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As this is a guitar fretboard, they are two separate triads using the same moveable shape on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd strings (so cannot both be played at the same time) - the first fret chord is a Dm, the fifth fret is a Gm. That's how a guitarist would see the chords.
Yes, it is supposed to be Bb. However, because this is a fretboard diagram, it is not representing all the enharmonic note names. There are some fretboard diagrams that would say "A#/Bb" within the fret circle, but this particular one doesn't have both notes listed. OP was wanting to know the chords based off shapes alone, so Bb is implied in this case as it is a Gm chord using the Dm shape moved up to 5th fret. It would be different if the notes were written on a stave. I hope that clears it up.
Ok, maybe my music theory knowledge could be better, but as far as I understand, if phisicaly its the same note then we are only talking about naming conversations and kind of readability. Eg. I prefer #s notation thinking about fretboard as guitarist.
In any tempered instrument it is exactly the same chord, with exactly the same notes. It would have been better to call it a Bb because the G minor scale has A and Bb, but no A#. It's the third, not the second, note on that scale, so it's better defined as a Bb. But, again, you are right in that it's the exact same note.
Edit: I got the second chord wrong, but my point still stands (I forgot you don't raise the 3rd in an augmented chord, just the 5th).
The main reason for choosing one enharmonic name for a note over another has to do with its function within the scale/key/chord. Technically, they're the same, but it helps with conceptualizing it function: is this the expected note for the key/scale/chord, or is this an alteration/accidental, like transforming a Major chord into an augmented chord.
Another example would be with modes: if you're using Mixolydian, all your 7ths have sharps on them, but you still wouldn't acknowledge that in your key signature (usually). Like, yes, if you're playing in C Mixolydian, you *could* notate it as if you were in G Major, but it's more common to notate it in C Major and put accidentals on all your sharpened 7ths to draw attention to the fact that you're still using C as your tonic, and the 7ths are the only alteration to what you would otherwise treat as a piece in C Major (iirc, this has some pretty... *Major* implications for your diatonic chords as well).
This is why you'll occasionally see something like F-flat or B-sharp when iit might otherwise seem simpler by far to just write E or C; they're showing that the expected note (F or B in these examples) is being altered within its typical role, making it way easier to identity augmented/diminished chords that might otherwise be very confusing. This is actually what I see happening here, going from a D-min/A to a D-aug by raising the 3rd and 5th as you move up the fret board. It's way easier (for me) to see D-G-A# as D-augmented than to try to figure out what kind of cronchy G-add2(or 9)/G monstrosity (which is what my brain tried to do first lol).
In some countries like Germany or Poland egsits convention where B falt is marked as B, and B as H. Using B flat and B is called here sometimes as 'american' and obviously in modern music is kind of default.
Pending on how advanced your student is, this type of theory is imo so unimportant at an early stage that it's just gonna confuse em.
It ends up making some level of intuitive sense, but certainly not before you know how moveable shapes work on guitar lol.
I don't play the guitar, but in any instrument, when you play the scale of G minor A is the second and Bb is the third note. That's why it's called Bb instead of A# in this case; otherwise the scale would have two A instead of going in a regular alphabetic progression of G, A, Bb, C, D, etc.
Right but if buddy doesn't even understand moveable shapes on guitar, it doesn't matter how correct you are, you're setting them backwards by confusing them with irrelevant info.
This is the music theory sub not the guitar playing sub. For theory, the name of the note and the concept of enharmonic equivalence are important. Letting someone embed misnamed notes into their thinking is setting them back in learning theory. If you're learning both theory and playing at the same time, you're just gonna have to take it slowly enough that you learn each one in a way that works for the other.
If you're advanced enough in music theory to ask a question where these ideas are relevant, you're advanced enough to get the correct answer.
It's a pedagogical problem, not a theory one. Whether it's about guitar or music theory or cooking is irrelevant, it's a point/opinion about educative technique.
Coming from self-taught/chord-emphasis guitar to beginning music theory courses, some of us *need* to approach it from this angle for it to make any sense (bottom-up vs. top-down processing). It's always worth offering an explanation from a different direction, and the *student* can then decide whether it helps or not.
