Chord Perspective Drill: Every Chord is Lots of Chords
What chord is this?
A C E G.
Aminor7.
Yup. Now list 4 more it could be.
“Ummm what??”
I was challenged with this question years ago by my jazz instructor Gilbert.
He’d fill up a sheet of paper with different combinations of notes, then have me write as many chords as I could think of for each one, with the intervals next to each note.
Your brain starts to scramble in new ways. It forces you to think in multiple perspectives.
This one’s a bit more advanced, but hang with me. It’s worth it, even just for opening your mind.
Back to A C E G.
Again, we start with the obvious.
- Aminor7
A (1) C (3) E (5) G (7)
Next we move through each note and treat it as the root.
- C6
A (6) C (1) E (3) G (7)
- Em11(#5)
A (11) C (#5) E (1) G (3)
- G6sus2/4
A (2) C (4) E (6) G (1)
After that things get really spicy - we need to start “implying” notes that aren’t actually there.
- Fmaj9
A (3) C (5) E (7) G (9)
We could view this from the perspective of every single note if we wanted - but I’ll stop here to not fry our brains too much lol.
I found this exercise so helpful. It forces you to ZOOM OUT and see the bigger picture of notes.
The more ways we can see that music is all perspective - not “right or wrong” answers - the more we are freed to create!
Your Homework: List Chords For These Sets of Notes
Here’s 3 sets of notes for you to try. Push your brain. If you feel up to it, send me a message with your answers.
F A C E
D F A C
G B D F
Oh, and the next time someone says you wrote the wrong chord… just say: “From what perspective?” 😆
Avery
