Free Online Piano Lesson 6: The Layer Cake of Sound
Source:Internet Posted by:Learntopianoonline.com Date:2010-01-03 Click:
You've now seen how notes and intervals jump around the keyboard to make melody, the vertical aspect of music. But what about the horizontal? In this lesson you will learn how stacks of notes form chords. After reading this lesson you will be able to form your own chords and use them to create whatever music you like.
The most common type of chord is the triad. A triad is three notes stacked in thirds, the root(1,) third, and fifth. If you make a triad on all notes of a scale you will have all the chords associated with that key. To learn how major and minor chords are formed let's first take a look at the major scale. The first and most basic chord found in music is the major chord. In order for a chord to be major, the first interval must be a major third and the second interval a minor third. The interval from the first note to the third note is always a perfect fifth. Let's say we're in the key of "C." If we start on "C" and build a triad, then a third up from "C" is "E" and a third up from "E" is "G." The triad is now "C," "E," and "G." If we do the same thing starting on "D" we get "D," "F," and "A". From D to F, however is a minor third, and from F to A is the major third. This is the pattern for a minor chord. In this case we find that the chord starting on the second scale degree is a minor chord. If you continue to check this pattern for the triads of all scale degrees, you will find this pattern:
When looking at the vii° chord you can see that it's diminished. This is commonly written as vii with a raised circle after it. This means that whereas a minor chord is formed of a minor 3rd followed by a major 3rd, the diminished chord is composed of two minor 3rds. In the key of "C" the chord constructed on the 7th scale degree would be B,D,F (2 minor 3rds.) When a triad is constructed of two major 3rds you get what is called an augmented chord. One place this chord appears is when building a triad on the second scale degree (supertonic) in a minor key.
With so many choices of chords available, you're probably wondering which are important to know and use. Well it's actually much simpler than you think. In most rock and pop songs only the primary chords I, IV, and V are used. Practice playing I, IV, I, V, I in the key of C. The notes you should be playing are C,E,G for the "C" chord (I); F,A,C for the "F" chord (IV); and then G,B,D for the "G" chord (V). After learning these chords you have endless possibilities for songs and melodies. Often you will hear the "G" chord played as a V7 chord. These means that instead of playing three notes stacked in 3rds, (1,3,5,) you play four and include the minor 7th of the G scale along with the "G" chord (1,3,5,min7). These same ideas can be applied to any chord in any key, but it is commonly applied to the V chord.
Now that you've learned how 7th chords are constructed, it's easy to learn the form for 9th, 11th and 13th chords. The pattern for these chords is simply to keep stacking notes in thirds until you get to the 9th, 11th, or 13th note of a scale. Although some notes are often left out for simplicity's sake, we will learn the theoretical version. A 9th chord in C, for example, would include the following notes C,E,G,B-flat, D. To make this chord an 11th chord we would add an F, and to make it a 13th chord we would add an A (C,E,G,B-flat,D,F,A.) So, 13th chords cover every letter name in a chord stacked in thirds.
When playing all the notes of a chord simultaneously it is called a block chord. Another way of playing chords is broken or arpeggiated , which means playing each note separately. You can also invert a chord and play it either in block or broken style. Inverting a chord means that the root(1) of the chord is no longer the lowest note. An "F" chord, for instance, would be F,A,C in root position. When inverted, the chord could either be played in first inversion as A,C,F, or in second inversion as C,F,A.
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