Chord Structure
The importance of chords in creating our game music is that they fill out the sound, add mood, and perhaps, keep rhythm. Chords are two or more notes being played together. In the Scales section, we discussed the Roman Numeral system of numbering the notes in a chromatic scale. In this section, we will use those numbers to create recipes for chords. Take any note, for example "C", and look at the chromatic scale in numeral form: C-- C#--D----D#----E------F---F#---G---G#--A- --A#---B----C I-II# - II --II#-- III -- IV-- IV#- V-- V#-- VI --VI- VII-- I To create a C major chord you would play C-E-G, or the numerals I-III-V. So to make a major chord, the recipe is the first, third, and fifth notes of the major scale.
Above is the C chord in music notation, and as played on the piano keyboard.
Here are some chord recipes, and how they sound.
Major | I, III. V |
Minor | I, IIIb, V |
Sixth | I, III, V, VI |
Seventh | I, III, V, VIIb |
Major seventh | I, III, V, VII |
Diminished | I, IIIb, Vb, VI |
Augmented | I, III. V# |
Minor seventh | I, IIIb, V, VIIb |
When playing these chords, the order of the notes can be changed, so there are many ways of playing the same chord. Each will sound slightly different. These are called Inversions. For instance, the major chord could be played [I, III, V ]or [III, V, I] or [ V, III, I] etc. Also, it isn't necessary to play full chords....often several notes of the chord will be all you need.
Chords are used in several ways. When played rhythmically as in strumming a guitar, they can help keep the beat, or play counter rhythms. If you think of an organ or string section, you will see that they are also used to fill the sound......add depth, and mood. Listen to the sample chords and see how they sound. What type of mood does each suggest to you? I think the minor chords feel sad or mysterious. The diminished are suspensful. Sixth's are airy, sevenths happy.....etc. So you can use chords to give your music a certain feeling or mood.