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{{wiktionary|chord}}
* In ''']''', a '''chord''' is a ] whose endpoints both lie on a ]. The ] ] of any chord passes through the circle's center.
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* In reference to ''']''', '''chord''' refers to the distance between the front and back of a wing, referred to as the leading and trailing edges, measured in the direction of the normal airflow. The term chord was selected due to the curved nature of the wings surface. See ]
<!-- MoS:Disambiguation - prefer ONE LINK per entry, short descriptions. -->
* In ''']''' a '''chord''' is three or more pitches sounded simultaneously. Chords are named according to the notes of the ] that they contain.
<!-- Avoid piping, external links, and red links with little article potential -->
(NOTE: some chords can have "implicit" notes, that is notes not actually sounding, <br> but experienced)<br> (NOTE 2: two notes sounded simultaneously are called the same <br> as the distance between those notes: an interval)
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'''Chord''' or '''chords''' may refer to:
{{TOC right}}
== Art and music ==
* ], an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** ], a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* ], 1970s British mod revival band
* ], 1950s American doo-wop group
* ], a c.1715 painting by Antoine Watteau
* ], a comic book character who is the former mentor of the New Warriors


== Mathematics ==
The remainder of this article is about the musical chord.
* ], a line segment joining two points on a curve
* ], an edge joining two nonadjacent nodes in a cycle


== People ==
---------
* ], American actor and musician
* ], a Swedish hiphop/reggae artist


== The Triad == == Programming ==
* ], a concurrency construct in some object-oriented programming languages
* ], a peer-to-peer protocol and algorithm for distributed hash tables (DHT)


== Science and technology ==
The most commonly used chords in western music, '''triads''' are the basis of ], and are composed of three notes: a root note, a note which is an ] of a third above the root, and a note which is an interval of a fifth above the root.
* ], a line crossing a foreground astronomical object during an occultation which gives an indication of the object's size and/or shape
* ] (CHORD), a proposed successor to the ]<!--https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.01777, 1911.02108, 1910.02889 Seems article-worthy as success of CHIME makes funding likelier; will use ideas from ]-->
* ], the distance between the front and back of a wing, measured in the direction of the normal airflow. The term chord was selected due to the curved nature of the wing's surface
* Chord in ] construction – an outside member of a truss, as opposed to the inner "webbed members"
* In British railway terminology, a ] can refer to a short curve of track connecting two otherwise unconnected railway lines.
*], the capability to perform an action when holding multiple buttons on a computer mouse.
*], a computer device allowing for input based on pressing multiple keys simultaneously


== See also ==
For example, an ] of the C ] consists of the notes: C D E F G A B C.
* Animal taxonomy ] (chordata) and eponymous ]
* {{lookfrom}}
* {{intitle}}
* ]


{{disambiguation}}
]<br>
''Fig 1. The C major scale''

The triad formed using the C note as the root would consist of C (the root note of the scale), E (the third note of the scale) and G (the fifth).

]<br>
''Fig 2. C, E and G - The C major triad''

Using the same scale (and thus, implicitly, the key of C major) a chord may be constructed using the D as the root note. This would be D (root), F (third), A (fifth).

It should be immediately apparent on hearing these two chords that they have a different quality to them: one which does not stem merely from the difference in pitch between their roots C and D. Examination at the piano keyboard will reveal that there are four ]s between the root and third of the chord on C, but only 3 semitones between the root and third of the chord on D.

The triad on C is thus called a major triad, or '''major chord''', and the interval from C to E a major third. The smaller interval from root to third in the D chord is called a minor third, and the chord is D minor.

A triad can be constructed on any note of the C major scale. These will all be either minor or major, with the exception of the triad on B, the ] (the last note) of the scale, which is diminished. See also ].

=== Types of triads ===

As well as major and minor, there can also be ''augmented'' and ''diminished'' triads. These four are referred to collectively as the ''quality'' of the chord. For instance a triad built on top of a root D in the key of C would be said to have a ''minor quality''.

Augmented triads are composed of a major 3rd but an augmented 5th (meaning the top note has been increased by one semitone.) Diminished triads have a minor 3rd and a diminished 5th (same as a minor triad, except the top note has been lowered by a semitone.) These rules summarise the type of triads encountered so far:

*Major triad: root, major 3rd, perfect 5th
*Minor triad: root, minor 3rd, perfect 5th
*Augmented triad: root, major 3rd, augmented 5th
*Diminished triad: root, minor 3rd, diminished 5th

Each note has a function within the chord, the note the chord is built on is called the ''root'' of the chord, the second note a third above it is called the ''third'' of the chord, and the third note a third above the second note is called the ''fifth'' of the chord. This is true of all triads, regardless of ''key'', ], or ''quality''. For example, in an F chord, F is always the root, A (sharp, natural or flat) is always the third, and C(sharp, natural, or flat) is always the fifth.

