[APRIL FOOL] Chord Of The Week 1/4/17 - a D7#5addnat7noRoot(add11) from IWBS by Ramones

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bigjonbigjon Frets: 680
edited April 2017 in Technique
[APRIL FOOL - thanks to Viz for being a willing stooge and bumping the thread through the morning]

Today's chord is a portmanteau from two guitars (plus a bass, really).

On the syllable 'date' in the oft-repeated line "I Wanna Be Sedated" during the song of that name by the Ramones, the bass plays a D before resolving up to the home key of G in the next syllable 'ted'. So even though neither of the guitars plays a D, the name of today's chord is some kind of D chord, and I've added the noRoot element later on to indicate that the D is not played on the guitar.

In the left channel, the guitar is mostly playing G barre chords 355433 with the emphasis on the top four strings, but for effect on this syllable it drops by a semitone to (2)(4)4322. The notes from the 4th string up in relation to a D chord are F# xx4xxx the 3rd, A# xxx3xx the #5, C# xxxx2x the natural7, and F# again xxxxx2. So the left channel contributes the major tonality (not notated, just observed by the absence of an m after the D to denote a minor chord) and the #5addnat7 to the overall chord description.

In the right channel, the guitar is merrily chugging along on a G5 power chord 355xxx, but briefly swaps strings to a C5 power chord x35xxx during this syllable. The notes in relation to a D chord are C x3xxxx the 7th, and G xx5xxx the 11th. So the right channel contributes the 7 as in D7 and the add11 at the end to the overall chord description.

So, how to combine these two chords onto one guitar? The obvious way is to leave the D root to the bass, take the C note 7th at x3xxxx, and add the F# chord from the left channel xx4322 to give x34322. This sacrifices the xx5xxx add11. We have a spare string on the 6th string and the correct note available at the 15th fret, but no appendage obviously available to fret the note! You could fret it with your tongue, but no-one would be foolish enough to attempt that, surely? ;-)

So overall, I'll (reluctantly!) leave the add11 at the end in brackets, and notate the combined chord as

D7#5addnat7noRoot(add11): (15) 3 4 3 2 2


I haven't dealt yet with the scale choices these notes give over a dominant D7 chord leading into a G chord, but the presence of the #5 A#, dominant7 Cnat and natural7 C# make it an interesting challenge! I'll leave that as an exercise for the reader . . .

You can hear the chord most clearly through headphones as the track fades out, at about 2:31 in this video

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Comments

  • bigjonbigjon Frets: 680
    Chord Of The Week Index updated with 191 discussions at
    http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/598/chord-of-the-week-index
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  • vizviz Frets: 10645
    edited April 2017
    I love this chord. By the way, common practice period notates it as an X(x-2). We used to use it as a substitution for the straight D in our lounge version of back in black, so instead of playing E, D, A, we did E, A(f), A, as the D is still the lowest note because there's no root (A). It's easier if you swap the 1st and 4th fingers round. 
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • bigjonbigjon Frets: 680
    edited April 2017
    For soloing over this chord, the consecutive C C# D reminds me of the bebop mixolydian scale D E F# G A B C C# D, which is the regular mixolydian scale with an added nat7 C# passing note. Alternatively, the minor 3rd jump between the G 11th and the A# #5th suggests some mode of the harmonic minor scale, or double harmonic minor, or harmonic major . . .
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  • vizviz Frets: 10645
    edited April 2017
    As it's based on the superimposition of the 3 major triads on the root, the 3rd, and the 5th, I'd say you get tonic, supertonic (well, a ninth), major 3rd, (no 4, though we can assume it's a perfect 4th), perfect 5th, augmented 5th (call it a minor 6th), major 7th and tonic, so I'd go for major harmonic, in the 4th mode, albeit without the root - so lydian b3, no root. 
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • bigjonbigjon Frets: 680
    viz said:
    As it's based on the superimposition of the 3 major triads on the root, the 3rd, and the 5th, I'd say you get tonic, supertonic (well, a ninth), major 3rd, (no 4, though we can assume it's a perfect 4th), perfect 5th, augmented 5th (call it a minor 6th), major 7th and tonic, so I'd go for major harmonic, in the 4th mode, albeit without the root - so lydian b3, no root. 
    Yes except the superimposed triads are augmented triads, not major triads. The three root notes are D root, F# 3rd, and A# #5th. This is a symmetrical cycle which divides the 12 semitones of an octave into 3 groups of 4 semitones, so lots of symmetrical scale possibilities are opened up, including the whole tone scale D E F# G# A# C. The G# would clash though with the add11 of the chord, so how about the Allan Holdsworth symmetrical scale where he divides alternate whole tones into 2 semitones - D Eb E F# G G# A# C C#. This has the added advantage of including both the C and C# from the chord!
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  • bigjonbigjon Frets: 680
    edited April 2017
    It would be nice to add a Superlocrian-style run of D Eb F F# to the beginning of this scale . . .  
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  • vizviz Frets: 10645
    edited April 2017
    bigjon said:
    viz said:
    As it's based on the superimposition of the 3 major triads on the root, the 3rd, and the 5th, I'd say you get tonic, supertonic (well, a ninth), major 3rd, (no 4, though we can assume it's a perfect 4th), perfect 5th, augmented 5th (call it a minor 6th), major 7th and tonic, so I'd go for major harmonic, in the 4th mode, albeit without the root - so lydian b3, no root. 
    Yes except the superimposed triads are augmented triads, not major triads.


