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20240924121346-What_Chords_Are

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What Chords Are

To elaborate on what has been stated in 20240904095922-Chords:

From From “The Basic Triad¨ in Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers

When we talk about chords, we are usually talking about groups of three or four notes. Technically, we can call any two notes a chord […]

Chords are essentially groups of two or more “notes,¨ or rather pitches or (mechanical) keys. There are names for the different groupings of in-tune (mechanical) keys and their pitches:

  • Diad for groupings of two notes
  • Triad for groupings of three notes, which are more commonly used

From From “The Basic Triad¨ in Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers

A diad is just a group of two notes. Usually though, chords are built as triads - a group of three notes.

However, not any group of “notes¨ is necessarily a triad–the notes so grouped conventionally bare some relationship to an existing scale (see 20240904103821-Musical_Scale_and_Key_Patterns & 20240904131349-Scale_Degrees):

From “The Basic Triad¨ in Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers

Any three notes can be called a triad. But we usually follow a strict recipe to choose which notes to use, which ultimately make the best sounding chords that stay in a given key. In other words: if you want it to sound like chords you are familiar with, you need to follow the rules of how to build triads.

One can assume this applies as well to diads and other groupings.

Finally, a chord can be a triad while using more than three notes, provided only three kinds of notes are used (Allen 2018, 74):

From “Octaves & The Guitar¨ in Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers

Here, we see only C, E, and G, but with a second octave of C and E in the chord. Even though this chord appears to have five notes, it is still simply a C major triad, because it only has three unique notes.

diad chord key musical_scale music_theory scales group set music musical_key musical_chord

bibliography

  • “The Basic Triad.” In Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers: The Producer’s Guide to Harmony, Chord Progressions, and Song Structure in the MIDI Grid., 1st ed., 70–71. Minneapolis, MN: Slam Academy, 2018.
  • “Octaves & The Guitar.” In Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers: The Producer’s Guide to Harmony, Chord Progressions, and Song Structure in the MIDI Grid., 1st ed., 74. Minneapolis, MN: Slam Academy, 2018.

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