Steve PMHHas something ever struck a chord with you? In other words, did you feel like you can relate or agree with that something? That’s what a chord does.
A chord’s primary purpose is to harmonize. It syncs every note together at the same time to create a beautiful melody.
You might wonder, ‘what is a chord in music?’ This article will delve deep into the makings and kinds of musical chords to answer that question.
Chords in a Nutshell
Simply put, musical chords are two or more notes played together harmoniously. While you can play any chord on your musical instrument, not all of them will result in a melodic rhythm and could leave you with dissonance.
You can think of musical chords as the building blocks of your song. Chords have numerous applications, types, and qualities. There’s a lot you can learn about them to build your skills in singing or playing a musical instrument.
Etymology
The word ‘chord’ is derived from the French word, ‘accord.’ It’s defined as an agreement or, in musical terms, notes and sounds that go together simultaneously. The term was also profoundly influenced by the French word for a musical instrument’s string, ‘corde.’
Types of Musical Chords
There’s an overwhelming amount of chords in the music world. You might’ve heard of some terms being tossed around like a C chord and are wondering what it means.
Fret not. We’re going to break things down to a simplified description, so you get a better hang of the types of chords.
Dyads
A dyad is a two-note chord that’s commonly referred to as an interval. Dyads refer to the variation of two pitches, and they’re measured half steps.
Half steps or semitones are the smallest distance between each note. For instance, a semitone is a distance between the white key and the black key next to it when playing the piano. Whole steps or tones, on the other hand, consist of two semitones grouped.
Describing intervals depends on the number of letters between each note as well as its quality. For example, a second major interval consists of two half steps; the chords played from C to D are considered second major.
Nevertheless, if you look at a third major interval, you’d be seeing four half steps. Thus, one of the many major third intervals played could be from C till E.
Triads
The most widely used musical chords are triads or three-note chords. At first glance, you might think that a triad can be made up of any three notes, but it’s not. Triads are only built from playing thirds.
It might seem confusing at first, but each triad note has a name; root, third, and fifth. Each note is assigned a pitch level.
- The root is the lowest note among the three. Conventionally, this is where your chord begins.
- The third note in the triad contains a distance of a third. This note is directly above the root.
- The fifth note is made up of an interval of a fifth above the root. The third and the fifth notes can be formed in a compound as well, which means they can be broken down.
Tetrads
Tetrads are chords that comprise four notes. The most commonly used tetrad is the seventh chord. Other examples of tetrads include added chord tones, altered chords, tone clusters, and extended chords.
If you build on a major third or one minor on top of a triad, you’ll find yourself a seventh chord. The tetrad chords have countless qualities within them. One of them can be a major seventh, which is an addition to a major triad.
There are five common ways to group tetrads; major seventh, minor seventh, dominant seventh, half-diminished, and diminished.
If you’re playing on your guitar, you can play a major seventh using the notes C, E, G, and B, which all contain whole steps.
Dominant Chords
These types of chords are a combination of major and minor chord qualities. The term dominant in musical terms refers to the fifth degree in a key, which can be found in both major and minor.
For instance, let’s look at a C major while playing the piano. The note consists of C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. The dominant note in this instance would be G.
Despite dominant chords remaining on the fifth key, they can come in different sizes. There are dominant seventh chords. They’re made up of a root, a third, a fifth, and a seventh.
Altered Chords
To get a better idea of altered chords, let’s take a look at diatonic and chromatic chords.
Diatonic Chords
These chords are constructed of notes only from the major scale. To simplify the term, let’s use a piano for reference. Playing the white keys from notes C to C, D to D, G to G, etc., without the black keys, is considered a diatonic chord.
Chromatic Chords
Unlike diatonic chords where all keys are adjacent and abide by the same scale, chromatic chords are different. To play a chromatic chord, you’d need to play one or more keys that deviate from the scale. They’re usually used to change up the pace of your chord progression.
