Can anyone explain this to me please?

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Question:

In music there are usually three circle notes on the staff and it may have flats or sharps!. Then you have to determine if it's a diminish,+, major,minor, the thing with the circle and something else!. Can anyone please explain how to do this!? I'm having a little trouble with this in choir and I would appreciate it if someone would tell me how to determine which one it is!.

For example, the answer will sound something like this,A flat major or e flat minor or an a with a little circle at the top that looks like a degree sign!.

PLEASE HELP MEWww@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

OK!. First of all, these are not notes, but chords!. They should be above the staff telling you the harmony progression of the song, so that if you have a vocal line, you can use some instrument to provide you the harmony!.

Basically, in the western music theory, there are many types of chords!. You can divide them into triads and extended chords!. You can have these triads

NOTE
X substitutes the chord's name!.!.e!.g!. Xm could be Em, Am etc!.
T means the 'root' (tonic),
M and m mean major and minor respectively,
o means diminished (? half-diminished in seventh chord),
+ means augmented both for chord and interval (- means diminished but only when referring to interval)
1-7 mean the degree of the scale,
sus2 and sus4 mean a chord with no triad but insted having the second or fourth respectively,
X7, X9!.!.!.X13 means an extended chord with this interval added, but containing lower odd intervals as well (e!.g!. A13 has 13th but also 7th, 9th and 11th)
add7!.!.!.!.add13 means only this interval is added
X5 means a chord with only root and fifth (when in extended chord!.!.!.!.it means 5th is omitted)

All examples have C as the root!

TRIADS (SIMPLE!!!):
X!.!.!.!.!.!.!.major triad (has a major third)!.!.!.T 3M 5 (C-E-G)
Xm!.!.!.!.minor triad!.!.!.T 3m 5 (C-Eb-G)
Xo!.!.!.!.!.diminished triad!.!.!.!.T 3m 5- (C-Eb-Gb)
X+!.!.!.!.!.augmented triad!.!.!.T 3M 5+ (C-E-G#)
Xsus2!.!.!.!.suspended second triad!.!.!.!.T 2 5 (C-D-G)
Xsus4!.!.!.!.suspended fourth triad!.!.!.!.!.!.!.T 4 5 (C-F-G)

EXTENDED (might get tricky sometimes!. I'll do only the seventh chords for you as the higher ones are only analogy thereto):
X7!.!.!.!.!.!.dominant seventh chord (sometimes known as blues chord)!.!.!.T 3M 5 7m (C-E-G-Bb)
X7M!.!.!.!.seventh major chord!.!.!.T 3M 5 7M (C-E-G-B)
X7m!.!.!.!.seventh minor chord!.!.!.T 3m 5 7m (C-Eb-G-Bb)
Xm7M!.!.minor/major chord!.!.!.!.!.!.T 3m 5 7M (C-Eb-G-B)
Xo!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.diminished seventh chord (has double flat 7th) !.!.!.T 3m 5- 7bb (C-Eb-Gb-Bbb!.!.!.equals C-Eb-Gb-A)
X?!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.half-diminished chord (has minor 7th)!.!.!.!.T 3m 5- 7m (C-Eb-G-Bb)

You could possibly create much more chords, but now you should have grasped the principle!. If you sing classical music or other european music, you can get by with only triads, dominant seventh chord and the diminished chords!. If you sing blues, you'll need to understand the other sevenths as well as some ninth chords!. And if you sing something more jazz-related, then you could do with a complete understanding!. It was a bit comprehensive so you can email me if you don't understand anything!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I'm not sure of your question, but this may help clarify things:

This sign o means "diminished"!. So the chord Ao would have the notes A, C, Eb!. (Ao7 would be A, C, Eb, Gb!.)

This sign ? means "half diminished"!. It is the equivalent to a minor seventh chord with a lowered fifth!. It only can be applied to seventh chords (so A?7 would be A, C, Eb, G-natural!.)Www@QuestionHome@Com