Talk:Chord (music)

What is a triad? Hyacinth 05:50, 22 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Here's my proposed outline:

1. intro
   1. In music and music theory a chord (from the middle English cord, short for accord) is three or more notes sounding simultaneously, or near simultaneously over a period of time. Broadly, any combination of three or more notes is a chord, although during the common practice period in western music and most popular music some combinations were given more prominence than others. Thus in common usage a chord is only those groups of three notes which are tonal or have diatonic functionality.
   2. A chord is thus also the harmonic function of the group of three notes, and it is unnessary to have all three notes form a simultaneity. Less than three notes may and often do function, in context, as a simultaneity of all notes of chord. One example is a power chord, another is a broken chord or arpeggio, where each note in a chord is sounded one after the other. One of the most familiar broken chord figures is Alberti bass. See: accompaniment.
2. Definition and Construction of Chords
   1. Chords are named for how many notes they contain and more commonly for what type of intervals they are constructed from.
   2. How many: trichord, tetrachord, hexachord, etc.
   3. What kind: tertian, secundal, quartal.
   4. Chords are labelled with chord symbols.
3. Triads: Major chord, minor chord, diminished chord, Augmented chord
4. Diatonic chords: Seventh chords, Added tone chords
5. Other chords: Polychords.