[georgeo]

I never got to this in my music theory class this semester, so I want to open it up to all you theory dorks out there. (I mean dork in the nicest way possible, I hope to be able to call myself a theory dork one day as well)


Why is the 7th in 9 and 11 chords always implied?
ie, D11 would imply that there is both the 7 and the 11 in the chord. What exactly does that mean, why do we accept that as the correct thing, and what are some applications and voicings of it(voicing for guitar and piano, I like both )

Thanks a bunch,
David

[Jay Tea]

I believe it's b/c you continue to stack thirds. So, actually, the 11 implies the 7 and the 9.

[Xkcer Man]

The 7th is the glue that holds tall chords (9, 11, 13) together. Without it, the sound of the chord changes dramatically, so the notes beyond root, 3rd, and 5th are called added notes. Instead of C9, you have Cadd2. If you were to have G B D F A E, it would be G13, but if you remove F (the 7th), it would be G6/9.

Make sense?

[R2D2]

Look at it this way: the most important note of any triad is the 3rd. The most of important two notes of any 7th chord is the 3rd and the 7th. The most important three notes of any extended chord (i.e. 9th, 11th or 13th) is the 3rd, 7th and the extended note (the 9th, 11th or 13th).

These are the notes that give a chord it's particular sound. Chords without 3rds sound empty; extended chords without the 7th are also not as full-sounding as they would be with the 7th.

That said, it's perfectly ok to add just the 9th, 11th or 13th - it's just notated and used differently (i.e. Cadd9, Cadd11, or C6).

[georgeo]

Cool. I dig it.

[Shredcheddar]

Plus, imagine notating all the notes that would be implied.

add7add9add11.

No thanks.