Music Motivation® Blog
Chords Thursday, 06 May 2010 00:00 |  Written by Music Motivation® |  
Defining a Chord
Many people generally agree on the definition of a chord. I have compiled a few links below of various chord definitions. To read a few of the definitions, simply click on the links below. They are informative and should be examined, reviewed, and applied in any musicians playing repertoire. To simplify, I will quote from the Harvard Concise Dictionary which says:A chord is “Three or more tones sounded simultaneously, two simultaneous tones usually being designated as an interval. The most basic chords in the system of tonic-dominant (or triadic) tonality are the major and minor triads and their inversions (ie., sixth chords and six-four chords). Other chords that play an important, though subordinate role, are the seventh chord, the ninth chord, the augmented sixth chord, and the diminished triad, each of which is regarded in this context as dissonant.”Essentially, you have two or more notes played one after another (melodic chords) or together at the same time (harmonic chords) that create a certain mood. I like to help students understand the feeling of chords. A simple way to explain chords is to talk about the quality of chords. Chords are like emotions. Sometimes we are happy, sad, devastated, excited, elevated, tense like we want something to happen or change, cool and collected, or any other emotions you can think of, describe, or feel.Each of these emotions can also be expressed through the chords. Happy chords are major chords, sad ones are minor chords. When we think of extremely devastated and depressed emotions we think of diminished chords, excited and elevated emotions lead us to think of augmented chords. When we feel tense like we want something to happen or change we can refer to suspended chords. Cool and collected chords can be expressed by major sixth and seventh chords. When students think of chords as emotions instead of little black dots on a page they understand the feeling of the piece and know how to play the songs. They think about the emotions and can play the piece with feeling.
For a more in-depth explanation, click on these examples:Wikipedia describes IntervalsWikipedia describes TriadsWikipedia describes a ChordWikipedia describes Chord NotationWikipedia describes Major ChordsWikipedia describes Minor ChordsWikipedia describes Diminished ChordsWikipedia describes Augmented ChordsWikipedia describes Sus2 ChordsWikipedia describes Sus4 ChordsWikipedia describes Sus4/Sus2 ChordsWikipedia describes Add2/Add9 ChordsWikipedia describes Major Sixth ChordsWikipedia describes Major Sixth/Nine ChordsWikipedia describes Minor Sixth ChordsWikipedia describes Minor Sixth/Nine ChordsWikipedia describes Augmented Sixth ChordsWikipedia describes Major Seventh ChordsWikipedia describes Major Seventh sharp the fifth ChordsWikipedia describes Minor Major Seventh ChordsWikipedia describes Dominant Seventh ChordsWikipedia describes Minor Seventh ChordsWikipedia describes Minor Seventh Add 4 ChordsWikipedia describes Minor Seventh flat the fifth Chords (or Half Diminished Seventh Chords)Wikipedia describes Minor Seventh sharp the fifth ChordsWikipedia describes Diminished Seventh Chords (or Whole Diminished Seventh Chords)Wikipedia describes Major Ninth ChordsWikipedia describes Ninth ChordsWikipedia describes Minor Ninth ChordsWikipedia describes Eleventh Chords (or Dominant 11 Chords)Wikipedia describes Augmented 11 ChordsWikipedia describes Minor 11 ChordsWikipedia describes 13 Chords (or Dominant 13 Chords)Wikipedia describes Minor 13 ChordsWikipedia describes the Extended ChordWikipedia describes Tri-TonesWikipedia describes Tri-ChordsWikipedia describes TetrachordsWikipedia describes PentachordsWikipedia describes HexachordsWikipedia describes Neapolitan ChordsWikipedia describes Chord ProgressionsWikipedia describes Slash ChordsWikipedia describes Compound ChordsWikipedia describes Jazz ChordsWikipedia describes Modulation using Chords
You may also visit these sites to create various chords:Piano Chord DictionarySheet Music USA explains about ChordsPiano Chords ChartPiano Chords Chart 2Piano Chord FinderNathan Andersen’s Piano-ChordsPiano Room Chord ChartPocket Piano Chord FinderKeyboard ChordsDanman’s Picture ChordsPiano Chords (Shane Mcdonald)Scales and Chords for piano from a Passion for JazzChord Progression Generator
In addition, as a resource for piano teachers and piano students, Music Motivation® has several FREE downloadable PDF resources available on this blog website.If you know of any other additional resources and website links you would like included on this page, please email Music Motivation® at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Copyright © 2010 by Music Motivation® - All Rights ReservedLast Updated (Friday, 04 June 2010 04:59) |
About Music Motivation®Saturday, 24 April 2010 00:00 | Written by Music Motivation® |
About Music Motivation®
Music that excites, entertains, and educates! - Let music motivate you!™ Music Motivation® is dedicated to motivating music students of all ages with “Music that excites, entertains, and educates”™. The three main areas of focus for Music Motivation® are: Theory Therapy™, Innovative Improvisation™, and Creative Composition™. One of our primary goals at Music Motivation® is to help prepare the next generation of composers, arrangers, musicians, music teachers, and musicologists to use their music and their love of music to make a difference in their own lives, their community, and the world.
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Copyright © 2010 by Music Motivation® - All Rights Reserved Last Updated (Wednesday, 30 June 2010 18:30) |
Jerald M. Simon
"Starting Over" by Jerald M. Simon
