Tertian, Secundal, Quartal, Power, Added and Extended Chords

Chords in music are varied and numerous. This has lead to them being classified for
easier study based on certain peculiarities of their constituent intervals.

(Intervals in music. U = tonic note, equivalent to the root note of chords)

Certain terms among them warrant attention:

Tertian Chords: A chord that can be broken down into a sequence of thirds (major
third (M3) or minor third (m3) intervals) is called a tertian chord.

Common chords such as C major (composed of the notes C-E-G) are tertian because the
notes constitute such a sequence of intervals of thirds : C-E is a M3 and E-G is a m3
interval. Again C-Eb-G (C-Eb is m3 and Eb-G is M3).

Other tertian chords include majors, minors, augmented, diminished, flat5, major7,
minor7, dominant7, diminished7, half-diminished7, etc chords.

Again, chords that are not built this way are called non-tertian chords.

Secundal Chords: Secundal chords are, likewise, built up of a series of second

intervals (m2 and M2) - e.g. C-D-Eb (C-D is M2 and D-Eb is m2); C-C#-D# (C-C# is
m2 and C#-D# is M2); C-C#-D (C-C# and C#-D are both m2); C-D-E (C-D is M2 and
D-E is again M2). These chords tend to be quite dissonant.

Quartal Chords: Quartal chords are those that are made up of a series of fourths
(perfect fourths or augmented fourths) - e.g. C-F-B (C-F is P4 and F-B is TT); C-F#-B
(C-F# is TT and F#-B is P4).

Added Chords: Added chords are non-tertian chords composed of a tertian triad and
an added note. The chord is non-tertian due to the addition of this "added" note though
it contains a tertian triad - i.e. it can not be fully decomposed into a series of thirds. This
property excludes chords like the seventh chords. These are decomposable into a
sequence of three thirds from the root note. The added sixth (add6 or 6), minor 6th
(m6), augmented sixth, fourth (add4 or 4), M7#11, added thirteenth (add13 or 13), etc
are examples of added chords. The chords that are decomposable into a sequence of
thirds are not called added chords.

Extended Chords: Extended chords are tertian chords or triads with notes that extend,
or contain added notes, beyond the seventh, i.e. from an octave beyond the one in which
the root note resides. The ninth (9 or add9), eleventh (11 or add11), and thirteenth (13
or add13) chords are extended chords.

The 5ths and Power Chords: The term "power chord" is a misnomer. It is merely a

1
musical interval - i.e., two notes sounded together. It is composed of the root note + the
perfect 5th notes of any scale. Often noted as A5, B5, E5, etc., this "chord" is supposed
to be played on two strings - preferably the bass strings, though it is commonly played
as a "1-5-1" (root+5th+root). Power chords are primarily for basses. They are
colloquially referred to a the "fifth chord" (note : not "add 5th"). ") The notation is often
mistaken to another chord - the "added 5th" chord, meant to be a chord produced by
playing the major or minor triad and the perfect 5th (again). This too is a misnomer.
Duplicating a note (sounded more than once) doesn't mean that the chord structure
would change. The name of the chord to which this 5th is added, thus, remains
unaltered despite of this addition. In a guitar, we play many "major" chords using more
than three strings, but the chord is still a major chord as the duplicate notes do not count
when it comes to naming a chord. These "add 5" chords that are commonly used really
are the plain and simple major or minor triads that they add to. But, in certain non-
tertian chords (above), the diminished chord, augmented chord, etc. that lack a perfect
5th note anyway, a concept of "add 5" makes sense again. These may not sound pretty,
but they do exist. Finally an added 5th interval may be sharp ("add #5" or "augmented
5th") or flat ("add b5" or "-5" or "diminished 5th"). These are different form the rest and
commonly occur in jazz. The #5 chord is played as by adding an augmented 5th interval
to the base chord, while the -5 chord adds a diminished 5th.