUGMENTED

(caug, or C+ for short):-

C+ = C-4-4 ("Augmented" formula)

The chord arrived at: -

Exercise 1. Find :-
a) Bb Minor (Bbm)
b) C Diminished (c0)
c) Bb Augmented ( ~ b + )
d) G Major (G)
e ) G Minor (Gm)
f) F Diminished (FO)
g) D Major (D)
h) F Major (F)
i) F Minor (Fm)
j) G Diminished (Go)
k) G Augmented (GI)
1) F Augmented (F )

(Answers on page 95)

 SECTION TWO INVERSIONS (1)

Best area for Left Hand chords:-

t
MIDDLE C (organ lower keyboard)

Usual Playing Range (UPR) :-

UPR

t
MIDDLE C (organ lower keyboard)

The four "C" chords from SECTION ONE:-

C Major (C)
C Minor (Cm)
C Diminished (c?
C Augmented (C )

with their notes rearranged to fall into the UPR:-

C C (INVERSION)

becomes:

t t I
I
MIDDLE C MIDDLEC

C E G

too high (inconvenient) good

 Cm Cm (INVERSION)

becomes:

t t I
MIDDLE C MIDDLE C I
I
C Eb G G 6- - - -C - -Eb- - - J

t o o high (inconvenient) good

C0 (INVERSION)

becomes:

t
MIDDLE C MIDDLEC I
C Eb Gb Gb yc - - - C
- - -Eb- - J
too high (inconvenient) good

C+ C+ (INVERSION)

becomes:

t t I
MIDDLE C MIDDLE C I
I
C E G# G#,- _c_--E--_I
too high (inconvenient) good
The four Bb chords (SECTION ONE) placed in the UPR:-
Bb Bb (INVERSION)

becomes:

t t I
MIDDLE C MIDDLEC
Bb D F F & - Bb D
- - - - - - - J
t o o high (inconvenient) good

Bbm Bbm (INVERSION)

becomes:

t
MIDDLE C
Bb Db F
t o o high (inconvenient)
 t
MIDDLE C
Bb Db Fb(E)
good, so leave it alone

Bb' (INVERSION)

becomes:

t t I
MIDDLE C MIDDLEC ]
Bb D F# F#- - -Bb
- - - - -D- - I

too high (inconvenient) good

Exercise 2. Find the following chords, altering the order of the notes if
necessary to suit the UPR:-

a) G Major (G) f) G Diminished (GO)

b) E Major (E) g) B Diminished (BO)
C) Eb Major (Eb) h) C# Diminished (c?')
d) G Minor (Gm) i) G Augmented (G )
e) D Minor (Dm) j) D Augmented (D')

(Answers on page 95)