User Guide - Chord Families

The Chord Families web app shows the diatonic chords in a selected key.

Usage

Select a Key.

The seven common 'diatonic' chords for this key are displayed, along with their 'Roman Numeral'.

 

Family Options

Family Layout

Choose from four different views of the family:  Ascending, Chord Function,  Turnaround, or Circle of Fifths.

Chord Family Views

Roman Numerals

In Roman Numeral Analysis, each of the diatonic chords in a key is assigned a number, I thru VII.  There are no standardized rules for Roman Numeral notation, so many different forms have evolved.  We divide them into three main categories:  Classic (which may be most familiar), Nashville Numbers (which may have the greatest name-recognition), and Modern 'Berklee' Roman Numerals.

• Classic - Major chords are represented with Uppercase Roman Numerals; Minor and Dimished chords with Lowercase.
• Nashville - a simplified system; often Arabic Numerals are used instead of Roman Numerals.
• Berklee - Only Uppercase Roman Numerals are used; Minor chords are represented with an 'm' suffix.  'Flat' accidentals are used so that all 12 root notes can be represented: I, ♭II, ♭III, III, IV, ♭V, V, ♭VI, VI, ♭VII, and VII.  This system is more flexible, as it allows for representing non-diatonic chords (chords outside the key).

See our  Roman Numeral page, in this Guide.

 Harmony Options

Minor Key Harmony

There are two systems to describe the two main ways that composers create harmonies in a piece of music:  Tonal Harmony and Modal Harmony.  Some genres and songs tend more toward one than the other, but there is often overlap, too. 

• Tonal - Specific notes (in particular, the 'leading tone' - the tone 1 half-step below the Tonic) are added to some chords to create 'better' resolution from Dominant to Tonic chords.
• Modal - embraces the 'creepy' feeling of the Minor scale.

See Minor Keys in our Theory section, below.

Use Sevenths

Popular music often uses a Dominant Seventh chord for the V of the key, to provide more tension, and thus a more satisfying resoltion back the the Tonic (I) chord.  In Jazz, almost all chords are played as Dominant Sevenths, or Extended Chords.  There are, of course, several 'degrees of jazziness' used in different genres and different songs, and we provide six different levels.

Instrument Options

 Tuning

• The most common tuning for ukulele is known as C6 tuning (since the open strings form a C6 chord); you'll see it represented as 'gcea tuning'.  This is the iconic 'my dog has fleas' re-entrant tuning that gives the ukulele its unique sound.  Some players prefer to tune the G string an octave lower.  (A different string is used, with more mass.)  'Low G' tuning can be represented as 'Gcea', with the capital G representing the lower octave.
• In England and Canada, the ukulele is usually tuned a Whole-Step higher, resulting in D6 tuning (a d f# b).  For players that prefer linear tuning (rather than reentrant) a thicker A string is used, and tuned an octave lower (Low-A tuning, A d f# b).
• The 'Low A' tuning is sometimes referred to as 'Canadian tuning', while the 'High A' is associated with 'English tuning'.
• Baritone ukuleles are normally tuned 'DGBe', just like the 4 highest-pitched strings of a guitar.  For players that prefer reentrant tuning (instead of 'linear' tuning), the D string can be tuned an octave lower.  (A different string is used.)  This 'High D' tuning is sometimes shown as 'dGBe')

Chart Style

• Realistic Grid - Mathematically correct ratios are used to mimic an actual fretboard.
• Classic Grid - This is the standard rectangular representation of the fretboard.

Fret Markers

Fret markers can be shown on the chord diagrams, if you like them.

A note about Helmholtz Pitch Notation as used to describe ukulele tunings:

• Hermann von Helmholtz created a system of pitch notation in the mid-1800s;  see his classic book On the Sensations of Tone
• Since most of the pitches on the ukulele would require a 'prime' suffix (') to each note to get the correct octave, the Helmholtz pitches are 'transposed' down an octave for better readability.  (The actual Helmhotz Pitch Notation for Low G tuning would be g c' e' a'.)  This means that, for Helmholtz notation purposes, ukulele is considered to be a 'transposing instrument'.  (Note - this does NOT apply to Baritone tuning!)
• To explore Helmholtz notation further, play around with our Chord Finder page, and note the Helmholtz pitch perspective.

