JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Music Theory and Education Chord names

Interesting perspectives. I have my own which is probably no better or worse than anyone elses - just maybe a bit different.

I was taught that the upper chordal tones came into use beginning in the later Romantic period (1860+) and were used extensively during the Impressionistic period (Debussy, Ravel) until approximately 1910. I've analyzed a number of the Impressionist works in great detail and there were definitely quite a few of what we might call jazz chords today. These guys were the first ones to use a LOT of 9ths, 11ths and 13ths and chords we today might call G/A or a 9sus4; I even found a few add9 chords in Debussy's "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun". The first use of these "terribly dissonant" chord tones in Romantic period music was in the upper registers above the triadic tones played by other orchestral instruments. For that reason, they were called 9ths in traditional analysis instead of 2nds (for instance). At least, that's how I remember the original theory from my history courses.

Later on, these more complex chord tones developed into common usage by swing era jazz players and even more so during the bebop and cool jazz periods.

I don't think anyone asked these original composers what THEY called those chords, so I can just imagine some graduate student Musicologist at the time probably having a conversation with his professor: "I dunno, whadda you wanna call it? Hey, I know...let's just call it a 9th chord since it's up high, OK?" Except this was probably done in either a very formal British accent, or some French dialect.

And someone agreed with him and wrote it in a book...and here we are...



------------------
Larry
www.audibleresponse.com