Tonal music relies upon a ] to indicate the natural relationships between the major and minor chords that result from the natural ] relationships. For instance, in any major key, the ''quality'' of a chord built on the fifth note of the scale will be major. This is because of the constant relationship between the tonal intervals of major scale. Chords are notated by the scale degree of their root, although there are many different conventions for indicating the ''quality'' and ''inversion'' of the chord. For Example, since the first scale degree of the C major scale is the note C, a triad built on top of the note C would be called the ''one'' chord, which might be notated 1, I, or even C in which case the assumption would be made that the ] of the particular piece of music in question would indicate to the musician what function a C major triad was playing, and that any special functioning of the chord outside of its normal diatonic function would be inferred due to context.

Chords are also said to have a function in their diatonic scale, which relates to the expected resolution of each chord within a key. The strongest form of motion has root movement by fifth, which is the characteristic sound used as finality in most music of the baroque and classical periods, and is also exploited to ] a piece of music into a different key. The chord function for a major scale is as follows:

*The I, III and VI chord are said to have a Tonic Function, due to the fact that they have a stable sound and do not have a tendency to resolve. When a ] resolves to a III or IV chord, it is called a Tonic Substitution, because the stable III or VI chord is being used as a substitute for the expected I chord.

*The VII and the V chord are said to have a Dominant Function, and they have a strong tendency to resolve to other chords. The five down a perfect fifth to the I chord and the VII chord up a minor second to the I chord, due to the expected resolution of the ], or the highly unstable diminished fifth which is present in a diatonic VII chord.

*The II and IV chord's have Subdominant Function, partially due to the fact that they are a fifth away from the Dominant chords of a key, and partially because in their own Tonic keys, their respective Dominant chords are built on the root notes of the stable Tonic function I and VI. They are also referred to as Dominant Preparation chords, and are used to approach a Dominant function chord. The progression IV-V-I, (subdominant, dominant, tonic) is by far the most common chord progression in all of music, and can be found in an astonishingly wide variety of styles, forms, and genres.

The spellings of the diatonic triads of the C major scale are given in the following table, along with their quality, name, and function"

I -- C E G -- major -- C major -- tonic
ii -- D F A -- minor -- D minor -- subdominant
iii -- E G B -- minor -- E minor -- tonic
IV -- F A C -- major -- F major -- subdominant
V -- G B D -- major -- G major -- dominant
vi -- A C E -- minor -- A minor -- tonic
vii dim-- B D F -- dim. -- B dim -- dominant

There is another type of chord function, ], which is reserved for non-diatonic chords, or chords that do not occur naturally in the diatonic key, and will be dealt with separately under the heading ''Modal Interchange''.

=== Inverted Triads ===

Triads are said to be inverted when a note other than the root is the lowest note played. There are three types of ]s, or ''positions'', for triads.

*Root position is when the chord is played in ascending thirds with its root note in the bass.

*First Inversion when the chord consists of a major or minor sixth and a major or minor third, and the third of the chord is in the bass

*Second Inversion when the chord consists of a perfect or, less common, augmented or diminished 4th, and a major or minor sixth, with the fifth of the chord in the bass.

Various compositional techniques in classical music have made use of inversion for a variety of interesting effects.

=== Naming and Chord Notation===

In ], triads are named using the ] for the scale degree of the root note in the key of the moment. For example in the key of C major, any triad with C as its root is named I. A triad beginning on a E (the third note of the scale of C major) would be named III etc... Written in lowercase next to the roman numeral of the triad is its particular ] (a description of which notes have been moved up an octave.) A ''first inversion'' triad has an 'a' in its name (eg. the first inversion of chord V is Va.) A ''second inversion'' triad has a 'b', and a ''third inversion'' triad has a c.

Possibly more common is the use of ] as a means of notating chord inversions, particularly in music from the ] period. Figured bass uses a combination of Roman numerals and ] to indicate the function of the chord (given by the roman numeral) and the chord's inversion (given by the arabic figured bass). For instance, a first inversion chord would have the designation 6/3 since there is a note a sixth and a third above the bass note. Common practice shortens this to just the 6 since it is the characteristic interval of the inversion.

Patterns with the type of chords found in major keys can be seen when using this naming scheme:

*In a major key, the major triads are: I, IV, V
*In a major key, the minor triads are: II, III, VI
*In a major key, the triad on VII is diminished

Another common form of notation makes use of lower case roman numerals to denote minor chords, so the chords would be written I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii dim.