Notenames options

• Simplify Enharmonics - In keys with many flats (Key of E♭m, for example), some chords may end up with 'weird' note-names, like C♭.  In keys with many sharps (Key of A#m, etc), particularly when using the Tonal (Harmonic Minor) system, some chords may end up with double-sharp notes.  By default, we use the correct Enharmonic names.  Some people prefer not to see note-names with double-sharps (𝄪), double-flats (𝄫), or notes like C♭, F♭,B#, and E#.  In this case, use Simplify Enharmonics to translate to the same notes with 'easier' names.
• Allow double-sharp chord roots - While some keys may require the use of double-sharps (𝄪) and double-flats (𝄫) to represent notes properly, this is practically never applied to Chord Names.  By convention, if a Harmonic Minor adjustment to an F# chord results in an F𝄪 diminished chord, it is translated to G diminished.  (You can override the standard convention by checking this Allow double-sharp chord roots box.)
• Naming System - in different parts of the world, note-names are referred to differently.

Theory

Diatonic chords are chords made up of notes within the key's scale.  Since there are seven notes in the scale; each note can be the root of a diatonic chord.  So, there are generally seven diatonic chords in each key.  Each of the seven chords can be a major, minor, or diminished triad; or, if desired, each can have an added 'seventh' chord-factor.  

Note that non-diatonic chords are also used in many songs - most often by 'borrowing' chords from related keys.

Major Keys:

• V: The V is commonly played as a 'dominant seventh' chord  (containing the first, third, fifth, and seventh notes as counted on the key's scale from the root of the chord), and is notated in Roman Numerals as V7.

• viiø: The 'seven' chord (vii), based on the seventh note of the key's scale, is a diminished triad.    The diatonic 'seventh' chord of a diminished triad is known as a 'half-diminished' chord, or 'half-diminished-seventh', and also goes by the name of 'minor seven, flat five'.  It can be notated as ø, ø7, or m7♭5. 
  For our Chord Family purposes,  we'll voice the vii chord as a 'half-diminished' chord.  (The added 'seventh' note contributes to the 'dominant' quality of the chord, and the half-diminished shapes are generally easier to form on a ukulele anyway.) 

Minor Keys:

Chord progressions in minor keys can be handled in several different ways.  The simplest is the 'natural minor' (also known as Aeolian Mode.)  More commonly, a combination of the 'natural minor' and 'harmonic minor' scales is used; this is known as 'Tonal' music.

Aeolian :

• ii: The 'ii' chord is a diminished triad.  If the seventh tone (counted from the chord root) is added, it becomes a 'half-diminished-seventh' (notated as ø, ø7, or m7♭5).  The added 'seventh' note contributes to the 'dominant' quality of the chord.  The half-diminished shapes are generally easier to play on a ukulele than the plain diminished triad.

• v: In Aeolian Mode, the v is usually NOT played as a 'seventh' chord.  It doesn't perform the same 'dominant' role as the V7 in a major key. 

Tonal :

For 'tonal' minors, additional notes are added to the notes of the natural minor scale.  The main added note is the raised seventh.  (The natural minor scale contains only a 'minor seventh' interval from the root.)

• V: In the harmonic minor, the RAISED 7th degree of the scale is used to transform the minor v chord to a major V chord.   The V chord includes this 'leading tone' (the raised seventh) of the scale the chord , perform the same 'dominant' role as the V7 in a major key.  This is  is usually played as a 'seventh' chord, for added tension.

• ii: same as in Aeolian Mode.

• III: Note that the third of the the III chord is the seventh tone of the natural minor scale.  Since the function of the II chord is a weak Tonic (not a Dominant), the 'normal' minor seventh tone of the natural minor scale is kept, and the raised seventh of the harmonic minor scale is NOT substitituted here! 

• VII: When the raised seventh of the harmonic minor scale is added to the vii chord (as the root of the chord), it becomes chord becomes a diminished seventh chord based on the raised seventh of the scale.