Any
one note played is called ”unison". Any two notes played constitute an
"interval". But if you have 3 or more notes played simultaneously (or
at least reasonably close together), you have a "chord/triad".
So a
chord is simply a group of 3 or more notes played together.
A
3-note chord is called a "triad" (trio -- tricycle -- 3), and triads
are the most basic form of chord. There are 4 kinds of triads:
Major
triads
Minor
triads
Diminished
triads
Augmented
triads
If
chords were a meal, major chords would be the main dish, minor chords would be
a side dish, and diminished and augmented chords would be the salt and pepper
of the meal. In fact, diminished and augmented chords ARE the salt and pepper
of music. We don't dwell on them, but use them to add spice and flavor to our
musical pieces.
Major
triads are composed of the root, 3rd, and 5th of a major scale. So if we want a C chord, we simply take the 1st
note of the C scale, which is "C" (also called the root), the 3rd
note of the C scale, which is "E", and the 5th note of the C scale ,
which is "G". Those 3 notes together comprise the C Major chord.
Minor
triads are composed of the root, flat
3rd, and 5th of a major scale. So C minor would be "C",
Eb", and "G". The only difference between major and minor is the
flat 3rd in a minor chord.
Diminished
triads are composed of the root, flat 3rd,
and flat 5th. So C diminished would be "C", "Eb",
and "Gb". The only difference between minor and diminished is the
flat 5th in a diminished chord.
Augmented
triads are composed of the root, the 3rd, and
a raised 5th. So C augmented would be "C",
"E", and "G#". The only difference between augmented and
major is the sharp 5th in an augmented chord.
Symbols for these triads:
Major
maj (or just a capitol letter such as "C")
Minor
min m - (minus sign) (or just a lower case letter such as "c")
Diminished
dim (or a small circle beside a lower case letter -- like a degree sign)
Augmented aug + (plus sign)
NOTE:
In music you'll find all four kinds of these triads used, but far and away the
most used type is the major triad -- probably 75% or more of all chords are
major. Next comes minor chords -- maybe 15% of the chords in all of music are
minor. Bringing up the rear are diminished and augmented chords -- they are
only used perhaps 2% of the time.
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