Chord naming

Hey everyone,

Hopefully, you're all having a great time! :) I've got a question that I can't answer myself. For my current studies and arrangements I am trying to name every chord that I assign.

However, naming these chords leads to the following question:

How do you seperate different chord voicings in chord names?

I know that basic triads are formed with three notes. Let's take the C major chord. Taking from the C major scale, we get the 1 - 3 - 5, translating into C - E - G which is fine. If I were to use these three notes I would get the following notes on the guitar

1.-------

2.-------

3.--0-----

4.--2-----

5.--3-----

6.-------

This would give me the basic triad, wouldn't it? Now, I can inverse these chords which leads to different base base notes and so on but my question now is:

The basic, iopen C Major chord that we are all taught is played like this:

C - E - G - C - E

I know that this chord still contains the three basic triad notes C-E-G but there are two Cs and two Es which are both in different octaves.

Does this basically change the name of the chord to somehow distinguish it from a basic triad? Is there something like a 3-ton-voicing and 4 or 5-tone-voicings? Does it actually matter if I have 10 notes played as long as it still contains the three basic three notes of the chord? (based on triads)

Thanks a lot !:)

Cheers,

Lukas

Originally Posted by: Meridirh

[br]I know that this chord still contains the three basic triad notes C-E-G but there are two Cs and two Es which are both in different octaves.

Does this basically change the name of the chord to somehow distinguish it from a basic

triad? Is there something like a 3-ton-voicing and 4 or 5-tone-voicings? Does it actually matter if I have 10 notes played as long as it still contains the three basic three notes of the chord? (based on triads)

[br]

No. Octaves and amount of each note in chord doesn't affect to chord name. Sometimes chord inversions are notified by it's bass note.

For example C/G means that lowest note in chord is G (2nd inversion). Still, the order of C and E in chord doesn't affect to chord name.

So there is no naming for it. As long as those specific notes are included it is that specific chord, just with a different voicing? :) Alright, makes things easier haha

Thank you for your answer

Originally Posted by: MeridirhHow do you seperate different chord voicings in chord names?
[/quote]

By the voicings which are determined by the bass note (or voice).

c-e-g with c as lowest is root position.

e-g-c with e as lowest is 1st inversion.

g-c-e with g as lowest is 2nd inversion.

If it's a 7th chord, there's one more available note, so you can get a 3rd inversion.

b-flat-c-e-g

See these tutorials.

https://www.guitartricks.com/instructor.php?input=155014#Triads_and_Inversions

Originally Posted by: Meridirh

The basic, iopen C Major chord that we are all taught is played like this:

[br]C - E - G - C - E

I know that this chord still contains the three basic triad notes C-E-G but there are two Cs and two Es which are both in different octaves.

Does this basically change the name of the chord to somehow distinguish it from a basic triad?

No, the lowest note is a C, ergo it's just a root position C major chord. Music notation is there to explicitly spell out all the notes you want the voicing to have. But regardless of how many doublings of notes there are it's just C major root position.

[quote=Meridirh]

& Is there something like a 3-ton-voicing and 4 or 5-tone-voicings? Does it actually matter if I have 10 notes played as long as it still contains the three basic three notes of the chord?

It matters that it will make a different sound. That's why it's important to have music notation & scoring. To specify the composer's intention.

But not regarding the naming of it. It's just a C major chord with however many various c, e & g notes you want to include.

The matter of lowest bass note alters which inversion it's called. But even when it's a different inversion, it's still just a C major chord.

Hope that helps!

Thank you for your explanation Christopher! :) That helps a lot and makes things easier for me to notate. Thanks!