Music Composition DUMmIES

Sometimes figuring out what to call a particular chord can be a challenge

when working in the atonal realm because often a single combination of

notes played together can have more than one possible chord name. For

instance, there are really only three separate combinations of four pitches

required to form all twelve diminished chords. The pitches in a C diminished

chord are the same as the pitches in the E flat (D sharp), F sharp (G flat), and

A diminished chords. They are just different inversions (Figure 13-6).

If you need to write down chord charts for atonal compositions, you should

try to determine if you are in the neighborhood of some tonal movement that

might suggest what to call the chord. Remember that purely atonal music is

rare, and often resolves into tonality from time to time. You could also use

the bass note being played at that moment (if there is one) as a root for

naming your chord. Or you can determine which chord name makes the most

sense in terms of movement between the chord before and the chord after

the chord in question. You could also just pick what seems to be the simplest

name for it. This is especially useful when writing chord charts out for gui-

tarists, since they can rarely play all of the pitches within a complex chord

anyway and usually end up playing a portion of these chords that might have

a simpler name.

Listening for atonality .......................................................................

Some composers can hear atonal melodies in their heads just as easily as they

can hear tonal ones. This kind of musical imagination is somewhat rare, but if

you have it, great! Don’t be afraid to get it down somehow. Write it, record it,

seal it in a jar. If you think it sounds good and you can communicate it so that

others can eventually hear it, it may have a place in the world — no matter

how weird it may seem to your relatives.

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Eb7dim

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A 7dim

Figure 13-6:

Shared

notes in C, E

flat, F sharp,

and A

diminished

chords —

same notes,

different

inversions.

158 Part III: Harmony and Structure