The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Music Theory

112 Par t 3:Tunes

Forming a Chord

Okay, here’s the formal definition: A chord is a combination of three or more

notes played together.

Let’s do a little exercise: Sit down at the nearest piano and put your right thumb

on one of the white keys. (It doesn’t matter which one.) Now skip a key and

put another finger on the third key. Skip another key and put a third finger on

the fifth key. You should now be pressing three keys, with an empty key between

each finger. Press down and listen to the music—you’re playing a chord!

Basic chords consist of just three notes, arranged in thirds, called a triad.The

most common triads are constructed from notes plucked from the underlying

scale, each note two steps above the previous note. So, for example, if you want

to base a chord on the tonic of a scale, you’d use the first, third, and fifth notes

of the scale. (Using the C Major scale, these notes would be C, E, and G.) If

you want to base a chord on the second degree of a scale, use the second,

fourth, and sixth notes of the scale. (Still using the C Major scale, these notes

would be D, F, and A.)

Building a three-note triad.

Within a specific chord, the first note is called the root—even if the chord isn’t

formed from the root of the scale. The other notes of the chord are named rel-

ative to the first note, typically being the third and the fifth above the chord’s

root. (For example, if C is the chord’s root, E is called the third and G is called

the fifth.) This is sometimes notated 1-3-5.

Different Types of Chords

Let’s go back to the piano. Putting your fingers on every other white note, form

a chord starting on middle C. (Your fingers should be on the keys C, E, and G.)

Nice sounding chord, isn’t it? Now move your fingers one key to the right, so

that you’re starting on D. (Your fingers should now be on the keys D, F, and A.)

This chord sounds different—kind of sad, compared to the happier C chord.

You’ve just demonstrated the difference between major and minor chords. The

first chord you played was a major chord: C Major. The second chord was a

minor chord—D minor. As with major and minor scales, major and minor

chords sound different to the listener, because the intervals in the chords are

slightly different.

The notes of a chord don’t

always have to be played

in unison. You can play

the notes one at a time,

starting (usually, but not

always) with the bottom

note. This is called arpeg-

giatingthe chord, and the

result is an arpeggio.

Note

You should always

spell a triad using every

other letter. So D
-F-A
is a

correct spelling (for a D


Major chord), but the en-

harmonic spelling of C-F-A

is wrong

Warning