Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Omitting the 5th?

devils4ever-

No problem. I didn't mean to sound so snotty in my reply (well, ok, maybe a little) and I appreciate you taking the time to clear up the misunderstanding. And it does appear that this subject has been thoroughly treated now, and I'm grateful for all the help I receive on this forum.

Following up on what Whiting said, if you're going to leave out a note of a 7th chord, it should be the fifth. You need the root note, as that is the basis for the chord. You need the third, because that helps determine the quality of the chord, like major or minor. You need the 7th, obviously, to make a 7th chord. So, the fifth is the most expendable, so to speak.

I might get excoriated for this, but a good book for learning some basic chord theory, and how to play them in popular music (e.g., from fake books), is How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons by Norman Monath. It teaches you how to form major, minor, diminished, augmented, 7ths, etc., and how to invert them for ease of playing and for more open voicing.

Markb,
I won't excoriate you for recommending Monath's book as long as you don't excoriate me for recommending "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory." My instructor recommended it as a basic introduction to music theory. I've found it to be quite helpful. I looked at the table of contents for Monath's book and I've already covered most of that stuff. But it does look like a good resource.

Whiting, I have The Complete Idiot's Guide... too, as well as How to play the piano despite years of lessons. It's more advanced that Monath's book but might be another good resource.