Scan 124
The American History and Encyclopedia of Music, 1908
29 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1chord
2Chords may be built on any degree of the scale. A chord having the first note of the scale as a root is called the tonic chord; one built on the second degree, the super-tonic chord; on the third degree, the mediant chord; on the fourth degree, the sub-dominant chord; on the fifth degree, the dominant chord; on the sixth degree, the sub-mediant chord; on the seventh degree, the sub-tonic chord. In theory these chords are represented as follows:
4Triads in Major
6C I ii iii IV V vi vii°
8Triads in Minor
10c i ii° III iv V VI vii°
12Chords of the Seventh in Major
14C I7 ii7 iii7 IV7 V7 vi7 vii7
16Chords of the Seventh in Minor
18c i7 ii7 III7 iv7 V7 VI7 vii7
20The Roman numerals indicate on what degree of the scale the respective chords have their roots, major scales being denoted by a capital letter (C), a minor scale by a small letter (c). The large Roman numerals (I, II, III) represent major triads, those consisting of the root with notes at an interval of a major third and a perfect fifth above it. Small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) represent minor triads, those consisting of the root and its minor third and perfect fifth. An accent (III') denotes an augmented triad, one with a major third and an augmented fifth; a small cipher (VII°), a diminished triad, one with a minor third and diminished fifth. A seven (I7) indicates a chord of the seventh.
22If the root, or tone upon which the chord is built, is the lowest tone in it, the chord is said to be in fundamental position; otherwise it is inverted. Every triad has two inversions; each chord of the seventh, three; the chords of the ninth, four; each note of the chord being the lowest note.
24(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i)
26In the first inversion of a triad the third is the lowest note, the root appearing a sixth above it, as in (a); hence in this position the triad is called the chord of the sixth. The second inversion of the triad, in which the fifth is the bass, is called the chord of the fourth and sixth (b). The first inversion of a seventh chord, the third being the bass, is known as the chord of the fifth and sixth (c); the second inversion, by which the fifth becomes the bass, is called the chord of the third, fourth, and sixth (d); the third inversion, with the seventh as the bass, is called the chord of the second, or of the second, fourth and sixth (e). For the inversion of a ninth chord see (f), (g), (h), (i). Inversions are not restricted to the same number of tones as the original chord, nor to any fixed order of tones except with regard to the interval between the root, or its octave, and the bass note, hence, great variety results; e.g., the first inversion of the C major triad may be written as follows:
28The system of writing Arabic numerals above the bass to indicate the other notes of the chord is called thorough bass figuring. The numbers have the following significance:
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