KS3 jazz chords - how major and minor chords are written

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Music Quiz - Jazz Chords 01 (Questions)

Do you know your chords? Well, if you are studying KS3 music then you'll have to get to know them. One group of chords you may look at is the one used in jazz and this quiz will help you to learn them.

Both major and minor chords are used in Jazz. Performers will express chords in their own way, for example, a G chord may be played as a G7. In jazz, musicians often add a seventh, a ninth, an eleventh or even a thirteenth to a chord to get that distinctive 'jazz sound'.

"If you want to make beautiful music, you must play the black and the white notes together," according to Richard M. Nixon. That's certainly true in jazz music - notes are seemingly added willy-nilly!

See how much you know about jazz chords in the following quiz which focuses on the use of chord numeral/symbols in jazz.

What primary use do chord symbols serve in jazz?

[ ]	They are just for show and don't tell us much
[ ]	They tell us how loud to play different chords
[ ]	A shorthand way of writing what chord to play
[ ]	None of the above

What does the numeral 'I' stand for?

[ ]	Dominant chord - 5^th degree of the scale
[ ]	Tonic - home key/chord
[ ]	Subdominant chord - 4^th degree of the scale
[ ]	None of the above

What does the chord symbol Cmaj7 mean?

[ ]	Don't play the chord of C major or minor
[ ]	Play the chord of C major with a flattened 7th
[ ]	Play the chord of C major with a major 7th note
[ ]	Play the chord of C minor with a major 7th note

What does the numeral 'V' stand for?

[ ]	Tonic
[ ]	Dominant
[ ]	Supertonic
[ ]	All of the above

A movement from I - V is a movement from .......

[ ]	tonic to dominant
[ ]	dominant to tonic
[ ]	tonic to supertonic
[ ]	None of the above

What does the numeral 'IV' stand for?

[ ]	Dominant
[ ]	Mediant
[ ]	Subdominant
[ ]	Tonic

What does Dm7 mean?

[ ]	A major chord with a flattened 5th in D
[ ]	A major chord with a flattened 7th in D
[ ]	A minor chord with a sharpened 7th in D
[ ]	A minor chord with flattened 7th in the key of D

A movement from I - IV is a movement from .......

[ ]	dominant to subdominant
[ ]	dominant to tonic
[ ]	tonic to dominant
[ ]	tonic to subdominant

What does the symbol C6 stand for?

[ ]	A major triad with an added 6th degree note in A
[ ]	A major triad with an added 6th degree note in C
[ ]	A minor triad with an added 6th degree note in A
[ ]	A minor triad with an added 6th degree note in C

10.

A movement from IV - III is a movement from .......

[ ]	dominant to mediant
[ ]	subdominant to mediant
[ ]	subdominant to supertonic
[ ]	tonic to dominant

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Music

Music Quiz - Jazz Chords 01 (Answers)

What primary use do chord symbols serve in jazz?

[ ]	They are just for show and don't tell us much
[ ]	They tell us how loud to play different chords
[x]	A shorthand way of writing what chord to play
[ ]	None of the above

Many jazz musicians don't use sheet music, but instead jot down chord symbols for different bars

What does the numeral 'I' stand for?

[ ]	Dominant chord - 5^th degree of the scale
[x]	Tonic - home key/chord
[ ]	Subdominant chord - 4^th degree of the scale
[ ]	None of the above

The tonic is the first note of any scale. If the key is C major, then C is the tonic

What does the chord symbol Cmaj7 mean?

[ ]	Don't play the chord of C major or minor
[ ]	Play the chord of C major with a flattened 7th
[x]	Play the chord of C major with a major 7th note
[ ]	Play the chord of C minor with a major 7th note

The C7 symbol requires a flattened 7th degree note

What does the numeral 'V' stand for?

[ ]	Tonic
[x]	Dominant
[ ]	Supertonic
[ ]	All of the above

The 5th degree of the diatonic scale

A movement from I - V is a movement from .......

[x]	tonic to dominant
[ ]	dominant to tonic
[ ]	tonic to supertonic
[ ]	None of the above

'I' is tonic and 'V' is dominant

What does the numeral 'IV' stand for?

[ ]	Dominant
[ ]	Mediant
[x]	Subdominant
[ ]	Tonic

The 4th degree of the diatonic scale

What does Dm7 mean?

[ ]	A major chord with a flattened 5th in D
[ ]	A major chord with a flattened 7th in D
[ ]	A minor chord with a sharpened 7th in D
[x]	A minor chord with flattened 7th in the key of D

Dm7 = D minor 7th

A movement from I - IV is a movement from .......

[ ]	dominant to subdominant
[ ]	dominant to tonic
[ ]	tonic to dominant
[x]	tonic to subdominant

'I' is tonic, 'IV' is subdominant

What does the symbol C6 stand for?

[ ]	A major triad with an added 6th degree note in A
[x]	A major triad with an added 6th degree note in C
[ ]	A minor triad with an added 6th degree note in A
[ ]	A minor triad with an added 6th degree note in C

C6 is made up of the notes C, E, G, and the added major sixth A

10.

A movement from IV - III is a movement from .......

[ ]	dominant to mediant
[x]	subdominant to mediant
[ ]	subdominant to supertonic
[ ]	tonic to dominant

'IV' is subdominant and 'III' is mediant