◢◣ zigzag explore zigzag →

chord qualities

30 s · major through half-diminished, all on C

chord qualities 30 s · major through half-diminished, all on C
0:00 / 0:30
↓ wav ↓ midi

Major, minor, and diminished triads plus four sevenths — every one the same voicing line read against a different scale, so the quality comes from the projection. A voice names each.

Quality comes from the scale

Every chord here is the same voicing — stack the 1st, 3rd, and 5th scale-steps (and sometimes the 7th):

1 3 5      # triad
1 3 5 7    # seventh

The quality isn’t stored anywhere. It falls out of which scale the voicing is read against:

major triad      → scale: major       # C  E  G
minor triad      → scale: minor       # C  E♭ G
diminished       → scale: locrian     # C  E♭ G♭
dominant seventh → scale: mixolydian  # C  E  G  B♭
half-diminished  → scale: locrian     # C  E♭ G♭ B♭

Same numbers, several qualities — the projection does the work.