Chord Enrichment part 1
Chord enrichment refers to the process of adding notes to a basic chord to create more complex and sonically interesting chords. The basic chords are typically triads, which consist of three notes: the root, the third, and the fifth. Enriching a chord involves adding additional notes beyond these three, often by incorporating notes that are part of the chord’s scale but not part of the basic triad. However, the notes do not necessarily have be in the diatonic scale such as the ♭7 in C7 or the #5 in Caug.
The goal of these exercises is to understand how to construct chords using intervals. Simply memorizing images of chords is not our goal. Be sure to observe what intervals are used to construct each chord. The intervals are on top of each chord diagram. For example, the first chord you see is the C major triad which uses the root (1), 3, and 5 intervals. It is labeled C meaning C major. The next chord has the intervals 7, r, and 3. This is labeled Cmaj7 meaning a C major 7 chord and so on. Understanding intervals is the key.
Root Position Major Triad Derivatives
The 1st set of strings 1, 2, and 3:
We can enrich chords by simply lowering the root, which is on the 3rd string, by a half step (1 fret) as shown below:
We can also enrich chords by raising the 5th interval by half steps on the 1st string:
By raising the 3rd interval on the 2nd string up 1/2 step to the 4th interval we get the suspended 4 chord (Csus4). By lowering the 3rd interval a whole step to the 2nd interval (2nd string) we get the suspended 2 chord (Csus2). These chords are called suspended because our ears want the 4 or 2 intervals to resolve to the 3rd interval. We are accustomed to hearing the major triad which has the 1, 3, and 5 intervals. Ending a song or a phrase on a sus chord sounds unresolved. The sus wants to resolve or end on a major 3rd interval:
