Brain Soup and Ghosts

This morning I had the strangest dream. I dreamed that I was walking through a bizarre outdoor market-place, lined with many-leveled patched tents that had ladders in them. It was bright outside, and light shone through the tents to make everything different colors. And unusual looking people of all shapes and colors (and I mean all colors, including bright blue) were walking through the market in bright colored clothes, buying fresh foods and shiny trinkets. I was there with my dad, and I was wearing a wrist watch that kept beeping. I tried to turn off the beeping, because it was really irritating, but it wouldn't stop. I kept trying to walk through the market place and look at the human (and questionably human) parade going by, and my dad was waiting, tugging on my hand, he wanted to get lunch and I was hungry too, but I had to keep fiddling with the wrist watch to turn off the beeping, which no one else seemed to hear. After awhile, I guess I pressed the right button, cause the beeping stopped, and I was relieved, but worried too, and then just a little ways down the road the beeping started again, but louder! This strange beeping just got louder and made it hard to concentrate on all the new sights, and I really wanted it to stop, so I tried to take off the wrist watch, but I couldn't and I panicked, and then dad was gone and the street was melting away, and that's when I woke up.

And then I rolled over and turned off my alarm clock.

I looooooove my new bike! Did I tell you my mom brought me a new bike when she came to visit? It is so foxy. It's all black, with wide shiny fenders and big handlebars. I put my horn on it, and it just looks wicked. And the wheel isn't falling off, and the breaks work, too! And I feel like a ghost gliding along the paths. I can't even hear myself coming, it's so smooth. Yesterday I kept guiding my bike to ride through puddles just to hear the zip-zip and silence it made. It feels like flying. I've just got to remember that the break is a backpedal and not a hand break, because the first time I got on it, I was on the ground in under 40 seconds because I pushed back on the breaks. Also, shortly after that, I ran face first into a hanging basket trying to figure out how to stop...

I'll probably add to this later today, I've got to study right now. I'm missing you, but I'm working hard and making time for fun too. Give yourself a big hug from me!

Resolving V7 chords and their inversions, as summarized by Ms. Erin E:

-To build a dominant 7th chord, you must first build a major triad (meaning a "snowperson," a.k.a. line-line-line or space-space-space, with a M3 (major third-4 half steps/semitones) on the bottom and a m3 (minor third-3 half steps/semitones) on the top. Then, on top of this major triad, add a m7 (one whole step below tonic, the sub-tonic in the minor key of the root of your major triad), so that you have a "snowperson with a double chin." You now have a V7, or a dominant seventh, chord. It's called a V7, because it is always built on the V (dominant/5th) scale degree of the key it resolves to. This V7 that you just built is in root position (the root note of the chord is on the bottom). It would still be in root position if the root note was on the bottom, but the other notes were rearranged out of order.

-When you build your V7, the root of the chord is also the 5th (dominant) of the scale. The 3rd of the chord is also the 7th (leading tone) of the scale, and the 5th of the chord is also the 2nd (supertonic) of the scale, and the 7th of the chord is also the 4th (subdominant) of the scale.

-When resolving a V7 chord in root position to the key it's in, first mentally put the notes (which may be in any order as long as the bottom note is root) in "snowperson position," that is, stacked on top of each other, so you can figure out which is the root of the chord, which is the leading tone of the key, which is the 5th of the chord, and which is the 7th of the chord. First, your leading tone moves up a semitone to tonic. This is the key you are in. (It would be helpful here to know how many sharps or flats are in this key, so that you may check your I chord resolution)

-Next, the 7th of the chord moves down to become the 3rd of your I chord. If you are resolving to a major key, this 7th moves down a half step/semitone. If you are resolving to a minor key, move the 7th down a whole step. (you can tell if you are resolving to major or minor by whether or not the V7 chord has accidentals in addition to the key signature. If it has an accidental, this means that the minor key signature would call for that note to be a half step lower, but because your V7 is built on a Major triad, it must be raised. You can also tell by analyzing the intervals within your V7 chord. If you find an augmented 4th or a diminished 5th, you will resolve to a major key. If, however, you find either an augmented 2nd or a diminished 7th, you're going to minor) (If you're resolving to a major key, the chord you resolve to is called I, if it's minor, it should be lower case: i.)

-Now, move the root of your V7 chord (the 5th of the key) to tonic, either by moving up a perfect fourth, or down a perfect 5th. This is the root of your I chord.

-Finally, the remaining note in your V7, the 5th of V7 and 2nd of your key, moves either up or down a whole step, according to your preference. You've just resolved a root V7 to a I chord.

-Your V7 may not be complete. What I mean is, you may not see all four voices present in the original V7. If so, the absent voice is the 5th of the chord, and the chord is called incomplete. Incomplete chords are unique, because the repetition of the root of V7 in place of the 5th allows you to tie a common note over into the I chord. This way, you have a note belonging to both chords holding through. Whenever you can do this, you should. It will only happen on incomplete root V7 or inverted V7s, which I'm about to talk about.

-Your chord may not appear in root position. There are three possible inversions of this chord that you need to know about. The first inversion is built on scale degree 7, the leading tone (and 3rd of the chord), then stacked with the 2nd of the key (5th of the chord), 4th of the key (7th of chord), and finally the 5th of the key (root of the chord). The figured bass for this inversion is 6/5/3, abbreviated to 6/5, because the top three notes are, in order, a 3rd, 5th, and 6th, above the bass note. First inversion will appear: line-line-line-adjacent space, or space-space-space-adjacent line. First inversion usually resolves to tonic.

-The second inversion is shown by the figured bass 6/4/3, abbreviated to 4/3, because the notes appear in the 3rd, 4th, and 6th position above the bass note of the chord. The bass note of this chord is scale degree 2, and the 5th of the chord. Above this note are the 4th of the key (7th of chord), 5th of the key (root of the chord), and 7th/leading tone of the key (3rd of chord), respectively. Second inversion appears as two stacked notes in two lines next to each other, line-line space-space or space-space line-line. Second inversion can resolve to either tonic, or the first inversion of tonic I6 (or I6/3).

-The third inversion of a dominant 7th chord is unique, and relatively easy to build. In the words of my theory professor, it's "hot." The figured bass for third inversion of a dominant 7th chord is abbreviated to V4/2, because the positions above the bass note are 6, 4, and 2. (You can build a V4/2 on any note by building a major triad on the note a whole step above your original note.) This inversion is built on scale-degree 4, the 7th of the chord. Because you always resolve the 7th of the chord down a semitone, the bass note of the chord you resolve to will be the 3rd scale degree, making your I chord first inversion, or I6. The V4/2 chord is: 4th scale-degree/7th of chord, 5th scale-degree/root of chord, 7th scale degree/3rd of chord, and 2nd scale degree/5th of chord. It resolves to a tonic chord in first inversion, 3-5-1. The third inversion appears line-space-space-space or space-line-line-line.

-On a root position V7 chord, a complete V7 resolves to an incomplete I, and vice versa. However, when the V7 is inverted, it will be complete, and will resolve to a complete.

-If your V7 is inverted, the resulting I chord should have a common tone with the V7. You should never double the leading tone or chordal 7th of the V7 or its inversion, but you may double the root of the chord (the 5th scale degree), when it appears in both the V7 and the I, as it will in inversions.

My Point: I've written this out for myself, because I needed to organize my thoughts about V7 chords for a test on Friday. I've also written this out for you, though, so that you can see how my brain is rotting from disuse because I'm a music major and don't have to think. Since it's such a soft major and all.

p.s. Please note the SARCASM.