To this point in the course, we have only studied harmony based on triads and seventh chords, but as we have shown in the units covering chromaticism, triads and seventh chords are simply a result created by the underlying voice leading that makes tonality work. Because of this, it is possible to have extensions beyond seventh chords that function as chord tones. Analyze the following excerpt from the famous tune The Girl from Ipanema composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim. Label each chord with leadsheet symbols and Roman numerals with inversion figures as well as all non-chord tones. (Note that measure 6 is particularly tricky if you have never seen a tri-tone substitution in jazz. For that measure, you may want to consider the melody separately and change one pitch of the chorale chord to create an augmented sixth chord.)
How did you deal with the first measure of this tune? It is clearly an Fmaj7 chord, but the melody starts prominently on the ninth of the chord, and that G cannot be labeled as any kind of non-chord tone.
The first measure of The Girl from Ipanema is a perfect example of functional extended harmonies and should help you begin creating a decision tree to determine whether a tone is a non-chord tone or a functional extension. Because the position of the G in the measure, it does not fit the standard non-chord tone patterns that we established early in the course. As you look at it further, it should be clear that this G is functional–it is critical to the texture and structure of this chord–so we must consider it a chord tone, making this harmony an Fmaj9 chord.
As we have discussed repeatedly in this course, harmonic analysis is the art of determining which pitches are functional to the harmony and which pitches are embellishment. As we move into an expanded view of tonal harmony, it is imperative that you are extremely familiar with the details of non-chord tones in Unit 9a, because these shapes will provide a foundation to help you begin determining what is functional. Simply put, if you cannot label a pitch as one of the possible non-chord tone shapes, then it is most likely a functioning chord tone. If there are more than four pitches for a given harmony that fall into this category, it means that you must consider the concept of extended tertian harmonies such as ninth chords.
Before you go further, you may wish to refresh yourself on the Roman numeral labeling conventions outlines in Unit 6a. In particular, the section that discusses the terms add and sub are important to our labeling of extended tertian harmonies.
While most musicians have at least a passing familiarity with extended tertian harmonies in jazz and pop, they exist in all styles of tonal harmony. Analyze the following examples by labeling all chords with Roman numerals, inversion figures, and non-chord tones. After you attempt your analyses, read the commentary below each example.
In this excerpt (D.420 no. 2), the melody in the first measure arpeggiates a B minor triad, but this is superimposed over an obvious E7 in the left hand. My first instinct is to try to eliminate either the E (to create a G# diminished seventh chord), or eliminate the F# (to leave the E7). Both would be functionally sound acting as a dominant function in the key, however, both the E and F# are in prominent positions – the E is present throughout the measure, and the F# is not only the high point of the measure, but it is approached and left by a leap. Because both pitches are functional to the harmony, this is an obvious example of a ninth chord.
Label the harmony as V9. There are other systems for labeling extended harmonies using Roman numerals. For example, some systems insist that you should either include a 7 below the 9 for the inversion figure, but I feel this is redundant if you are making proper use of the add and sub labels. Any inversion figure that has a single number–e.g. V9–includes all thirds below it. In the same way that 7 is shorthand for for 7/5/3, 9 is shorthand for 9/7/5/3. Of note, if this chord did not have a chordal seventh, I would label it as Vadd9, which denotes a major triad with an added ninth (and no seventh).
This piece is written for piano, but I separated the right hand into two voices to highlight the possibility of a ninth. You can make many of the same arguments for this excerpt as we did in the first: the ninth above this E7 in measures 1, 3, and 5 is in a prominent position and present throughout the measure. The difference is its melodic role. This ninth can easily be explained as an accented neighbor tone. You must decide when listening to this piece if you hear this F as functional or embellishing. I hear it as an embellishment rather than a functioning chord tone.
This final excerpt is similar to the first excerpt in that chord in measures 1 and 5 emphasizes the root of the V chord (the A) by placing it alone in the left hand on the downbeat, but clearly stacks a viio7 on the second and third eighth notes of the measure. It would be possible to consider the A as a pedal tone throughout the first eight measures and only analyze this measure as a viio7, but when I listen to it, the A is in too prominent a position and I hear it as defining the function of the chord. Because of this, I would label both of the measures a V9 chords.