E#5#9, E#5♭9, E♭5#9, E♭5♭9

viz · September 2022

I really love Joel McCray's videos. This one provides some hacks for four juicy altered chords in a V-i cadence from E7 to Am. This is all on the piano, but I've been playing their guitar equivalents and they sound great.

Notes:

He calls them III-vi cadences, because he relates all chords to the parent major key - in this case C, whereas I prefer to call them V-i cadences in A minor.

In each of the four examples, on the E7 the left hand plays the 3rd and the 7th (G# and D), and on the Am (no A) he plays the minor 7th, 2nd, minor 3rd and 5th (G, B, C, E). He says he leaves the bass notes (E and A) to the bassist, though actually he does end up playing them at the bottom of the piano so we can hear the root.

In the right hand, over the Am9, in every example, he plays a G major triad (G, B, D). That transforms the Am9 into a an Am11. Sounds weird on its own, but combined with the left hand it's gorgeous.

But it's over the E7 chord where the magic happens. He adds a special triad in the right hand to give the flavour of the four types of altered chord he's demonstrating.

Just for reference, E7 has E F# G# A B C# D E (I've bolded the 3rd and 7th), whereas E(alt) has E F G A♭ B♭ C D E (I've bolded the 9ths and 5ths).

I'm relaxing some of the naming conventions where enharmonic notes are concerned (eg the G# in E7 and the A♭ in E(alt).)

So:

1) for the E#5#9 chord, he suggests playing a C major triad on top, in 1st inversion, so E, G, C. The G is the #9 of E7 and the C is the #5. I approximate that by 0 5 6 7 8 8, to x 0 10 12 12 10. Or x 0 10 0 0 10. I haven't worked out which is easier yet.

2) for the E♭5♭9, he plays a B♭ triad in 2nd inversion, which has F, B♭, D. The F is the ♭9 of E, and the B♭ is the ♭5. I approximate that by 0 11 0 10 11 0, to x 0 10 12 12 10.

3) for the E#5♭9 chord, he plays an F minor triad on top, so F, Ab, C. The F is the ♭9, and the C is a #5. I approximate that by 0 11 0 10 9 8, to x 0 10 12 12 10.

4) for the E♭5#9, he plays a Gm triad, which has G, B♭, D, so the G is the #9, and the B♭ is the ♭5. I approximate that by 0 11 0 12 11 0, to x 0 10 12 12 10. (I don't like the repeated D, so I play an open top E instead on the E chord).

It's been an eye-opener into how these guys think - basically there are certain tricks and hacks that they can call on, to get a certain sound. On their own, the chords sound stupid and trite - playing a B♭ major when you're meant to be playing E7 is just odd, but combining it with the E, G# and D in the left hand and it suddenly sounds magical! And it's another way for you to hear the stand-out notes that define the altered 5ths and 9ths over a Dominant chord.

It's well worth a watch.

Brad · September 2022

I think it was Satriani who said “triads make the world go round”. He wasn’t wrong!

viz · September 2022

And wasn’t it was Sir_Axeman who said the altered scale made the world go flat?

Roland · September 2022

viz said:

And wasn’t it was Sir_Axeman who said the altered scale made the world go flat?

No. He said the world was already flat.

ArchtopDave · September 2022

"playing Bb major when you're meant to be playing E7 is just odd" .... to me, this is one of those situations where I flick chords and notes around.
If you rename Bb major as A♯major, then you have A♯, C♯♯(D), E♯(F), so you've got b7 (D), b9 (F), and ♯11.(A♯) in relation to E7.

viz · September 2022

Ja, totes, I was just trying to avoid enharmonics to steer clear of double sharps coz they horrify me! And the main point I was trying to say was you’re thinking what has G minor, or C major, or F minor, or Bb (or A#) got to do with E7? Well, anyway, for a meat-and-potatoes man like me, that’s the wonderful mysterious beauty of jazz music. But yep, totally! Cheers. Love it when you crop up with extra insight

ArchtopDave · September 2022

It's the way my demented brain works.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

E#5#9, E#5♭9, E♭5#9, E♭5♭9

Comments