Extended chord

For chains of secondary dominants, see Extended dominant.
Dominant thirteenth extended chord: C–E–G–B♭–D–F–A playⓘ. The upper structure or extensions, i.e. notes beyond the seventh, in red.
A thirteenth chord (E13) "collapsed" into one octave results in a dissonant, seemingly secundal[1] tone cluster. Playⓘ

In music, extended chords are certain chords (built from thirds) or triads with notes extended, or added, beyond the seventh. Ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords are extended chords.[2] The thirteenth is the farthest extension diatonically possible as, by that point, all seven tonal degrees are represented within the chord (the next extension, the fifteenth, is the same as the root of the chord). In practice however, extended chords do not typically use all the chord members; when it is not altered, the fifth is often omitted, as are notes between the seventh and the highest note (i.e., the ninth is often omitted in an eleventh chord; the ninth and eleventh are usually omitted in a thirteenth chord), unless they are altered to give a special texture.[3][4]

Chords extended beyond the seventh are rarely seen in the Baroque era, and are used more frequently in the Classical era. The Romantic era saw greatly increased use of extended harmony. Extended harmony prior to the 20th century usually has dominant function – as V9, V11, and V13, or V9/V, V13/ii etc.[5]

Examples of the extended chords used as tonic harmonies include Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music" (either a dominant ninth or dominant thirteenth).[6]

  1. ^ Cope, David (2000). New Directions in Music. p. 6. ISBN 1-57766-108-7.
  2. ^ Basic Music. Secretary of the Army. 1978.
  3. ^ Latarski, Don (1982). An Introduction to Chord Theory: A Practical, Step by Step Approach to the Fundamentals of Chord Construction, Analysis, and Function. Alfred Music. ISBN 978-1-4574-6317-4.
  4. ^ Schmidt-Jones, Catherine (2018-01-28). Understanding Basic Music Theory. 12th Media Services. ISBN 978-1-68092-154-0.
  5. ^ Sarath, Ed (2013-07-04). Music Theory Through Improvisation: A New Approach to Musicianship Training. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-21527-9.
  6. ^ Stephenson, Ken (2002). What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-300-09239-4.