Chord Basics - Medeli M-30 Instruction Manual

Chord Basics

Three or more notes played together constitute a " chord ".
The most basic chord type is the "triad" consisting three notes:
the root, third, and fifth degrees of the corresponding scale.
A "C major triad", for example, is made up of the notes C (the root),
E(the third note of the C major scale),and G (the fifth note of the
C major scale).
In the C major triad shown as above, the lowest note is the " root" of the chord(this is the chord 's "root
position"...using other chord notes for the lowest note results in "inversion"). The root is the central
sound of the chord, which supports and anchors other chord notes.
The distance(interval) between adjacent notes of triad in root position is either a major or minor third.
The lowest interval in our root-position triad (between the root and the third) determines whether the triad
is a major or minor chord, and we can shift the highest note up or down by a semitone to produce two
additional chords, as shown below.
The basic characteristics of the chord sound remain intact even if we change the order of the notes to create
different inversions. Successive chords in a chord progression can be smoothly connected, for example, by
choosing the appropriate inversions (or chord "voicings ").
Reading Chord Names
Chord names tell you just about everything you need to know about
a chord (other than the inversion/voicing). The chord name tells you
what the root of a chord is, whether it is a major, minor, or diminished,
whether it requires a major or flatted seventh and what alterations
or tension does it use...all at a glance.
Some Chord Types
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