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In the key of Em, does the F#m7-5 chord have the b13 (D natural) or the 13 as an available (ex)tension?

Same question in Bb Major regarding the Gm7 chord, is the 13 (E natural) an available (ex)tension?

If so, why??

Tim
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Hyun Yoo Park
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  • Can you explain what a "tension 13" is? Am I reading that right? – Todd Wilcox Feb 27 '18 at 17:32
  • @ToddWilcox what do you mean?? – Hyun Yoo Park Feb 27 '18 at 17:34
  • If I google "tension 13" I get no hits that are related to music theory. I don't know what "tension 13" is. Your first sentence includes the phrase "if there is a tension 13" and I don't understand that phrase. – Todd Wilcox Feb 27 '18 at 17:38
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    @ToddWilcox Sorry for my poor english..english isn't my first language.What I mean is the tension note for the chords like 9th 11th 13th. Notes you could add on the chords. – Hyun Yoo Park Feb 27 '18 at 17:43
  • Tension note isn't too helpful. Added note might work. You can add what the heck you like to a basic chord, sometimes it adds nicely, sometimes it adds tension, if that's what you mean. But context is important too. – Tim Feb 27 '18 at 17:54
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    @Tim Actually doing a search for "tension note" helped me a lot. Now I understand the question. – Todd Wilcox Feb 27 '18 at 17:54
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    @tim - how about changing it to _color tone_ ? – Stinkfoot Feb 27 '18 at 17:58
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    @everyone Tension is term used at Berklee to describe extensions to the chord. "The word "tensions" is really short for "extensions" because they are an extension of the basic seventh chord." - https://www.thejazzresource.com/chord_tensions.html – r lo Feb 27 '18 at 18:56
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    @rlo - funny, because 'ex' in English at least usually means 'used to be'. Funny... – Tim Feb 27 '18 at 20:25
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    @Tim Totally unrelated, but "extra", "exit", "extreme", "exceptional", "excellent", "extraordinary", "external". I could go on. In English, "ex" **rarely** means "used to be". – Todd Wilcox Feb 27 '18 at 20:28
  • @ToddWilcox - a bit of touche there. I like it, and will respond after a well earned sleep... – Tim Feb 27 '18 at 21:00
  • @ToddWilcox - 'tra', 'it', 'ceptional', 'cellent', not words generally in their own right (**ex**cept 'it'...) but 'tension' *is* its own word ! My fault for not being as fastidious as usual with my language. Please forgive me! – Tim Feb 28 '18 at 07:47
  • @Tim- We americans can butcher almost anything , including the Queen"s English, and I've not been to Berklee so I was also puzzled by the terminology used in the question, but reading these comments was entertaining and informative at the same time. – skinny peacock Mar 01 '18 at 14:46

1 Answers1

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For half-diminished 7th chords, the b13 is an available tension and the natural 13 and the #13 are not available (technically the #13 is just an octave above the 7th so it's not a tension in this case). So for the F#m7-5 chord, D natural is available and D# is not. The reason why the b13 is available in this case is because the 5 is diminished, which means the b13 is two steps away from both the 5th and the 7th.

For minor 7th chords, the natural 13 is an available tension, the #13 is enharmonic to the 7th (an octave up) and the b13 is unavailable. So you could use E natural for the Gm7 chord. The reason why the b13 is unavailable in this case is because it is only one step from the 5th. The 13 is two steps from the 5th and only one step from the 7th, but it works better to be closer to the 7th than the 5th in this case.

See: http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-chords/available-tensions/

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Todd Wilcox
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  • Not up to speed yet ! F#m7-5 with a D note makes D dominant 9, without a lot of 'tension'. Missing something - unsure what... – Tim Feb 27 '18 at 18:06
  • @Tim If the F# is the lowest sounding note and the D is above, it could be heard as an F#m7-5addb13. "Tension" in this case is meant in a different sense from the typical sense of a feeling in the listener. This is a branch of jazz chord theory that seems to be sort of "grass roots", you might say, where **a tension** is a note you can add to a 7th chord to add flavor. But some *tensions* "work" better than others. *Available tensions* are 9ths, 11ths, or 13ths that "work" and *unavailable tensions* are the same intervals that "don't work". Maybe a bit simplified but it's a way to view it. – Todd Wilcox Feb 27 '18 at 18:12
  • @Tim I suggest following the link, which explains it better than I can. – Todd Wilcox Feb 27 '18 at 18:13
  • I see that the page you linked to points out that these _available tensions_ are the ones which are used in practice, but does not rule out that other tensions might be used too. Just to add some information, [here is a question about adding a ♭9 to a major 7th chord](https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/22600/am-i-allowed-to-add-a-b9-to-a-maj7-chord-in-jazz). I flipped through my copy of Ted Greene's compendious _Chord Chemistry_, and found a few examples of Maj7(♯9) chords listed, but none for Maj7(♭9) chords, and none for Maj7 with sharp or flat 13ths. –  Feb 27 '18 at 18:39
  • @DavidBowling Good point. My answer is intended to address what seems to be the nature and context of the question, not a general guideline of what intervals can or should be added to chords in jazz. And sounds like both the asker and I could benefit from reading Ted Greene's book. – Todd Wilcox Feb 27 '18 at 18:44
  • If the song is in Bb, then I would advise some caution when using an E on the Gmin7 chord. The risk is that a soloist is playing G Aeolian, which has an Eb rather than an E natural, so the Gmin13 voicing would clash with the soloist. Of course, this doesn't mean that Eb would sound *good* in the Gmin7 chord. It just means that the E and the Eb are both bad choices. (Though I could see using an Eb on the Gmin7 chord if it fairly quickly resolves down to a D.) – jdjazz Feb 27 '18 at 20:45