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Kristi, I do have a preliminary note value for each, but I never discussed tempo/rhythm, chord patterns (except in very general terms), etc. My goal was first to give an idea how note choices can be determined when creating a melody. Had I started with a chord pattern, the obvious thing to do would be find notes that fit the chords, but sometimes you can get something more interesting by getting the notes first, then discovering what chords will work well with them. I would encourage, at least trying to find a melody, before assigning chords. It is simply one more approach to your end result.

I probably could have used spacing to imply timelength of notes when I wrote it out, and subconsciously I might have done that to some degree, but I did not do it intentionally, so that would not be an accurate representation of what I have in mind.

What I did so far is create a framework that can be set to a variety of rhythms and the rhythm used will probably influence the exact note lengths. I frequently get to this point thinking I am well on my way and begin working it all out with an instrument only to decide I am not satisfied with it so I start exploring other rhythmic ideas.

The following is lengthy so take it slow, Read a paragraph and let it sink in before moving on or it will seem overwhelming, but in truth it is simple. If I could show you on a chalkboard you would get it in a few minutes.

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I knew that comment about the 7 implies the 5th would rouse a question, I should have explained it then. Hang on and try to follow this, it isn't hard but could get confusing until it sinks in:

Let's look at what notes make up the 1/4/5 chords. Before we do that here is some background.

Chords are generally built upon triads (3 tones). Two tones can imply a chord, but it is indeterminate. You cannot clearly define it as one chord or another. Three tones give you enough information to declare that the combination of tones defines a specific chord. The same two tones could be part of many chords, so it is indeterminate. You can also embellish a chord by adding additional tones on top of the triad that determined a chord. That is where all those confusing jazz chords come in to play. We are not going there right now; we will stick to the triads.

Here is a simple short-hand approach to understand how to build the basic chord shapes which are called major, minor, augmented and diminished. These four chord types are all defined by triads. The technique I use is something I call stacking thirds .

What is a third?

There are two types of thirds, a minor third and a major third. The difference is best described by thinking of the keyboard on a piano. Start on any note as the root note of a chord and begin playing the next notes up the scale, including all the white and black keys as they fall into sequence. From the root note, a minor third is one and one half steps above the root. Each subsequent note when stepping up all the keys, white and black are a half-step apart. So if you start on the G and walk up one and one half steps you have found the Bb. A major third is two whole steps up, so starting on the G, two whole steps up is the B. This is the important thing to understand before we proceed. If you understand the difference between the minor and major third, then what I say following will become obvious.

So here is the idea of stacking thirds:

A triad in a given chord is made up of two intervals between the three notes. Both of those intervals are a third. That is, from the root to the second note in the chord you have to step up a third, then from the third to the next note is another third interval, thus you have two third intervals stacked one on the other. The top note of the triad is a fifth from the root note, but it is a third away from the second note. Okay, take a breath and let that sink in.

Now the cool part:

A major chord is a major third interval with a minor third interval on top of it.

A minor chord is a minor third interval with a major third interval on top of it.

An augmented chord is a major third interval with a major third interval on top of it.

So what do you think a diminished chord is? You got it:

A diminished chord is a minor third interval with a minor third interval on top of it.

This is a powerful thing to know because I can find a chord anywhere on my fret-board by simply building it from thirds. It may be clumsy the first few times I use it, but once I know where it is I can practice and smooth it out.

(A Note on inversions, but not germane to discussion)
I have not discussed inversions, because they will not help my discussion here at all, but understand that the same three notes could be played by choosing a different one of the three to be at the bottom. Therefore triads can be made as a root inversion as we have done here, a first and a second inversion. All the inversions are still called the same chord name, but because the arrangement of first, third and fifth have been rearranged the sound of the chords have a different color. Don't worry about them for now. I just want to be clear that what I have shown is not the only way to make chord shapes.

So finally back to the question about what I mean by the 7 implies the fifth:

The 1 chord, or root chord is made up of the 1/3/5 notes, the 4 chord is made up of the 4/6/8 (the 8 is the octave 1), and the 5 chord is made up of the 5/7/9 (the 9 is the octave 2). So, when I said the 7 implies the fifth, I meant it was one of the tones that appear in the 5 chord.

This post is long enough to choke a horse so I will stop here, but I do have more to say about the augmented and diminished chord types and how to use them.