quote:

Originally posted by randomforumuser One more thing.. How or where do I find those I/i,ii/ii-dim,iii/III,IV/iv,V/v,vi/VI,vii-dim/VII chords for a specific key ? I mean.. If I build a chord on F, then it means that it's the I chord ?

As you saw, I already answered this above, but I'm going to use this thread as an opportunity to discuss another approach to naming and identifying the seven chords within a key by using modes. This might be a bit confusing at first because it's a different way of thinking of them, but it's actually the way I learned and it might make more sense to some people (hopefully without confusing anybody else).

The major and natural minor scales are each one of the seven "church modes". An easy way to begin to think of the modes is to think of each one as a scale built on each white note of the piano keyboard, each using only the white notes, as in:

Ionian: C D E F G A B C (aka "major")
Dorian: D E F G A B C D
Phrygian: E F G A B C D E
Lydian: F G A B C D E F
Mixolydian: G A B C D E F G
Aeolian: A B C D E F G A (aka "natural minor")
Locrian: B C D E F G A B

You can also think of each of the modes in terms of half-step and whole-steps, just like any other scale, and they can be transposed to any other key/scale. And, if you get in the habit of thinking of each mode as sharing the same notes as whatever key you are in, only starting on its respective note of that scale (e.g., Dorian being the scale that starts on the second note of whatever key you are in, or Mixolydian being the scale that starts on the fifth note, etc.), then you can think of each scale's chords as being the first, third, and fifth note of each mode. It may sound a bit confusing at first, but it becomes much more clear after you get used to it.

Now, as I described in my earlier post, the Roman numeral triads for each note of the scale were I = the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the root scale, ii = the 2nd, 4th, and 6th notes of the root scale, iii = the 3rd, 5th, and 7th notes, etc. Well, using the modes, you can think each Roman numeral chord as being the 1st, 3rd, and 5th note of each mode, as in the example shown above for each of the seven modes that can be built upon any key signature. Looking at it this way, the Roman numeral chords can be described as:

I = 1 3 5 of the Ionian mode (C E G)
ii = 1 3 5 of Dorian mode (D F A)
iii = 1 3 5 of Phrygian mode (E G B)
IV = 1 3 5 of Lydian mode (F A C)
V = 1 3 5 of Mixolydian mode (G B D)
vi = 1 3 5 of Aeolian mode (A C E)
vii = 1 3 5 of Locrian mode (B D F)

In other words, you end up with the same chords either way, but this is just another way to look at it. Where I think that this method offers an advantage (at least it did for me when I was first learning) is that it becomes easier to think methodologically when adding extensions. For example, adding a 7th or 6th extension to any chord is much easier IMO when you think of each chord as being built upon one of the modes within each key.

Again, it probably sounds more confusing than it actually is, until you get accustomed to thinking of it this way. If I completely confused you, or scared you away from theory, let me know and I'll try to straighten you out. Maybe another person (yeah, M4B, I'm looking at you) can offer a better/clearer explanation or perspective.

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Last edited by cryophonik on Mar-21-2011 at 16:22