What are chords ?
Chords are a group of notes played simultaneously to create a harmony. They help structure and give texture to songs and can even provide a rhythm depending on how they are played.
Triad = A triad is a set of three notes/pitch classes(notes that are whole octaves apart)
It consists of the root, third and fifth notes. There are different types of triads: Major, minor, diminished and augmented.
“A certain chord at a certain time in a chord progression can drastically change the narrative of your song from happy to sad or dark to light with one simple chord choice.” (McGuire, 2020). This quote is spot on to how I see chords; They are a key item in determining the mood and emotion of a song.
One easy emotion depiction is the use of Major and Minor chords and chord progressions.
It’s commonly thought in music that Major is related to happiness and minor to sadness.
An experiment took place (Juslin, P.N. & Sloboda, J.A. (ed.) (2001)) played consonance(notes in harmony) and dissonant sounds/music to children who have never been exposed to music before. It was shown that the children preferred the consonance sounds over dissonant. ‘the authors suggested that the human infant might possess a biological preparedness that makes consonance more attractive than dissonance.’ (Juslin, P.N. & Sloboda, J.A. (ed.) (2001))
This research suggests that we biologically prefer nice, in tune, music and sounds. If you link this to your own personal experience this is true, you only listen to music that’s pleasing to your ears. ‘theory predicts that if I have to listen to music that I tend to abhor and that in addition disturbs my concentration on an important task at hand’ (Juslin, P.N. & Sloboda, J.A. (ed.) (2001)) this suggests that we only listen to music that we find aesthetically pleasing to us. It would make sense if this would also apply to creating music.
Here are some different types of chords that can be incorporated into your songs. I’m going to give examples using the root note A.
Major = A
A major chord is built using the major scale from a root note (1st), major 3rd and a perfect 5th.
Major chords sound bright, happy and cheerful.
Minor = Am
A minor chord is built using the minor scale from a root note(1st), minor 3rd and a perfect 5th.
Minor chords sound melancholy, serious and sad.
Seventh chords consist of a triad and the seventh note from the root note. These chords tend to add more flavour and colour to a chord progression.
A major chord is built using the major scale from a root note (1st), major 3rd, perfect 5th and major 7th. Casing the chord to sound soft compared to the simple major chord.
A minor chord is built using the minor scale from a root note(1st), minor 3rd and perfect 5th and minor 7th. Causing the chord to sound moody and not so sad compared to the A minor chord.
Here are some other different types of chords:
Diminished = A sharp minor
A diminished chord is built from a root note (1st), a minor 3rd, and a diminished/flat 5th.
“In a minor chord, the perfect fifth is what provides resolution; but in a dim chord, the fifth has been flattened.” (Kraemer, 2019) This causes a diminished chord to sound dark, unsettling, dissonant sounding.
A dominant seventh chord is built up of a root note (1st), a major third, a perfect 5th and a minor 7th. It’s restless sounding and doesn’t have a resolution.
Suspended =
There are two different types of suspended chords: Sus2 and Sus4.
Asus2 chord consists of a root note (1st), a major second and a perfect fifth.
Asus4 chord is built of a root note (1st), a major fourth and a perfect fifth.
Both chords sound bright with slight tension.
An augmented chord consists of a root note (1st), a major third and an augmented 5th. Causing it to sound suspenseful and tense.
My experience:
To go along with my research I am creating a small EP which includes a happy, sad and angry song.
‘Happy Steph’ as named is a “Happy” song. However, people's feedback has been said to have sounded major and minor.
Most recent bounce for ‘Happy Steph’.
I’m going to analyse my use of chords and chord progression:
Verse Chords
=
Am, C, Em, F
Pre Chorus Chords
=
Am, C, Em, F
Am, C, Em, G
Chorus Chords
=
C, Em, Am, G, F
Throughout this entire song I am in the key of C Major. However, with the minor chords being more prominent and focal in the verse and pre-chorus these parts sound hopeful.
The chorus chord progression sounds very bright,happy and cheerful compared to the verses and pre chorus. This is because of going down the scale and the bounciness of the chords.
UNIT 10 Research
Major: bright, happy and cheerful
Minor: melancholy, dim and sad
Example chord progressions relating to moods and emotions:
It is commonly thought in music that Major is related to happiness and minor to sadness. When you compare Major and minor keys: Major sounds bright and cheerful; while minor sound more melancholy.
This song counters that common though because it’s written in minor and sounds happy.
With the instrumentation, chord structures and lyrical content it sounds happy and upbeat. It’s a more mellow happy however the emotion is still comprehensible.
This website gives examples of what it would sound like in Major and it's awful.
An experiment taken place (Juslin, P.N. & Sloboda, J.A. (ed.) (2001)) played consonance(notes in harmony) and dissonant sounds/music to children who have never been exposed to music before. It was shown that the children preferred the consonance sounds over dissonant. ‘the authors suggested that the human infant might possess a biological preparedness that makes consonance more attractive than dissonance.’ (Juslin, P.N. & Sloboda, J.A. (ed.) (2001))
This research suggests that we biologically prefer nice, in tune, music and sounds. If you link this to your own personal experience this is true, you only listen to music that’s pleasing to your ears. ‘theory predicts that if I have to listen to music that I tend to abhor and that in addition disturbs my concentration on an important task at hand’ (Juslin, P.N. & Sloboda, J.A. (ed.) (2001)) this suggests that we only listen to music that we find aesthetically pleasing to us. It would make sense if this would also apply to creating music.
Bibliography:
Kraemer, B., 2019. Increase Your Musical Knowledge Of Diminished Chords. [online] LiveAbout. Available at: <https://www.liveabout.com/understanding-diminished-chords-2701092> [Accessed 24 March 2020].
music, u., n.d. Triads - Music Theory Academy. [online] Music Theory Academy. Available at: <https://www.musictheoryacademy.com/understanding-music/triads/> [Accessed 23 March 2020].
Juslin, P.N. & Sloboda, J.A. (ed.) (2001) Music and emotion: theory and research. Oxford ; New York :Oxford University Press. [Accessed 23 March. 2020].
McGuire, P., 2020. Chord Progressions: How Major And Minor Chords Work Your Song | LANDR. [online] LANDR Blog. Available at: <https://blog.landr.com/chord-progressions/> [Accessed 23 March 2020].