There are a number of ways that a diminished chord can be notated, the most common being the use of a small superscript circle, or the abbreviation '''dim.''' being written next to the chord.

Also common is the use of a minus sign to indicate minor chords. Using this system, the triads of the major scale would be written: I, II-, III-, IV, V, VI-, and VII dim. The superscript circle is also occasionally used to indicate a diminished chord in this system.

=== Suspended chords ===

A suspended chord is a chord in which the third is replaced with either a fourth or a major second, although the fourth is far more common.

This type of sound is borrowed from the contrapuntal technique of ''suspension'', where a note from a previous chord is carried over to the next chord, and then resolved down to the third, ''suspending'' the previous chord.

Suspended chords are most commonly found in folk and pop music, and do not necessarily prepare the ear for a resolution.

== Seventh Chords ==

The next natural step in composing chords is to add the note a third above the fifth of the chord, or the seventh of the chord. In its earliest usage, the seventh was introduced solely as an ] or ]. The seventh destabilized the triad, and allowed the composer to emphasize movement in a given direction. As time progressed and the collective ears of the western world became more accustomed to dissonance, the seventh was allowed to become a part of the chord itself, and in modern music, and jazz in particular, nearly every chord is a seventh chord.

=== Types of Seventh Chords ===

There are 6 types of seventh chords composed of the following intervals:

*Major Seventh: root, major third, perfect fifth, major seventh
*Minor Seventh: root, minor third, perfect fifth, minor seventh
*Dominant Seventh: root, major third, perfect fifth, minor seventh
*Minor/Major Seventh: root, minor third, perfect fifth, major seventh
*Half Diminished Seventh: root, minor third, perfect fifth, minor seventh
*Full Diminished Seventh: root, minor third, diminished fifth, diminished seventh

=== The dominant seventh ===

Of all the seventh chords, perhaps the most important to understand is the dominant seventh chord. Called the Dominant Seventh because it's intervallic relationships occur naturally in the seventh chord built on the dominant scale degree of a given key, the dominant seventh chord was the first to begin to appear regularly in Western music.

The dominant seventh chord is useful to composers because of the fact that it is a major chord with a very strong sound, that also includes a ] between the third and seventh of the chord. In a diatonic context, the third of the chord is the ] of the scale, which has a strong tendency to pull towards the tonal center, or root note, of the key. This, in combination with the strength of ], and the natural resolution of the dominant triad to the tonic triad, creates an incredibly satisfying resolution with which to end a piece. Because of this original usage, it also quickly became an easy way to trick the listeners ear with a deceptive ].

The most important usage, though, is the way that the introduction of a non-diatonic dominant seventh chord which is borrowed from another key, can allow the composer to ] to that other key.

This technique is extremely common, particularly since the classical period, and has lead to further innovative uses of the dominant seventh chord such as ], ], and ] chords.

=== Major and Minor Seventh Chords ===

(needs writing and possibly corrections)

Minor seventh chords are pretty much like dominant seventh chords, except that they have a minor triad instead of a major one. Their sound is more harmonious than that of a dominant seventh due to the lack of a tritone. However, there is still a major second interval providing some dissonance to the chord. A minor seventh chord can also double as a major sixth chord (e. g. C-Eb-G-Bb-C represents both Cm7 and Eb6). Major seventh chords are, I believe, a more recent invention, and consist of a major triad with a major seventh on top. Due to the minor second interval, these chords frequently sound very dissonant, but can sometimes have a very melancholy flavor.

=== Half Diminished Seventh Chords ===

=== Seventh Chords not from the major key ===

=== Sixth Chords ===

== Nonchord tones/Tensions ==

== Modal Interchange ==

== Hybrid Chords ==

== Polychords ==

Latest revision as of 09:25, 27 May 2024

Chord or chords may refer to:

Art and music

Mathematics

People

Programming

Science and technology

  • Chord (astronomy), a line crossing a foreground astronomical object during an occultation which gives an indication of the object's size and/or shape
  • Canadian Hydrogen Observatory and Radio-transient Detector (CHORD), a proposed successor to the CHIME radio telescope
  • Chord (aeronautics), the distance between the front and back of a wing, measured in the direction of the normal airflow. The term chord was selected due to the curved nature of the wing's surface
  • Chord in truss construction – an outside member of a truss, as opposed to the inner "webbed members"
  • In British railway terminology, a chord can refer to a short curve of track connecting two otherwise unconnected railway lines.
  • Mouse chording, the capability to perform an action when holding multiple buttons on a computer mouse.
  • Chord keyboard, a computer device allowing for input based on pressing multiple keys simultaneously

See also

Topics referred to by the same term Disambiguation iconThis disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Chord.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Category: