In
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
, the fifth
factor of a
chord is the
note or
pitch that is the fifth
scale degree
In music theory, the scale degree is the position of a particular note on a scale relative to the tonic, the first and main note of the scale from which each octave is assumed to begin. Degrees are useful for indicating the size of intervals a ...
, counting the
root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the su ...
or
tonal center. When the fifth is the
bass note
In music theory, the bass note of a chord or sonority is the lowest note played or notated. If there are multiple voices it is the note played or notated in the lowest voice (the note furthest in the bass.)
Three situations are possible:
# ...
, or lowest note, of the expressed chord, the chord is in
second inversion .
Conventionally, the fifth is second in importance to the root, with the fifth being
perfect in all
primary triads (I, IV, V and i, iv, v). In
jazz chords and theory however, the fifth is often omitted, or assumed, in preference for the
chord quality
Musicians use various kinds of chord names and symbols in different contexts to represent musical chords. In most genres of popular music, including jazz, pop, and rock, a chord name and its corresponding symbol typically indicate one or more o ...
determining third and
chord extensions and
additions.
The fifth in a major and minor chord is perfect (G in C). When the fifth of a major chord is raised it is an
augmented chord
Augment or augmentation may refer to:
Language
* Augment (Indo-European), a syllable added to the beginning of the word in certain Indo-European languages
*Augment (Bantu languages), a morpheme that is prefixed to the noun class prefix of nouns ...
(G in C) . When the fifth of a minor chord is lowered it is a
diminished chord
In music theory, a diminished triad (also known as the minor flatted fifth) is a triad consisting of two minor thirds above the root. It is a minor triad with a lowered ( flattened) fifth. When using chord symbols, it may be indicated by the ...
(G in C) .
The open fifth and
power chord consists of only the root, fifth and their
octave doubling
In music theory, voicing refers to two closely related concepts:
# How a musician or group distributes, or spaces, notes and chords on one or more instruments
# The simultaneous vertical placement of notes in relation to each other; this rel ...
s.
See also
*
Dominant seventh flat five chord
In music theory, the dominant seventh flat five chord is a seventh chord composed of a root note, together with a major third, a diminished fifth, and a minor seventh above the root (1, 3, 5 and 7). For example, the dominant seventh flat five chord ...
References
{{Chord factors
Chord factors