Name that chord.

[JamesO]

Hi everyone

I'm having trouble naming this chord. What do you think the best name is?

Cb F Ab C Db

These three notes make an Fm: Cb F Ab C Db.

If I look at it in F, then it's an Fm with a b6 on top and a b5 in the bass.

[willhutch]

You could call it any number of things, depending on which note you decide is going to be the root.

I'll will choose Db to be the root, simply because doing so puts 4 of the 5 notes into a common chord - Db7 (Db,F,Ab,Cb). Now we just need to account for the presence of the C, the Major 7th of Db.

Thus, we get.........Db7maj7. Yuck.

Or I suppose I could also consider it a DMaj7 with a dominant 7 too: DbMaj7dom7????

With the pesence of 3 chromatic tones, Cb,C,Db, your going to get an ugly name (and dissonant sounding chord) no matter how you slice it.

[Old Tele man]

Bbm7

....transcribe the notes "up" the neck (from the center 4 strings) and you'll recognize the chord as a simple four-note "grand barre, Bbm7...on the bottom 4 strings, with the 2 treble strings not played.

[JamesO]

The problem with Bbm7 is that there's no Bb and the C and Cb are there. Dbmaj7 works very well. Dbmaj7/Cb. Thanks!

[Old Tele man]

...oops, you are indeed correct, with the B note (Cb) in the bass that means it's a Bm7 with b9 in the bass, ie: Bm7-9 or Bm7b9 or Bm7/B#

[ajmoment]

Per hutch's reply above, I hear a Db sound due to the major triad Db F Ab in there, which is strenthened by the dominant B. The tritone B, F dominates the sound to my ear.

The dominant 7 is the B and the natural 7 is the C. The major 7 sound over dominants is a nice melodic thing when taken chromatically in jazz. I think C. Parker uses the natural 7 nicely in dominant situations for a sweet sound.

If we add a Bb to the mix then you have a Bb-7(b9) situation, but I think that we could make that the next chord in the sequence for some nice voice leading.

Db7/B , Bb-7(b9), ....

Now someone add the next chord in the sequence - once we have 8 total then all we need is a melody!

[fyler]

B6sus2b5addb9 B 6th Suspended 2nd Flat 5th Add Flat 9th
B6sus2b5addb2 B 6th Suspended 2nd Flat 5th Add Flat 2nd
Fmaddb13add#11/B F/B Minor Add Flat 13th Add Sharp 11th
Fdimadd5addb13/B F/B Diminished Add 5th Add Flat 13th
Fm#5add5add#11/B F/B Minor Sharp 5th Add 5th Add Sharp 11th
Fm#5add5addb5/B F/B Minor Sharp 5th Add 5th Add Flat 5th
G#add4add#9add13/B G#/B Major Add 4th Add Sharp 9th Add 13th
G#6add4add#9/B G#/B 6th Add 4th Add Sharp 9th
G#mbb5add3add13/B G#/B Minor Double Flat 5th Add 3rd Add 13th
G#m6bb5add3/B G#/B Minor 6th Double Flat 5th Add 3rd
CMb13sus4addb2/B C/B Major Flat 13th Suspended 4th Add Flat 2nd
CM7sus4#5addb2/B C/B Major 7th Suspended 4th Sharp 5th Add Flat 2nd
C#7add12add14/B C#/B 7th Add 12th Add 14th
C#7add12add7/B C#/B 7th Add 12th Add Major 7th
C#7add14/B C#/B 7th Add 14th
C#7add7/B C#/B 7th Add Major 7th

[guitarman430]

Yuck!

[seafoamer]

Linda

[gainiac]

Originally Posted by fyler

B6sus2b5addb9 B 6th Suspended 2nd Flat 5th Add Flat 9th
B6sus2b5addb2 B 6th Suspended 2nd Flat 5th Add Flat 2nd
Fmaddb13add#11/B F/B Minor Add Flat 13th Add Sharp 11th
Fdimadd5addb13/B F/B Diminished Add 5th Add Flat 13th
Fm#5add5add#11/B F/B Minor Sharp 5th Add 5th Add Sharp 11th
Fm#5add5addb5/B F/B Minor Sharp 5th Add 5th Add Flat 5th
G#add4add#9add13/B G#/B Major Add 4th Add Sharp 9th Add 13th
G#6add4add#9/B G#/B 6th Add 4th Add Sharp 9th
G#mbb5add3add13/B G#/B Minor Double Flat 5th Add 3rd Add 13th
G#m6bb5add3/B G#/B Minor 6th Double Flat 5th Add 3rd
CMb13sus4addb2/B C/B Major Flat 13th Suspended 4th Add Flat 2nd
CM7sus4#5addb2/B C/B Major 7th Suspended 4th Sharp 5th Add Flat 2nd
C#7add12add14/B C#/B 7th Add 12th Add 14th
C#7add12add7/B C#/B 7th Add 12th Add Major 7th
C#7add14/B C#/B 7th Add 14th
C#7add7/B C#/B 7th Add Major 7th

hahahahaha!!!!

[KRosser]

One more vote for "Dbmaj7/B". It seems the most concise way to label that sound.

[Old Tele man]

...however, I believe the "proper" answer is what name does it have "...in the KEY signature..." that it's being played?

[kimock]

KRosser has it right. Too many notes for a diatonic name,too few for a cadence...as a pitch collection the tonal center is C.The B is the tell. The missing pitches are G, and E, the harmonic reflections of F and A flat. B is the reflection of D flat, blah blah blah... three pages of diagrams later, chord resolves to C major 7. Tonal center? C. Final answer. KR, what say you?

[KRosser]

Originally Posted by kimock

KRosser has it right. Too many notes for a diatonic name,too few for a cadence...as a pitch collection the tonal center is C.The B is the tell. The missing pitches are G, and E, the harmonic reflections of F and A flat. B is the reflection of D flat, blah blah blah... three pages of diagrams later, chord resolves to C major 7. Tonal center? C. Final answer. KR, what say you?

The tonal center/harmonic context/cadence/resolution, etc doesn't matter. In the key of C I would still call an F#7 chord an F#7, no matter what function it's serving or how it resolves.

I'm just looking at this from a player's and possibly sight-reader's perspective. In that case I want the simplest name that communicates the sound of that collection of pitches, and to me the test of that is to revoice it based on the name, and lo and behold, "Dbmaj7/B" seems to work.

[kimock]

Right you are Ken! Sure looks like Dflat/B to me. I'm not much of a sight reader myself, but this chord might be kind of a damned if you do damned if you don't situation to name/read. Is there a B natural in Dflat or C#? I'm with you 100% on the name, but the spelling is still a little funky....the whole naming system is a can of worms if you ask me! I play alot of lap guitar and fretless ( thank you Ed ) so harmonic context is something I need to keep an eye on. I would use different pitches for the note C if it were a tonic or root or the major 7th of Dflat. Not an issue when you're trying to grab a handfull of C# major 7/A##....nice talking with you, keep up the good work!