Extended Chord
Chords built by stacking thirds beyond the seventh
Related
An extended chord keeps stacking thirds above a seventh chord, adding a ninth, eleventh or thirteenth. The numbers keep counting past the octave: a ninth is the second degree raised by an octave, a thirteenth the sixth. The term names a family, not one fixed structure.
Players rarely sound every note. The low register turns muddy, so the fifth and even the root are often dropped while the upper colour notes remain. Omission does not erase them; the ear still hears a full stack.
The line between extended and added-tone chords is the seventh. An extension normally includes it; an added tone skips it and places a ninth or sixth directly on a triad. Listen for the seventh, not merely for a ninth.
Sources
- 延伸和弦的叠置与省略实践，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Chord"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.