Stacking 3rds into Chords/Keys ?

[Treyson]

Ok, I delved into theory finally and am learning about stacking chords/thirds. My curiosity is; do they work the same way in changing Keys?

Key of Emaj

E F# G# A B C# D# E
w w h w w w h

I chose a tough one and the more I think about it....?

Since 2, 3 & 6 are minors, would I drop the G (3rd of Emaj) down like this ?

Key of Gmaj

G A B C D E F# G
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1

G now being the one chord and so on

Thoughts, tips, ideas are welcome. Unless this is a bone-headed question. If so, I resemble the anticipated ad hominem remark😉

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by Treyson

Ok, I delved into theory finally and am learning about stacking chords/thirds. My curiosity is; do they work the same way in changing Keys?
Key of Emaj
E F# G# A B C# D# E
w w h w w w h
I chose a tough one and the more I think about it....?
Since 2, 3 & 6 are minors, would I drop the G (3rd of Emaj) down like this ?
Key of Gmaj
G A B C D E F# G
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1
G now being the one chord and so on
Thoughts, tips, ideas are welcome. Unless this is a bone-headed question. If so, I resemble the anticipated ad hominem remark😉

? What?
Also : "Since 2, 3 & 6 are minors" ? I guess by 2,3 &6 you mean the minor chords F#m, G#m, and C#m.

[Russ C]

Not sure if you're asking this but maybe ..

The order M m m M M m dim M is consistent for all Maj keys. Stacking your 3rds with the correct black notes will always result in that.

If youd like to clarify your question for me I'm happy to chime back in.

Russ

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by Treyson

Ok, I delved into theory finally and am learning about stacking chords/thirds. My curiosity is; do they work the same way in changing Keys?

Key of Emaj

E F# G# A B C# D# E
w w h w w w h

I chose a tough one and the more I think about it....?

Since 2, 3 & 6 are minors, would I drop the G (3rd of Emaj) down like this ?

Key of Gmaj

G A B C D E F# G
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1

G now being the one chord and so on

Thoughts, tips, ideas are welcome. Unless this is a bone-headed question. If so, I resemble the anticipated ad hominem remark😉

The formula is the same for each major key.

[Misifus]

A guy named Pebber Brown has a neat discussion of this on YouTube.

[Yendoggy]

Confusing question. Hard to talk theory online I’ve found.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Treyson

Ok, I delved into theory finally and am learning about stacking chords/thirds. My curiosity is; do they work the same way in changing Keys?

Key of Emaj

E F# G# A B C# D# E
w w h w w w h

I chose a tough one and the more I think about it....?

Since 2, 3 & 6 are minors, would I drop the G (3rd of Emaj) down like this ?

Key of Gmaj

G A B C D E F# G
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1

G now being the one chord and so on

Thoughts, tips, ideas are welcome. Unless this is a bone-headed question. If so, I resemble the anticipated ad hominem remark😉

The question is confusing because your links don't seem to be logical. I think you're confusing chord structure (stacking 3rds) with scale structure (whole and half steps).

Eg, "Since 2, 3 & 6 are minors, would I drop the G (3rd of Emaj) down like this?" - is a non-sequitur. Why would the fact that the ii, iii and vi chords in key are minor have any bearing on changing key by a minor 3rd upwards?

There is a certainly a relationship between the keys of E major and G major, it just has nothing to do with the chord types in the key.
E and G have a "chromatic mediant" relationship, or you could say it more wordily as "G major is the relative major of the parallel minor of E". Vice versa, E major is the parallel major of the relative minor of G.
IOW, the link between the keys is E major > E minor > G major.

[Big Band Guitar]

I have used the original one of these for years.

The only correction is the diminished 7th chord should be 1 b3 b5 bb7 not 1 b3 b5 6 even though it is the same note.

http://leewm.freeshell.org/origami/chord-ruler.pdf

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Big Band Guitar

I have used the original one of these for years.

The only correction is the diminished 7th chord should be 1 b3 b5 bb7 not 1 b3 b5 6 even though it is the same note.

True. It also seems to miss out the half-dim chord, m7b5, for some reason. (Obviously you can make one if you know the structure, but the chord structure list doesn't include it.)
The reason the dim7 calculation doesn't work (with correct enharmonics) is because the device doesn't allow for double flats - but it also doesn't allow for the enharmonics of B#, Cb, E# and Fb.
E.g. it looks like if you want to create a C# major chord, you'll end up with an F note when you need E#.

Obviously, as with Cdim7 with an A, it sounds the same, so would work in practice, but is not a great device if you want to understand music theory!

It would actually be quite easy to improve the device by giving every enharmonic option on the grey scale, as well as explaining that you need to count 3rds when building chords. That's why Cdim7 shouldn't have an A, because Gb-A is a 2nd, not a 3rd (and C-A is a 6th, not a 7th).
(In fact, I designed the same thing myself many years ago - including those improvements - although I never actually made it into a physical slide rule. Knowing the principles is enough for me. I'm sure most people who understand scales and chord structure can visualise the same thing without needing a physical object to manipulate.)

[Big Band Guitar]

Originally Posted by JonPR

True. It also seems to miss out the half-dim chord, m7b5, for some reason. (Obviously you can make one if you know the structure, but the chord structure list doesn't include it.)
The reason the dim7 calculation doesn't work (with correct enharmonics) is because the device doesn't allow for double flats - but it also doesn't allow for the enharmonics of B#, Cb, E# and Fb.
E.g. it looks like if you want to create a C# major chord, you'll end up with an F note when you need E#.

Obviously, as with Cdim7 with an A, it sounds the same, so would work in practice, but is not a great device if you want to understand music theory!

It would actually be quite easy to improve the device by giving every enharmonic option on the grey scale, as well as explaining that you need to count 3rds when building chords. That's why Cdim7 shouldn't have an A, because Gb-A is a 2nd, not a 3rd (and C-A is a 6th, not a 7th).
(In fact, I designed the same thing myself many years ago - including those improvements - although I never actually made it into a physical slide rule. Knowing the principles is enough for me. I'm sure most people who understand scales and chord structure can visualise the same thing without needing a physical object to manipulate.)

I use it as a supplement to chord theory. I know what a double flat and enharmonics are so I don't need the tool for that. If theory is known there are no errors in the slide rule only the diminished chord on the back.

[Treyson]

Sorry for the delay. Kidney stone had to be removed. Ouch! I thought the scale logic of using the 3rd would allow me to play in the same key family as a 2nd player somehow off of it without a capo.

I've confused myself now 🤔

Will keep learning !

[mstymnt]

I think your on the right track. Yes, the key of g has one sharp and that is F. Harmonizing the major scale is the same in any major key. 1,4,5 are major ,2,3,6 are minor, and the 7th is diminished. Diminished chord being a 1 ,flat3, flat5 played together. Major chord a 1,3,5 played together and a minorchord being a 1,flat3,5 played together.

[Yendoggy]

Get a teacher and discuss! [emoji13]