Part one covered note names and scales. Now those notes get played at the same time. A chord is not a symbol to memorise; it is the name given to a stack of notes.
A melody plays notes one after another. A chord plays them together — the sound of strumming a guitar. Which notes you sound together changes the character, and every useful combination has a name.
Stack one note, then two, then three
Play C on its own, then add E, then add G. Press them in order. Each addition makes it sound more like a chord and less like a note.
- CC alone (one note)
- CC and E (two notes)
- CC, E and G (a triad)
Two or more notes sounded together. Usually it means three or more, and each combination has its own name.
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)
- C → F → G → C
C | F | G | C
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.