# Chord book project



## Davzon

I was thinking of creating my own chord book for my own reference but what way can I go about it. would I have to draw out the chords manually or is there some free program that embeds chords into documents? Or would I just have to use it in just letter such as a Minor flat five chord G Bb Db. Has anyone else thought about doing such a thing or am I just making more work for myself ?


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## PetrB

If I had my way, every chord book 'method' for piano and guitar in existence would be quietly sucked away into a black hole, leaving our little mote of the universe freer of bad music, banal music, and preventing ardent and eager people who want to write or play music from wasting tons of their time, as well as spoiling them for making better and more interesting music, i.e. line, and lines which make harmony.

There are four basic chord type, the triads are pairs of stacked thirds
Major = bottom interval, M3; top interval, m3
Minor = bottom interval, m3; top interval, M3
Augmented = both intervals M3
Diminished = both intervals m3

In tertian harmony (triads, chords as most think of 'em) adding (stacking up) another note to the chord alters its quality and character.

adding yet more thirds, using the notes of the scale,
from the root are added the 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th (which brings you back to tonic)
...another furtherance is adding those other scale pitches not in thirds from the root, the second degree, etc.

Also done are combining two or more chords, in various spacings. Sometimes they are used as separate key areas (polytonality) other times, they make up a tonal chord which is just richer and more ambiguous.

Now imagine all those possible combinations, and you'll get why learning a table of chords is not worth much at all... better to know how they're made up, and learn it that way.

Know the fundamentals, build those chords up in all and any key, and you will never need a @)$%$*# chord chart.

There you go -- a complete way to know ALL chords.


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## Ravndal

If you want to learn a basic thing or two - check out this site: http://www.musictheory.net/


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## schuberkovich

PetrB is right, once you know the fundamentals you can properly understand what is going on, and therefore be more creative and have more control. The fundamentals are really quite simple. What you want to get familiar with are the major and minor scales and the different triads built upon each note of the scale (in classical music usually denoted by Roman numerals - eg ii = minor chord based on the 2nd degree of the scale). Rules for each key can be applied to all other keys, and it is in fact rewarding to be able to truly understand what is going on.


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## PetrB

schuberkovich said:


> PetrB is right, once you know the fundamentals you can properly understand what is going on, and therefore be more creative and have more control....
> ...*it is in fact rewarding to be able to truly understand what is going on.*


*It is also light-years quicker in getting it -- and keeping it *


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## DrKilroy

This is a great chord book:












Best regards, Dr


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## Karabiner

DrKilroy said:


> This is a great chord book:
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> Best regards, Dr


Indeed, and one that currently sits on my desk with a rather older chord book.


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## hreichgott

If you want to play classical, your time is better spent practicing 5-10 mins of exercises then 20+ mins repertoire (old and new) daily than memorizing exotic chord types. Major, minor, dominant 7th and diminished 7th are really all you need to be aware of for most repertoire. You will encounter other chords from time to time of course, but the vast majority of the time those will actually be a simpler chord with a non-chord tone in the melody line, or a result of multiple voices moving at the same time between simpler chords. Much better to pour your energy into creating a beautiful tone in the melody, or tracking what's happening with the multiple voices. No one will ask you to identify the chord until a much later stage in your musical development.


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## Davzon

Well maybe I'm just being silly, cause my level of chord understanding aint that bad, it's just a bit slow on the up take. cause I use some simple tricks play chords such as major 7 chords just by playing a C major and a eminor and that works of cause in all keys just thinking, The Tonic and the Submediant. It's as PetrB said in with intervals for a major you have a major 3rd and for a minor you have a minor. so If i wanted a minor 7 chord I would just which the chords round so, then I'm play a minor 6 and then a major 1 chord.. but normally if there is a chord I like I'll just learn it in all keys by remembering something easy..


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## schuberkovich

Davzon said:


> Well maybe I'm just being silly, cause my level of chord understanding aint that bad, it's just a bit slow on the up take. cause I use some simple tricks play chords such as major 7 chords just by playing a C major and a eminor and that works of cause in all keys just thinking, The Tonic and the Submediant. It's as PetrB said in with intervals for a major you have a major 3rd and for a minor you have a minor. so If i wanted a minor 7 chord I would just which the chords round so, then I'm play a minor 6 and then a major 1 chord.. but normally if there is a chord I like I'll just learn it in all keys by remembering something easy..