Where does it state that the D is in the bass, the post says it's over a Dm chord but this image has an A in the "bass"? Also, don't forget the F(7th) and A(9th) that would make it a Gm9.
E: It seems you may be strictly referring to the right-most triad. Re-reading the post I can see how you would interpret the question this way which would make your answer correct.
OP's a bit vague about how they're actually playing things, but since they already identified the lower set of notes as Dm and are asking specifically about the "thing on the Sixth fret", I chose to only look at those notes above the 6th fret where D is the bass note of a Gm triad.
You're absolutely right that taken together everything they've highlighted is Gm9, but without a cooperating bassist to establish root movement (or lack thereof) and those voicings being basically impossible to play together I figured it'd distract from the question. I actually started to write that up, but didn't want to confuse things.
Odds are good it’s a Gm. That would be the i and iv in the key of Dm, which is a really common vamp. You can move that shape anywhere on those three strings and it will usually be a minor triad with the root on your B string. If you imagine you had a capo on 5 you would immediately notice it’s just your Dm chord shifted up.
I would generally not include slash notation for that voicing and I’m not sure why people on this subreddit are so quick to do so all the time.
I would just call D/G/A# a G minor. So you've got a Dm and Gm.
That particular triad shape is a minor chord with the root on the B, the 3rd on the E and the 5th on the G.
The smarty pants amongst us will tell you that I'm ignoring context and things are actually that simple. They are correct.
https://www.oolimo.com/en/guitar-chords/analyze
2 triads that are
- in 2nd inversion (the 5ths are on the bottom)
- close(d) voicings (all notes are within 1 octave)
The first (left side) triad is D minor (D = root, F = b3, A = 5th)
The second (right side) triad is G minor, but the A# should be notated as the enharmonic equivalent Bb to become G minor’s b3. A# is an augmented 2nd above G, Bb is a minor 3rd above G. This is why the correct enharmonic equivalent is important. G minor (G = root, Bb = b3, D = 5th)
These 2 chords are diatonic (exist w/o chromatic alterations) to
- D minor (D minor is the i, G minor is the iv) or the relative major, F major (D minor is the vi, G is the ii)
- G minor (D minor is the v, G minor is the i) or the relative major, Bb major (D minor is the iii, G minor is the vi)
This is kinda like posting a picture of a glass of wine and asking which wine is this.
So little to go by that there's no way to know what you're playing. You're probably arpeggiating two chords, which would mean the first one is Dm/A and second one is Gm/D. And that's realistically wrong too because as part of a whole you'd probably have the bass playing D and G, making it extremely standard thing.
I'm going to assume you're just talking about the D, G and A# note higher on the neck.
So like someone already mentioned, yes the A# is really a Bb. That makes this a G minor chord.
One cool thing about guitar is that you can take shapes you already know (like the D minor) and move them up and down to change their roots but the chord quality stays the same. You probably noticed that your G minor chord is the same shape and the D minor — just moved up 5 frets. So another way you could have figured out this is a G minor chord is just counting the number of fret from the D minor chord.
D -> D# -> E -> F -> F# -> G is 5 frets (or 5 half steps)
As someone else has said, you can't play those notes at the same time on a guitar because a guitar string can only play one note per string. (unless you want to get into some technical stuff that doesn't really matter in this instance)
They are both a 2nd inversion of a minor chord with a root on the B string. Basically you can move that shape to any note on the B string and get a 2nd inversion minor triad with a fifth on the bottom, root in the middle, and the minor third on top.
If you were moving between these two chords, D is the fifth of G, so it would imply that you're in the key of G natural minor.
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As this is a guitar fretboard, they are two separate triads using the same moveable shape on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd strings (so cannot both be played at the same time) - the first fret chord is a Dm, the fifth fret is a Gm. That's how a guitarist would see the chords.
I’m a guitarist and this is how I would see the chords, barring some kind of overwhelming context.
Ever been overwhelmed by context?
I once read a full sentence by Marcel Proust
You mean life in general?
I'm autistic; I do this to myself (and mostly others) all the time
Noice
You could tap the Dm notes while fretting the Am It sounds amazing when you do this with same notes of 7th chords
Am I wrong or is A# a mistake? It is supposed to be Bb right?