    Oh yes whoops that's what I meant - and actually you can get the majority of the notes across the diagonals on the bottom 4 strings, switching between both directions. If you wanted to, you could play over the top of the neck and transpose your original chord up a bitone (without the /3 on the B string) and use your thumb for the 11, or even shift position up a quadtone (without the /3 on the G string) and your thumb up a further augmented 2nd for the 12+ note on the 18th fret.
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • vizviz Frets: 10645
    bigjon said:
    It would be nice to add a Superlocrian-style run of D Eb F F# to the beginning of this scale . . .  
    Well if you were to treat it as a secondary or tertiary dominant you could superimpose the superlocrian (7th mode melodic) on the bottom half and the hindu (5th mode melodic - which is what it's originally for) on the top half, to create the octatonic scale of D Eb F F# G A Bb C D on the way up, and D C Bb Ab G F# F Eb E on the way down, which gives you those neighbouring semitones. 
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • bigjonbigjon Frets: 680
    viz said:
    bigjon said:
    It would be nice to add a Superlocrian-style run of D Eb F F# to the beginning of this scale . . .  
    Well if you were to treat it as a secondary or tertiary dominant you could superimpose the superlocrian (7th mode melodic) on the bottom half and the hindu (5th mode melodic - which is what it's originally for) on the top half, to create the octatonic scale of D Eb F F# G A Bb C D on the way up, and D C Bb Ab G F# F Eb E on the way down, which gives you those neighbouring semitones. 
    Like it! And on the way up you could insert the C# as a passing note, which would give the nonatonic scale D Eb F F# G A Bb C C# 
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  • vizviz Frets: 10645
    bigjon said:
    viz said:
    bigjon said:
    It would be nice to add a Superlocrian-style run of D Eb F F# to the beginning of this scale . . .  
    Well if you were to treat it as a secondary or tertiary dominant you could superimpose the superlocrian (7th mode melodic) on the bottom half and the hindu (5th mode melodic - which is what it's originally for) on the top half, to create the octatonic scale of D Eb F F# G A Bb C D on the way up, and D C Bb Ab G F# F Eb E on the way down, which gives you those neighbouring semitones. 
    Like it! And on the way up you could insert the C# as a passing note, which would give the nonatonic scale D Eb F F# G A Bb C C# 
    Yes and if you include an E you get a decatonic scale comprising two half-cousin tetrachordal scales. 
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • bigjonbigjon Frets: 680
    It would be a shame to stop at decatonic - I think of the two notes available Ab and B, the b5 Ab works better as part of an altered dominant tonality. The resulting hendecatonic scale is D Eb E F F# G G# A Bb C C# 
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  • bigjonbigjon Frets: 680
    Sorry to disappoint, but today's Chord Of The Week is an April Fool - there is no D7#5addnat7noRoot(add11) chord in "I Wanna Be Sedated" by The Ramones
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  • vizviz Frets: 10645
    edited April 2017
    bigjon said:
    Sorry to disappoint, but today's Chord Of The Week is an April Fool
    What??
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
    1reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • bigjonbigjon Frets: 680
    Sorry to shock you, old boy
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  • bigjonbigjon Frets: 680
    Bump to give those of you who missed this last year another chance to enjoy bot-like theory waffle from viz and me.
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