By Major 7 chord do you mean dominant seventh? Because I doubt you would play a chord which goes C-E-G-B as there is the very dissonant interval of a major 7th - I think what you mean is C-E-G-Bflat, which is not C major + E minor. This is where it helps to know the fundamentals - as this is a dominant 7th, a V7 chord, starting on C it means that the key is F major. From there, you just play a major triad plus a third on top, and because F major has one flat, the 7th note is a B flat.


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## Mahlerian

schuberkovich said:


> By Major 7 chord do you mean dominant seventh? Because I doubt you would play a chord which goes C-E-G-B as there is the very dissonant interval of a major 7th - I think what you mean is C-E-G-Bflat, which is not C major + E minor. This is where it helps to know the fundamentals - as this is a dominant 7th, a V7 chord, starting on C it means that the key is F major. From there, you just play a major triad plus a third on top, and because F major has one flat, the 7th note is a B flat.


Major seventh chords are perfectly lovely, and are used very frequently in Jazz and popular music in addition to contemporary classical. For even more spice, go for a minor major seventh chord, associated in the minds of many with the James Bond theme.


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## schuberkovich

Mahlerian said:


> Major seventh chords are perfectly lovely, and are used very frequently in Jazz and popular music in addition to contemporary classical. For even more spice, go for a minor major seventh chord, associated in the minds of many with the James Bond theme.


I was mistaken then. Major 7 chords especially are very _juicy_ and _crunchy_. If so, it is C major + E minor (which is actually the mediant). I still think it is beneficial to learn what's actually going on for when things become more complicated.


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## Taggart

Depends why you're using the beasties. If you're composing you need harmony theory. If you're playing, you need to know the progressions (aka harmony theory under another name) which is subtly different because you need to know how to move between chords.

There is no point in chord charts for either because if you know your harmony theory, you don't need it for composing and if you know your standard progressions and one or two twiddles, you don't need it because you wont be playing "straight" chords you'll have inversions and splits between the hands to contend with.


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## Davzon

schuberkovich said:


> I was mistaken then. Major 7 chords especially are very _juicy_ and _crunchy_. If so, it is C major + E minor (which is actually the mediant). I still think it is beneficial to learn what's actually going on for when things become more complicated.


Ya, thanks for correcting that the submediant is infact the mediant. Don't know why I messed that up, normally I'm very good with theory. I understand learning the notes for the chords important but using easy tricks to first learn them helpful. I mean I am amazed at how many jazz Pianists just seem to know endless chords with just a blink of an eye.

I love harmony, cause I love writing songs but at the moment I'm at a block and need new ideas sometimes learning new chords inspires me. Also I want to write a orchestral piece at some point in my life, so of cause knowing what notes and chords go well together will help no end.


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## Taggart

Davzon said:


> I mean I am amazed at how many jazz Pianists just seem to know endless chords with just a blink of an eye.


The quickness of the hand... One of the beauties of the piano is the way chords lie under your hand - thumb on the chord root, 3rd finger goes (more or less) on the third note up and fifth finger on the fifth note. Once you get to know your progressions, you know how to split the chords between the hands - useful for 7ths - and how to move the hands to get the sequence without any parallel fifths or octaves. That's part of the theory - chords on their own are a sequence of notes. If you orchestrate, you need to be able to do voice leading properly but if you play jazz (or folk or any chordal accompaniment) then you get to the stage where you can do it partly by ear and partly by hand memory because you know the moves that work for your hands *and* sound *right*.

Keep playing, keep listening and try and work out what they are doing and why it sounds good.


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## Davzon

well I've started to just, play the same chord differently cause there is closed voicing, open voicing. At the moment just learning 2 5 1 progressions in all keys. I have to admit it's helpful knowing what notes make up the chords though cause when you mess around with the voicing it helps. I did start playing chords in all inversions but if I'm being honest most I wouldn't use cause they don't sound as good. It is amazing that just inverting a chord can change the sound so much. Drop 2 and drop 3 voicing is also good, but I've been told that's good if you're playing with a bass player. Well at the end of the day all I can do is my best, and there is always room for improvement.


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