How do I play this chord?

[CowboyNQ]

"the natural 5th (F) will clash very badly with the #5 (F#) in the melody" - That's what you'd think but...

Not so much what I'd think. What Ray heard when he tried it. Which is why the chart is notated the way it is.

I'm certainly not suggesting you can't strike notes a semitone apart - otherwise Maj7 chords wouldn't exist. It's all about context.

 

[GeraldR]

I'm certainly not suggesting you can't strike notes a semitone apart - otherwise Maj7 chords wouldn't exist. It's all about context.

In the key of C, I use rising and falling F#, rising Eb, and rising Ab to death in blues numbers (I heard Randy Bachman explain this clumsily as minor melody over major harmony) but take a look at bar 4 in the 'Moonlight' which just punches the off note.

 

[Rich B.]

Some of this is a little off topic...but relevant.

I'm a fanatic for songs from this era and have a stack of oldies fake books to prove it. For this chord, in this song, on the Tyros5 with auto-accomp on, I play Bb9#5 as Bb, C, D, F# (fingered in that order below the split point) and it sounds like what I believe the songwriter intended. "I'll Be Seeing You" has some cool chord changes that at first glance look challenging, like the Bb7 to Gm7b5 in the next line, but once played add a pleasing dynamic to the song.

With that said, it is not sacrilege to try your own version of a chord if it is easier (one, two or three finger), or sounds better to you. Many times I'll add a note to a chord, like in a 4/4 measure I'll play the third and forth beats making slight changes just to add a little interest to the chord. Lots of chords are also closely related such as C6 and Am. These are sometimes interchangeable and doing so can add a bit of personalization to your playing style.

When I was a kid learning chords, most chord fingering was spaced out. When I started to learn and play the crowded finger chords I realized that I was missing out on a whole new world of sound. They felt awkward at first but I quickly tried to see how I could use these throughout my playing. The result has been rewarding.

What I am trying to say is that you don't have to be conformed...unless you want to. Try different chord variations and incorporating chords that step up...or step down to other chords. The songs in my fake books are all pencil marked with chords I've modified, added, or changes I've introduced during play. Above all....let your playing be fun!

 

[CowboyNQ]

it is not sacrilege to try your own version of a chord if it is easier (one, two or three finger), or sounds better to you.

I doubt many would argue with this.

The point of this discussion, however, is that Ray’s Bb major substitution did NOT sound good to his ear. Which is why he reached out for assistance.

I’m a massive believer in “do what works for you”. But it has to work for you.

 

[Old Master Tech]

Amen to comments regarding freedom...
I would look for moving notes within the chord sequence to help determine the inversion I want to use. At first glance, if looking for discordant note movement that quickly resolves, I would consider F-Ab-C-F# or some other variation (maybe add a "D"?) that follows the chord sequence. "Bad" sound may sometimes be purposeful to accent the chord resolution. That particular inversion spreads the clashing notes (F & F#). Hope that helps

 

[Rich B.]

Threads like this certainly show us all that our music is not just playing the notes on a page. Our keyboards allow us the individual freedom to drive down the road of music expression at any speed we want, no license necessary.

 

[mjmmlm]

I have a psr-s750. The thing that is frustrating, is that when I play the Bb9#5 using a fingering of Bb-C-D-F#, (with auto accompaniment on) the keyboard recognizes it as a D7aug5 chord. The notes are the same in both chords, but the bass note will be different. So, instead of getting a Bb in the bass, it plays a D note. The song calls for a Bb. I've tried every inversion, same result. The only work around I found, is to just play a Bbaug, but don't play the C (9th). Don't know why Yamaha doesn't fix that issue, but I still enjoy playing my keyboard.

 

[Rich B.]

This may not be relevant, but worth noting: I don't know how the PSR's handle "chord fingering" to detect how a chord is played when Auto-accomp is on, but, on the Tyros 5 this feature is customizable to provide different results when different chord fingering is detected left of the split point. Rather than me explain further, go to this link and see if it makes any sense to you with your PSR.

A guide to fingering styles on Yamaha Tyros 5 | ePianos

Digital piano & keyboard specialists. Yamaha, Korg + more in our new & used ranges. Banbury, Oxfordshire showroom. 5 star Feefo rating. Upgrade/part-exchange.

www.epianos.co.uk

Hope this helps.

 

[GeraldR]

Not so much what I'd think. What Ray heard when he tried it. Which is why the chart is notated the way it is.

I'm certainly not suggesting you can't strike notes a semitone apart - otherwise Maj7 chords wouldn't exist. It's all about context.

I'm thinking we should start a thread 'it was in the wrong place but it was the right time' or some such. I have a chord I use that is basically Fm7(from F4 up) over C#2,3. Having played fretless bass, I know that there are more tuneful notes than can't be found on a 12 note scale and we hear low notes differently than high notes. But here's one little snippet of Beethoven: the melody line over Em chord is C then Bb resolving to B over B chord and he liked it so much he did it twice. Just the other day I watched video of a van Halen guitar solo where he slid seamlessly into a whole passage of bent strings that was somewhere between the keys - genius; one problem with keys is you're inclined to play melody and harmony at the same time so unless you've got separate keyboards and a pitch pedal you can never pull that off.