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| − | You plug things in with chords.
| + | A '''chord''' in [[music]] consists of multiple [[musical note|notes]] played simultaneously, though two notes played simultaneously are usually called an interval. The notes used to "build" a chord are usually assigned numbers, starting with "1" to denote the "root" note, which provides the name of the chord. [[flat (music)|Flat]] (♭) and [[sharp (music)|sharp]] (#) symbols are used to alter the position in the [[key (music)|key]] that given notes are drawn from. In Western music, chords are based upon the interval of the third, whether major or minor. |
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| | + | There are many types of chords in Western music, including (examples all have C as the root): |
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| | + | *Major chord - consists of three notes with an interval of a major third followed by a minor third: 1-3-5, C-E-G |
| | + | *Minor chord - the third is dropped one half step: 1-♭3-5, C-D#-G |
| | + | *Power chord or open fifth - the third is dropped (common in hard rock): 1-5, C-G |
| | + | *Seventh chord - adds a fourth note, which depends on the key or sound desired. |
| | + | **Major seventh chord: 1-3-5-7, C-E-G-B |
| | + | **Major-minor seventh chord: 1-3-5-♭7, C-E-G-B♭ |
| | + | **Minor seventh chord: 1-♭3-5-♭7, C-E♭-G-B♭ |
| | + | **Half-diminished seventh chord: 1-♭3-♭5-♭7, C-E♭-G♭-B♭ |
| | + | **Fully-diminished seventh chord: 1-♭3-♭5-♭♭7, C-E♭-G♭-B♭♭ |
| | + | *Augmented chord - at its simplest, the fifth is raised a half step: 1-3-#5, C-E-G# |
| | + | *Diminished chord - the third and fifth are both dropped one half step: 1-♭3-♭5, C-E♭-G♭ |
| | + | *Ninth chord - at its simplest, adds a fifth note: 1-3-5-7-9, C-E-G-B-D |
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| | + | At this point, chords can start to have incredibly complex structures, for instance, the ninth chord described above could be minor, augmented, diminished, have a flat seventh, have missing notes between the root and the ninth, etc. |
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| | + | The use of different kinds of chords (and [[chord progression|chord progressions]]) is very important to the sound and feel of different styles and genres of music. |
| | + | [[category:music]] |