Part two is about chords. A chord is not a symbol to memorise — it is the name given to a stack of notes, so watching one get stacked explains it in one go.
Part one covered note names, lengths, meter and scales. Now those notes get played at the same time.
What is a chord?
Three or so notes sounded together. That is all. It is what you hear when a guitar gets strummed. Which notes you sound together changes the character, and every combination has a name like "C" or "Am".
A chord is a set of notes played at the same time.
Words used in this chapter
- Chord
- A set of notes played together, usually three or more.
- Root
- The note the chord's name and construction are built on. It is the letter in the chord's name — C for a C chord. It is not always the lowest note you hear; the lowest sounding note is called the bass (chapter 11).
- Triad
- A chord of three notes. Nearly every pop chord is one of these, or one with a note added.
- Chord tones
- The notes inside the chord. For C, that is C, E and G.
Stack one note, then two, then three
Play C on its own, then add E, then add G. Press "Listen" on each row top to bottom. The more notes, the more it stops sounding like a note and starts sounding like a chord.
- CC alone (one note)
- CC and E (two notes)
- CC, E and G (a triad)
Do two notes count as a chord?
Sometimes, but two notes leave bright-or-dark undecided. Rock's "power chord" is exactly that, used when you want the mood left ambiguous. The third note is what settles the character.
A triad is "three notes, skipping one each time"
Look at C, E and G inside the scale: it is Do, skip Re, Mi, skip Fa, Sol. Pick three notes skipping every other one — that is how a triad is built. Do the same starting from F or from G and you get the F chord and the G chord.
- CC (C, E, G)
- FF (F, A, C)
- GG (G, B, D)
Line them up and you have a skeleton
- C → F → G → C
C | F | G | C
- Pick one note from the scale (chapter 5) to start from.
- Stack two more notes above it, skipping one each time. Three in total.
- Sound them together. That is one chord built.
- Do the same from other notes and line the results up. That is a chord progression.
Write a melody over just these three chords. The simpler the foundation, the more clearly you hear what the melody is doing.
Generate over C, F, GChords are building blocks. Three notes stacked with one skipped between each is a triad, and triads are the foundation of nearly everything.
Quick review
Everything here is answerable from this chapter. Pick an option and the answer appears straight away.
Question 1
How do you build a triad?
Question 2
What do you call the note a chord's name and construction are built on?