An easy way to remember chromatic chords is through their piano application. Diatonic chords are considered natural since they revolve around the white keys. Chromatic chords express color in the natural keys by adding the black keys.
Then, What Are Altered Chords?
Altered chords are played when you alter one or more notes of a diatonic chord. You can alter it by either raising or lowering it a half step.
For example, let’s take a look at the dominant chord, which would be in G major, G-B-D. If you alter the third note to Bb, instead of a B by lowering it a half step, you would be dealing with an altered chord.
Qualities of Musical Chords
Music’s perception and interpretation rely on the qualities of the chords. The way they progress presents you with various emotions and thoughts. Mainly, there are four distinguished qualities in a chord.
There are minor, major, augmented, and diminished chords.
Minor Chords
These chords are more known for evoking grieving and sorrowful tones. A minor chord can be best explained by first starting at the root (like in the triad). Its third is then three half-steps away from the root.
After the third, the fifth would then be seven semitones away from the root. It’s normally called the perfect fifth. To better illustrate, let’s look at a C minor.
Your root note would be a C. Following that, you’ll need to trace three semitones after the root. It’ll go like, C-D-D#. The D#, which is a third minor, will give you the pitch you need for a minor chord sound. To get a clearer image, the D# would be the black key in a piano.
Your fifth will then be four semitones after the third. So your sequence should go like, D#-E-F-G. You’ll then have played your C minor chord, C-D#-G.
If you’d like to remember a minor chord better, you can use this formula as a reference: 1-3-4. Each number represents the number of intervals or semitones moved along the note.
Minor Seventh Chord
While minor chords bring melancholic melodies, minor seventh chords are more pensive. They’re thoughtful. You may even go as far as to call them moody since they’re influenced by both minor and major chords.
Essentially, minor seventh chords are minor triad chords that are stacked with a minor seventh. For instance, let’s take a look at a C minor seventh chord. First, you’ll begin with your C root, move to your D# (three semitones up), then G (four semitones up).
In the next step, you’ll add up three more semitones and reach A#. So, in the end, your C minor seventh chord sequence should look like this: C-D#-G-A#.
Major Chords
Unlike the downhearted feeling that minor chords give off, major chords provide you with the opposite. They’re usually more energetic and hopeful melodies.
Major chords differ from minor ones significantly in sound. Yet, once you look at the practical side, you’ll find one small difference. Major chords are all built on whole steps.
This means that the major third would be four semitones away, rather than three. If it were a major chord in the same example above, it would go like C-E-G rather than C-D#-G.
Similar to the minor chord, if you want to have a reference formula for a major chord, it will go like this instead, 1-4-3.
Major Seventh Chord
Aside from major triad chords like the one discussed above, there are also tetrad major chords. One of the most common is the major seventh chord.
You’ll most likely find a major seventh chord in jazz. Hearing the chord’s sound, you’ll associate it with the timeless genre.
To gain a better outlook on the major seventh chord, you can look at a C major seventh chord. You’ll first begin with your root C chord. After, you’ll build it up to a third major, moving four semitones, reaching the E.
You’ll then continue to move three semitones and play a G, just like a regular major. You’ll start to notice the difference afterward once you stack on the major seventh. You’ll be moving four semitones from the G and reach B, finally creating: C-E-G-B.
Augmented Chords
You wouldn’t find an augmented chord in your day-to-day music; these chords appeal to a more sci-fi beat that comes off as bizarre and eccentric.
This chord is built off of a major chord. For instance, a C major starts with four semitones away from the third major; and the fifth note is the difference.
Instead of being three semitones away, it’ll be raised to four. Then, in sequence, it’ll go like this: C-E-G#. The G# would be a minor sixth.
An augmented chord’s symbol is a plus sign. The C aug chord would then be written as C+. If you’re playing a tetrad or more than four notes (extended chord), then you simply put the additional notes after the C+, such as C+9.
