Important basic vocabulary for guitar players and musicians: Polyphony, chord and dyad
Guitar is a polyphonic instrument like piano. We can play single notes at a time or we can play two or more, up to six at a time. Two notes at a time is called a dyad, three or more are called a chord. Wikipedia puts this as well as anyone so I am going to quote them here. In lessons I will boil the idea of chords down to the most practical things beginners need to learn first (we start simple!) and we will proceed from there. Intermediate and advanced students can learn more about how harmony works, and more about fingerings and voicings for chords. Watch videos and other live performances to see what other guitar players are doing, we can learn a lot from the performances (and practices) we see on the internet. Eventually, as you learn more, you will begin to recognize what you are seeing and hearing. It is very exciting to be able to play the music you hear and see other people playing.
The most frequently encountered chords are triads, so called because they consist of three distinct notes: further notes may be added to give seventh chords, extended chords, or added tone chords. The most common chords are the major and minor triads and then the augmented and diminished triads. The descriptions major, minor, augmented, and diminished are sometimes referred to collectively as chordal quality. Chords are also commonly classed by their root note—so, for instance, the chord C major may be described as a triad of major quality built upon the note C. Chords may also be classified by inversion, the order in which the notes are stacked.
A series of chords is called a chord progression. Although any chord may in principle be followed by any other chord, certain patterns of chords have been accepted as establishing key in common-practice harmony. To describe this, chords are numbered, using Roman numerals, upwards from the key-note[6] (See diatonic function). Common ways of notating or representing chords[7] in western music other than conventional staff notation include Roman numerals, figured bass (much used in the Baroque era), macro symbols (sometimes used in modern musicology), and various systems of chord charts typically found in the lead sheets used in popular music to lay out the sequence of chords so that the musician may play accompaniment chords or improvise a solo.
It's worth noting (pun intended) that dyads are very commonly played. Here is a little more about them and how they are different than chords.
In music, a dyad is a set of two notes or pitches.[2] Although all chords
have three or more notes, in certain contexts (especially amongst
guitarists) a dyad may be considered to be a chord (such as the power chord, which contains three notes, but is not considered a chord by some because two of those notes are octave equivalent).
The most common two-note "chord" is made from the interval of a perfect fifth, which may be suggestive of music of the Medieval or Renaissance periods, or various kinds of rock music. When fifths are missing from major or minor triads, on the other hand, they may still suggest triads. For example, C and E may suggest a C major triad (C-E-G),[3] which in the key of F major is the dominant and would lead back to F, the tonic.
Since an interval is the distance between two pitches, dyads may be classified by the interval each entails. When the pitches of a dyad occur in succession, they may be regarded as forming a melodic interval. When they occur simultaneously, they may be regarded as forming a harmonic interval.
A relatively common guitar dyad is the 5th chord, which is composed of the root (tonic) note and a perfect fifth note.
Chord (music)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article describes pitch simultaneity and harmony in music. For other meanings of the word, see Chord.
The most frequently encountered chords are triads, so called because they consist of three distinct notes: further notes may be added to give seventh chords, extended chords, or added tone chords. The most common chords are the major and minor triads and then the augmented and diminished triads. The descriptions major, minor, augmented, and diminished are sometimes referred to collectively as chordal quality. Chords are also commonly classed by their root note—so, for instance, the chord C major may be described as a triad of major quality built upon the note C. Chords may also be classified by inversion, the order in which the notes are stacked.
A series of chords is called a chord progression. Although any chord may in principle be followed by any other chord, certain patterns of chords have been accepted as establishing key in common-practice harmony. To describe this, chords are numbered, using Roman numerals, upwards from the key-note[6] (See diatonic function). Common ways of notating or representing chords[7] in western music other than conventional staff notation include Roman numerals, figured bass (much used in the Baroque era), macro symbols (sometimes used in modern musicology), and various systems of chord charts typically found in the lead sheets used in popular music to lay out the sequence of chords so that the musician may play accompaniment chords or improvise a solo.
It's worth noting (pun intended) that dyads are very commonly played. Here is a little more about them and how they are different than chords.
Dyad (music)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The most common two-note "chord" is made from the interval of a perfect fifth, which may be suggestive of music of the Medieval or Renaissance periods, or various kinds of rock music. When fifths are missing from major or minor triads, on the other hand, they may still suggest triads. For example, C and E may suggest a C major triad (C-E-G),[3] which in the key of F major is the dominant and would lead back to F, the tonic.
Since an interval is the distance between two pitches, dyads may be classified by the interval each entails. When the pitches of a dyad occur in succession, they may be regarded as forming a melodic interval. When they occur simultaneously, they may be regarded as forming a harmonic interval.
A relatively common guitar dyad is the 5th chord, which is composed of the root (tonic) note and a perfect fifth note.
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