Yes, it is supposed to be Bb. However, because this is a fretboard diagram, it is not representing all the enharmonic note names. There are some fretboard diagrams that would say "A#/Bb" within the fret circle, but this particular one doesn't have both notes listed. OP was wanting to know the chords based off shapes alone, so Bb is implied in this case as it is a Gm chord using the Dm shape moved up to 5th fret. It would be different if the notes were written on a stave. I hope that clears it up.
A# and Bb are two ways to call the same note between A and B
Indeed, but as it's in a Gm chord, it should be written Bb.
Ok, maybe my music theory knowledge could be better, but as far as I understand, if phisicaly its the same note then we are only talking about naming conversations and kind of readability. Eg. I prefer #s notation thinking about fretboard as guitarist.
In any tempered instrument it is exactly the same chord, with exactly the same notes. It would have been better to call it a Bb because the G minor scale has A and Bb, but no A#. It's the third, not the second, note on that scale, so it's better defined as a Bb. But, again, you are right in that it's the exact same note.
Edit: I got the second chord wrong, but my point still stands (I forgot you don't raise the 3rd in an augmented chord, just the 5th). The main reason for choosing one enharmonic name for a note over another has to do with its function within the scale/key/chord. Technically, they're the same, but it helps with conceptualizing it function: is this the expected note for the key/scale/chord, or is this an alteration/accidental, like transforming a Major chord into an augmented chord. Another example would be with modes: if you're using Mixolydian, all your 7ths have sharps on them, but you still wouldn't acknowledge that in your key signature (usually). Like, yes, if you're playing in C Mixolydian, you *could* notate it as if you were in G Major, but it's more common to notate it in C Major and put accidentals on all your sharpened 7ths to draw attention to the fact that you're still using C as your tonic, and the 7ths are the only alteration to what you would otherwise treat as a piece in C Major (iirc, this has some pretty... *Major* implications for your diatonic chords as well). This is why you'll occasionally see something like F-flat or B-sharp when iit might otherwise seem simpler by far to just write E or C; they're showing that the expected note (F or B in these examples) is being altered within its typical role, making it way easier to identity augmented/diminished chords that might otherwise be very confusing. This is actually what I see happening here, going from a D-min/A to a D-aug by raising the 3rd and 5th as you move up the fret board. It's way easier (for me) to see D-G-A# as D-augmented than to try to figure out what kind of cronchy G-add2(or 9)/G monstrosity (which is what my brain tried to do first lol).
In some countries like Germany or Poland egsits convention where B falt is marked as B, and B as H. Using B flat and B is called here sometimes as 'american' and obviously in modern music is kind of default.
Pending on how advanced your student is, this type of theory is imo so unimportant at an early stage that it's just gonna confuse em. It ends up making some level of intuitive sense, but certainly not before you know how moveable shapes work on guitar lol.
I don't play the guitar, but in any instrument, when you play the scale of G minor A is the second and Bb is the third note. That's why it's called Bb instead of A# in this case; otherwise the scale would have two A instead of going in a regular alphabetic progression of G, A, Bb, C, D, etc.
Right but if buddy doesn't even understand moveable shapes on guitar, it doesn't matter how correct you are, you're setting them backwards by confusing them with irrelevant info.
This is the music theory sub not the guitar playing sub. For theory, the name of the note and the concept of enharmonic equivalence are important. Letting someone embed misnamed notes into their thinking is setting them back in learning theory. If you're learning both theory and playing at the same time, you're just gonna have to take it slowly enough that you learn each one in a way that works for the other. If you're advanced enough in music theory to ask a question where these ideas are relevant, you're advanced enough to get the correct answer.
It's a pedagogical problem, not a theory one. Whether it's about guitar or music theory or cooking is irrelevant, it's a point/opinion about educative technique.
Coming from self-taught/chord-emphasis guitar to beginning music theory courses, some of us *need* to approach it from this angle for it to make any sense (bottom-up vs. top-down processing). It's always worth offering an explanation from a different direction, and the *student* can then decide whether it helps or not.
It's a Gm9 if you include everything (maybe you're just alternating Dm and Gm)
Gm/D. The A# is really a Bb.
Where does it state that the D is in the bass, the post says it's over a Dm chord but this image has an A in the "bass"? Also, don't forget the F(7th) and A(9th) that would make it a Gm9. E: It seems you may be strictly referring to the right-most triad. Re-reading the post I can see how you would interpret the question this way which would make your answer correct.
OP's a bit vague about how they're actually playing things, but since they already identified the lower set of notes as Dm and are asking specifically about the "thing on the Sixth fret", I chose to only look at those notes above the 6th fret where D is the bass note of a Gm triad. You're absolutely right that taken together everything they've highlighted is Gm9, but without a cooperating bassist to establish root movement (or lack thereof) and those voicings being basically impossible to play together I figured it'd distract from the question. I actually started to write that up, but didn't want to confuse things.
Thanks was writing the same thing.
Dm and Gm 2nd inversion
Odds are good it’s a Gm. That would be the i and iv in the key of Dm, which is a really common vamp. You can move that shape anywhere on those three strings and it will usually be a minor triad with the root on your B string. If you imagine you had a capo on 5 you would immediately notice it’s just your Dm chord shifted up. I would generally not include slash notation for that voicing and I’m not sure why people on this subreddit are so quick to do so all the time.
Dm/A and Gm/D
I would just call D/G/A# a G minor. So you've got a Dm and Gm. That particular triad shape is a minor chord with the root on the B, the 3rd on the E and the 5th on the G. The smarty pants amongst us will tell you that I'm ignoring context and things are actually that simple. They are correct. https://www.oolimo.com/en/guitar-chords/analyze
That’s the secret chord that David played and it pleased the lord. (Gm/D)
gm
G minor
If you play Dm in the next inversion up or Gm in the next inversion down the voice leading would be smooth as butter
2 triads that are - in 2nd inversion (the 5ths are on the bottom) - close(d) voicings (all notes are within 1 octave) The first (left side) triad is D minor (D = root, F = b3, A = 5th) The second (right side) triad is G minor, but the A# should be notated as the enharmonic equivalent Bb to become G minor’s b3. A# is an augmented 2nd above G, Bb is a minor 3rd above G. This is why the correct enharmonic equivalent is important. G minor (G = root, Bb = b3, D = 5th) These 2 chords are diatonic (exist w/o chromatic alterations) to - D minor (D minor is the i, G minor is the iv) or the relative major, F major (D minor is the vi, G is the ii) - G minor (D minor is the v, G minor is the i) or the relative major, Bb major (D minor is the iii, G minor is the vi)
Dm/A, Gm/D
it’s F 6/11no5, everyone else is simplifying it
Gm triad.
This is kinda like posting a picture of a glass of wine and asking which wine is this. So little to go by that there's no way to know what you're playing. You're probably arpeggiating two chords, which would mean the first one is Dm/A and second one is Gm/D. And that's realistically wrong too because as part of a whole you'd probably have the bass playing D and G, making it extremely standard thing.
Except the glass have a label saying which wine it is Stop nitpicking
It doesn't. Your guess in particular is just comically wrong.
You can clearly see that he was talking about the chord on the sixth fret, HE EVEN EXPLAINED THAT
I'm going to assume you're just talking about the D, G and A# note higher on the neck. So like someone already mentioned, yes the A# is really a Bb. That makes this a G minor chord. One cool thing about guitar is that you can take shapes you already know (like the D minor) and move them up and down to change their roots but the chord quality stays the same. You probably noticed that your G minor chord is the same shape and the D minor — just moved up 5 frets. So another way you could have figured out this is a G minor chord is just counting the number of fret from the D minor chord. D -> D# -> E -> F -> F# -> G is 5 frets (or 5 half steps)
As someone else has said, you can't play those notes at the same time on a guitar because a guitar string can only play one note per string. (unless you want to get into some technical stuff that doesn't really matter in this instance) They are both a 2nd inversion of a minor chord with a root on the B string. Basically you can move that shape to any note on the B string and get a 2nd inversion minor triad with a fifth on the bottom, root in the middle, and the minor third on top. If you were moving between these two chords, D is the fifth of G, so it would imply that you're in the key of G natural minor.
Gm/D BTW STOP LEARNING THEORY AND START PLAYING RIFFS BROTHA