How to Find the Root of Any Chord (from beginner to advanced examples) | Theory Fundamentals Ep. 1

[@brendamengeling4653]

This was very helpful! I have a few pieces with “interesting “ chords, where I have struggled to know what to call them, as they aren’t simple inversions. Thanks!

[@PianistAcademy1]

So glad you found this video helpful, Brenda!

[@healer1964]

Thanks for starting a theory series! Another really great video, and so helpful.

[@PianistAcademy1]

You bet! Thanks for checking this one out!

[@sylvainmessier9397]

This is very clear and comprehensive. Thank you!

[@PianistAcademy1]

You bet, Sylvain! Thanks for watching!

[@bunnyhollowcrafts]

This was so awesome! Inversions turned my world around and this little nugget made it all make more sense. Thank you!!!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Yay, love it! Thanks for watching!

[@xerintha]

I always love watching your videos! Thank you!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks so much for the Super, Bernadette!!

[@BedlingtonGroomer]

Thank you for this great video! I learned much once again!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks so much for watching and finding it helpful!

[@Pablo.Albino]

That is a great approach! Regards from Brazil!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks, Pablo! Greetings from Colorado!

[@LegioPiano]

Extremely well explained! Very useful. I Subscribed👍

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks for checking this latest video out and stopping by the channel!

[@xerintha]

Inversions! I'm learning about those now too. :) I love this method of finding the root! And I was successful figuring out the root of the exercise you put up for us. Thank you!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Great! If it ever gets confusing, just comment here or even better, bring it up in a livestream!

[@serwoolsley]

Hell yeah, new video!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks for always being one of the first to watch, Ser Woolsley!

[@PanopticMotion]

You only say stacking thirds. Is there a specific reason for not mentioning that the thirds in the major scale consist of a major third followed by a minor third intervals when discussing stacking thirds?

[@PianistAcademy1]

Yes! In my experience, students tend to get confused when learning to stack triads by major and minor thirds. They think that major thirds should look bigger than minor thirds, and they end up writing or looking for 4ths instead of 3rds when identifying M3s. I usually need to spend a few weeks of lessons harping on simply what a third is and how it only moves from letter to letter, regardless of accidentals and regardless of specific interval definition. Once they understand that C - E# is a 3rd and C - F is a 4th, then we start looking further at the specifics of the intervals and how they create the foundation of harmony.

[@YaelEylatTanaka]

Is there a fast way to determine that the first set of 4 notes is a C maj 7th without all these acrobatics? Musicians seem to do this instinctively.

[@PianistAcademy1]

In fairly simple chord inversions, the instinct part of this comes from repeating these steps so much, and seeing the inversions so much, that it’s second nature to know the chord. For most, even university and conservatory, students who aren’t pianists with that experience, they have no idea how to read a C Maj 7 in any inversions and identify it properly. So you’re right, at a certain point, inversions become second nature like instinct, but it’s only because of repeated practice and seeing it in rep. As soon the voicing gets spread further, it’s still possible to identify in a few seconds, but the brain still goes through the same process. For example, I could have identified the final example in this video in less than 5 seconds… but I’m actually using the same process I explain with a few shortcuts of seeing other interval relationships as well.

[@Ziel23987]

I'm not sure about the last one. That's the problem with extended harmony for me... It could be G#min7/b13, Emaj7/9 or even Badd11/13? Extended chords don't need to have all the notes in thirds, you can have just some extensions tacked on top, and your method doesn't really cover that.

[@PianistAcademy1]

When it comes to extended harmony there's a couple things to consider: 1) it's quite rare to see an extended chord in the classical repertoire. We begin to see them used more often in French Impressionist music and of course they are more present in contemporary Classical writing. But if you're analyzing a great deal of the classical canon and you come across an extended harmony, I'd first ask if it was identified correctly. 2) If it really is and melodic passing or neighbor tones weren't added to the harmony identification, and it comes to figuring out the root, we can know that the 3rd is rarely omitted, the 5th can and often is omitted, the 7th is usually not omitted if there are upper extensions. To find those answers, we still need all of our possibilities stacked in 3rds because we need to be able to see what parts of the chord are omitted. And then 3) Once we have all of our choices listed, like you did above, then we have to use knowledge of harmony and context to finish the job. Is the chord functioning as dominant, pre dominant or tonic? Is it diatonic or from a secondary key? If it's secondary, it *must* resolve within one or two chords. How is it propelling the phrase forward? Does it resolve by half step from any of the roots? And lastly, simply what does it sound like? For example, in context, we should easily be able to hear the difference between a major and minor chord. That single question would eliminate one or two of the possible answers you give above. The other questions would then clearly point to a single answer. If there's still any ambiguity, take a step back and ask a more general question: how would the composer have thought about the harmony using the writing we see all around... for example, if it's a 'pop piano' piece that uses mainly 7ths and the occasional 9, the composer probably isn't going to randomly throw in a b13 nor would they have thought about harmony that way. The rest of the composition provides the answer. If you're looking for harmony like this, it's usually after 4 complete semesters of theory in a undergrad program... OR you play jazz. I'm not a jazz player and I don't approach harmony from that perspective, so I can't answer that component. And like I mentioned, in classical theory, upper extensions are extremely rare, especially things like 11 and 13 and even moreso, if 11 and 13 are modified. It's not a part of the harmonic language for a great deal of music from 1700 to 1900. Even looking at a composer like Rachmaninoff, most of his harmony is still boiled down to standard triads and 7th chords, with chromatic tones floating around everywhere... but those chromatic tones don't come into play as harmonic identifiers in many cases.

[@user-og8pn1lb2n]

How can I get the root chord of any minor keys on keyboard

[@PianistAcademy1]

Same method! Stack your tones in 3rds and then look for the root. It gets tricky when some of the notes are omitted from the voicing, but in those cases you'll need to try out notes that the chord implies and see if they fit or not.

[@marshelene]

what about minor chords?

[@PianistAcademy1]

Works exactly the same!

[@nandovancreij]

something ive always wondered is what the difference between 6th chords and 7th chords is, like isnt any 6th chord readable as a 7th chord in first inversion

[@PianistAcademy1]

Hey recover! The biggest difference is in how the chord ends up "functioning" in the phrase or the piece. Dominant vs predominant vs tonic function. For example, a "6" chord will never ever be dominant function. But beyond that, 6th chords don't really exist in classical music as they can't be stacked in 3rds... in order to stack it, you have to change the name of the root, which would completely remove the "6" from the chord. Ie, a C6 chord is actually equivalent in classical theory to a C add 13, as the 13 (which is the same pitch as the 6) must be a 13th above the root in order to be functioning correctly. If it's not a 13th above, then a C6 chord actually turns into an "a minor" chord in 1st inversion. See where I'm going with this?

[@nandovancreij]

@@PianistAcademy1 thank u for clarifying :)

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@nandovancreij Absolutely! If it gets confusing, just reach out!