Common Tone Chords.
Triads in C Major - Exercise.
Remember to make sure that you set your metronome at 60-70bpm to practice the exercises below. As you get better with changing each chord clearly in rhythm, slowly increase the tempo until you can play them cleanly and correctly at up to 90-120bpm.
Triads.
For the following exercises, we will be using the seven notes in the key of C Major to build the seven triad chords in that key:
C, D, E, F, G, A and B.
In the diagram below, you can see how each of the seven triad chords in the key of C Major are built from the notes in the key. There are three major chords: C, F and G. There are three minor chords: Dm, Em and Am. There is one diminished chord: B°.
Common Tone Chords.
Common tones are notes that are common between two or more chords. Each of the the chord-sets in the diagram below, all have at least one or two common tone notes.
For example: The C chord has two common tone notes with the Em chord. Those notes are “E and G”. The Em chord has two common tone notes with the G chord. Those notes are “G and B”. All three chords in this set have one common tone note - “G”.
If you study each of the seven sets of three chords, you will notice the exact same pattern, but with different notes from the key of C major. Each three chord set will have one or two common tone notes.
Chord Shapes.
Here are the shapes for all seven of the triad chords in the key of C Major including the tablature versions of each chords in the first position. Play through each chord to get familiar with each shape and name of the chord.
Easy Exercise.
Below is an easy exercise that uses all of the seven chords listed above. Listen to each of the three chord combination, and try to hear the common tones for each of the chords.
Why do you need to know this?
The main purpose for this exercise is ear training. When you play the chords in the above combinations, you can hear how well they blend together. This is what makes it very easy to find melodies in chord progressions. This is what you can use to create your own songs and how to figure out the chords in your favorite songs without using the aid of the internet. Think “Old school!”
I hope that you now have a better understanding of common tones in chords and how to use them for figuring out songs and how to write your own songs and create melodies.
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Dave