Chord Name

[Ganon]

Just a quick question. I made up a chord to fit a small lick I am using in an instrumental I am writing. The only problem is I don't actually know the name of the chord! Any help would be greatly appreciated. It's some kind of E chord, with the 4th replacing the 3rd.


e|-0-
b|-0-
g|-2-
d|-2-
a|-2-
e|-0-

[Animus Light]

Esus4.

[Ganon]

Thank you.

[Alive]

Which, if you didn't know, stands for E suspended 4th, becuase the 4th wants to fall to the 3rd.

[Animus Light]

Which, if you didn't know, stands for E suspended 4th, becuase the 4th wants to fall to the 3rd.

It's technically a retardation, so the "suspension" is invalid. I really dont' know why we call it a sus4 when it should be a retarded fourth. "Sus2" is an actual suspension.

[Ganon]

Cheers Alive, and thanks again Animus, my small amount of musical knowledge has expanded a little.
I really dont' know why we call it a sus4 when it should be a retarded fourth.
It really wouldn't suprise me if politcal correctness said that parents whose fourth child had a handicap might get offended.

[judge_gideon]

The notes in this chord are:
E, B, E, A, B, E

Which is only three notes:
A, B, & E

Now, if you think about it, this could be one of 3 different chords.

Asus2
B11
Esus4

Depending on which is the root, the other two notes play different roles in harmony.

With the Asus2: the A being the root, the B is the suspended 2nd, and the E is the perfect 5th.

With the B11: the B being the root, the A being the flat 7, and the E is technically a suspended 4th, but since there is another tension tone the 7th, a sus4 becomes an 11th. The rule is that 2 tension tones will turn 2nds into 9ths, 4ths into 11ths, and 6ths into 13ths. Tension tones are 2nds, 4ths, 6ths, 7ths. The rule also is that the higher number gets to name the chord. In this case, the 11th is a higher number than the 7th, so it's called a B11.

With the Esus4: the E being the root, the A is the suspended 4th, and the B is the perfect 5th.
♪♫♫♪

[austin99]

The notes in this chord are:
E, B, E, A, B, E

Which is only three notes:
A, B, & E

Now, if you think about it, this could be one of 3 different chords.

Asus2
B11
Esus4

Depending on which is the root, the other two notes play different roles in harmony.

With the Asus2: the A being the root, the B is the suspended 2nd, and the E is the perfect 5th.

With the B11: the B being the root, the A being the flat 7, and the E is technically a suspended 4th, but since there is another tension tone the 7th, a sus4 becomes an 11th. The rule is that 2 tension tones will turn 2nds into 9ths, 4ths into 11ths, and 6ths into 13ths. Tension tones are 2nds, 4ths, 6ths, 7ths. The rule also is that the higher number gets to name the chord. In this case, the 11th is a higher number than the 7th, so it's called a B11.

With the Esus4: the E being the root, the A is the suspended 4th, and the B is the perfect 5th.
♪♫♫♪


The chord showed would actually be called Asus2/E, Esus4 and B11/E, there are inversions of chords when the bass note is not the root of the chord, these are all legitimate chords, any combination of two or more notes is a chord, though the B11/E really should really be called

B11 no 3rd/E since there is not 3rd so its not major or minor in this form. The 5th in the chord is not required since its harmonically related to the root,

Suspended chords, the sus2 and sus4 donot have a third, however the chords usually progress into the Major or minor chord in a lot of songs, not always the case but it is a common progression

[Diatonic Dissonance™]

Keep in mind that if the third were present it would be add4, not sus4.

That would be a chord that had E G B A.

[judge_gideon]

Gavin is right again ;)

[Diatonic Dissonance™]

:cool:

[xhaereticusx]

Now, if you think about it, this could be one of 12 different chords.

fixed

[Ganon]

Thanks judge_gideon, austin99 and Diatonic Dissonance for your input.

[Diatonic Dissonance™]

:thumb:

[judge_gideon]

xhaereticusx,

Well, the scope of the question didn't call for the exhaustive answer, but since you raised the question, the 3 primary notes do create 12 separate chords. Some of which have roots & 5ths implied, but not played.

A,B,E

Now, as you yourself are probably already familiar with the concept, many chord voicings can omit the root, or the fifth entirely, and often do since the bass player is typically playing roots & fifths.

This gives you these 12 chords:
Asus2
Bbmaj7(b9 #11)
B11
Cmaj7(13)
Dbm7(b13)
D6/9
Eb(b9 #11 b13)
Esus4
Fmaj7(#11)
Gb7(#9 11)
G6/9
Abm(b9,b13)

That's not too horrible, but as a soloist, I could treat each chord as a different chord quality entirely by using substitutions. Then, the harmonic palate is expanded even more dramatically. For each one of these 12 chords, I could find many ways to imply that the chord is something else, and because of my harmony, the ears of the listeners would hear my tension tones, and discern a different chord occurring than what is written. Substitutions are beautiful. :D

[austin99]

Thanks judge_gideon, austin99 and Diatonic Dissonance for your input.


:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Good question, keep in mind that the names really don't matter its how you create the chord and how you remember how it came about, any chord can have a number of names.