Fully Diminished & Half-Diminished · Fully Diminished 7ths •A fully diminished 7th chord...
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Dr. Declan Plummer Lesson 2: Diminished 7th Chords GRADE 7 MUSIC THEORY Fully Diminished & Half-Diminished Fully Diminished 7th Chord ( o7 ) has a minor 3rd, diminished 5th and a diminished 7th from the bass note (or stacked minor 3rds ). They naturally occur (diatonic) as vii o7 in minor keys vii o7 in C minor A$ F D B m3 m3 m3 ii ø7 in C minor vii ø7 C major Half-Diminished 7th Chord ( ø7 ) has a minor 3rd, diminished 5th and a minor 7th from the bass. They naturally occur as vii ø7 in major keys and ii ø7 in minor keys Diminished 7th chords are used primarily as leading note chords: • to substitute or decorate the dominant chord • to modulate to distant keys • as a predominant chord (usually vii o7 /V to V) - dealt with in another lesson V 7 I i 6 I 6 vii o vii o 4 3 4 3 2nd mvt, Symphony No.9 in E minor (New World) by Dvořák (9:24) D$ major: I V 6 vi I ii I 6 4 6 5 ø 9:30
Transcript of Fully Diminished & Half-Diminished · Fully Diminished 7ths •A fully diminished 7th chord...
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Dr. Declan PlummerLesson 2: Diminished 7th Chords
GRADE 7 MUSIC THEORY
Fully Diminished & Half-DiminishedFully Diminished 7th Chord (o7) has a minor 3rd, diminished 5th and a diminished 7th from the bass note (or stacked minor 3rds). They naturally occur (diatonic) as viio7 in minor keys viio7 in C minor
A$FDB m3
m3m3
iiø7 in C minorviiø7 C major
Half-Diminished 7th Chord (ø7) has a minor 3rd, diminished 5th and a minor 7th from the bass. They naturally occur as viiø7 in major keys and iiø7 in minor keys
Diminished 7th chords are used primarily as leading note chords:
• to substitute or decorate the dominant chord • to modulate to distant keys • as a predominant chord (usually viio7/V to V) - dealt with in another lesson
V7 I
i6 I6
viio
viio
43
43
2nd mvt, Symphony No.9 in E minor (New World) by Dvořák (9:24)
D$ major: I V6 vi I ii I6465
ø
9:30
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Fully Diminished 7ths• A fully diminished 7th chord contains a minor 3rd, diminished 5th
and a diminished 7th from the bass note (or stacked minor 3rds).• Chord viio in major keys and chords iio and viio in minor keys are naturally
occurring (diatonic) diminished triads, so it’s easy to make them into diminished 7th chords by adding a diminished 7th above the bass note.
viio7 in C minor
A$FDB m3
m3m3
iio$7 in C minor
C$A$FD m3
m3m3
Chromatic Chord
m3m3m3A$
FDB
Chromatic Chord
viio7 in minor keys is the only time
a diminished 7th chord is diatonic viio$7 in C major
• The diminished 7th chord may be considered a dominant 9th with its root missing. An alternative notation may be used:
• The diminished 7th chord may be found in its other inversions.viio7 Vo9
* It is well acceptable to describe diminished 7th chords in relation to the bass note
Resolving Fully Diminished 7ths • There are three dissonant intervals in a diminished
7th chord and they all seek a satisfactory resolution.
dim 7 dim 5 dim 5
• As a result, diminished 7th chords tend to resolve to a tonic chord, which is why they also function like secondary dominants.
viio43
D-F-A$-C$
Start
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Modulation & Fully Dim7th Chords• When the inversions of a diminished 7th chord are spelt differently
(changed enharmonically) they create new diminished 7th chords.
Dim 7th on the leading note of E$ (major or minor)
Dim 7th on the leading note of F# (major or minor)
Dim 7th on the leading note of A (major or minor)
• Another way in which composers use the diminished 7th chord to modulate is to lower any one of its notes (except the 7th), to create a dominant 7th chord.
enharmonic
• Enharmonic equivalents of diminished 7th chords offer considerable scope for modulation when used as pivot chord.
G minor: i V i64 viio7/V V viio42 V viio
43 i6
viio 42 Vviio 42E minor: viio 43 (F#-A-C-E$ enharm)
(D#-F-A-C#)
i
viio 43G minor:
E minor: V7 i 64 V9 V7
64
i
1st mvt from Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata
could have modulated to E major too
enharm.
5:33