Diminished Chords
Diminished chords are also referred to as dissonant. They express intensity in your song.
Some people characterize diminished chords. While some people feel that “dissonant” is unpleasant, others swear by its captivating edge in music.
You might be a fan of diminished chords without even realizing it. Have you ever sung to Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ to get into the festivities? Well, what makes this song sound so perfect for Christmas could be the half-diminished chord in the song.
The dissonant chord is similar to a minor chord. Once you have your root, there are two minor thirds stacked above it. For example, a C diminished chord would first start, like any other C chord, with a C as its root. Then, you trace three semitones after the root, reaching the minor third, D#.
Finally, the triad is completed by moving another three semitones after the third minor to an F#, also known as your diminished or flat fifth. It should go as, C-D#-F#.
Guitar Chords Vs. Piano Chords
If you played the piano and caught a look or two at a guitar music sheet, you’ll probably not notice much of a difference. That’s because both instruments use the same chords.
However, the note line setup for each instrument differs. A piano’s note setup is more straightforward than a guitar’s.
If you take a C chord on a piano, you’ll have a key for each note in the chord. The order repeats itself after every octave until you’ve reached the end of your keyboard.
The guitar requires a bit more focus. Guitars have six strings or lines.
To hear a chord, you’ll need to integrate all of the strings. Imagine trying to remember multiple chords at once!
Your hand positioning would differ playing a chord in each instrument. Pianos need two hands, while guitars only one, giving pianos a better chance at creating more resonant chords.
What Are Chord Inversions?
Chords aren’t standardized. Changing up your notes is always an option. By now, you can tell that the root is always the beginning of every chord, but it doesn’t always have to be this way.
Chord inversions are identified by the alterations you execute in your chords. A chord inversion occurs when you play any note other than the root at the bass.
This process has given countless opportunities for talented musicians to showcase their musical genius. For example, you wouldn’t be listening to popular songs like Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud without chord inversions.
To give you a better idea of chord inversions, here are some of their types.
First Inversion
The first inversion involves you moving the third chord down in place of the root. In a C major, you’d normally go through the chords like C-E-G.
In the first inversion, you move the root upwards, and it’ll go like E-G-C. The same would follow for a minor, diminished, or augmented chord quality.
Second Inversion
While the first inversion moves the third chord down, a second inversion would mean you move the fifth chord down instead. In this instance, let’s use a C minor. Its order goes as follows: C-D#-G.
The second inversion would then move the fifth chord, G, in the root’s position. Your root chord, C, would then follow, then, finally the third. It’ll look like this: G-C-D#.
Third Inversion
The first and second inversions mostly apply to a triad chord. In a third inversion, you’d be dealing with a seventh chord. In a C seventh major chord, it would look like this: C-E-G-B.
The third inversion entails moving the seventh at the base of the chord. Your third inversion of the C seventh major chord should then look like this: B-C-E-G.
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Inversions
These are grouped because they’re not as widely used as the initial chord inversions. They’re to be found in extended chords. The fourth inversion involves moving the ninth chord to the base.
If you’re playing with a fifth or sixth inversion, you will move the eleventh and thirteenth to the base, respectively. While these inversions aren’t as popular, it’s good to get a general idea of them.
What Are Chord Progressions?
Now that you’ve nailed some chords down, all that’s left to do is to build your progression. A chord progression, in technical terms, is a sequence of chords created to compose a melody.
Chord progressions give your tune its personality. They tell the story that you’re trying to convey in your music. The emotions and feelings depend on the chord progression developed in your song.
Musicians organize and merge chords together by using roman numerals. The most commonly used chord progression sequence formula is I-IV-V (1-4-5). It’s also played as I-IV-V-I.
In C major, the I-IV-V-I formula would go as follows, C major, F major, G major, and C major. How each chord connects together pulls the whole progression together. In this instance, the dominant and subdominant chords, V and IV, respectively, work to establish your root effectively.
