UNIT 1
BUILDING MUSIC VOCABULARY ____________________________________________________________________________________________LESSON FIVE: Chords
Chords
A chord is a group of notes that are played at the same time. They are used to accompany melodies, to give the melody harmonic support. A simple type of chord is called Triad. A Triad is made up of three notes: the root, third and fifth. The name of the chord is always taken from the root.
C chord Root Third FifthActivity 1
Write down the following chords: C, D, F and G.
Now, fill in the notes of the named chords below:
Chord of CChord of D
Chord of F
Chord of G
Quality of chord
Depending on the tones and semitones the chords are built they are named:
We are going to talk about just Major and minor chords because they are the basics ones.
A triad is described as Major or minor according to whether the third above the root is Major or minor.
See the Chord Quality Box
Major chord
Major 3rd + minor 3rd minor chord minor 3rd + Major 3rd Augmented chord Major 3rd + Major 3rd diminished chord minor 3rd + minor 3rd
Activity 2
Write an example of each chord inside the third column of the box above.
Activity 3
Ask your partner about chords. Follow this English pattern:
Could you tell me the notes of G minor?
What are the notes of C Major chord?
They are: G - B
- D
They are: C - E - G
Activity 4
Listen to the chords the teacher will play and say whether they are Major or minor. You will realize that minor chords are sadder that Major ones.
a. ____________
b. ____________
c. ____________
d. ____________
Activity 5
Complete the following triads by adding the note that is missing. The root of the chord is shown by the letter above each bar.
C F Cm Dm G F D
Notice that we have to write a small m to indicate that the chord is minor.
Chords and ScalesLet's see the relation between chords and scales. We take, as an example, C Major scale. Each note of the scale is identified with a degree. These degrees are written in Roman numeral
I II III IV V VI VII I
Each degree has it own name (see the box below), and every scale degree has its own chord. These names show us the importance that each degree has inside the scale or inside the music.
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
Tonic
Supertonic
Mediant
Subdominant
Dominant
Submediant
Leading note
Activity 6
Draw the D Major scale and write down the degrees and the names of each note.
Activity 7
Draw the D Major scale again and this time build the chord of every degree.
Activity 8
Answer these questions:
Could you say the most important degrees in the scale?______
If the answer is: Yes, tell which ones are they and why ____ ____ ____
If the answer is: No, I'll give you a clue: They are three, and you will identify them because they are the three Major chords you will find in a Major scale.
Could you say the most important degrees in the scale? ____ ____ ____
Those are the basic chords that you will find in every simple song.
Activity 9
These are the chords of D minor scale. Could you say what kind of triads is formed on the Tonic, Subdominant and Dominant?, Are they Major or minor? ____________
_____________________________________________________________
Activity 10
In the examples below, you will realize that Tonic, Subdominant and Dominant are the base of all simple tunes. Let's take the tunes you have learnt in this unit as an example.
These are the basic chords of the C Major scale: Tonic, Subdominant and Dominant
C Major
I (C) IV (F) V (G)Now, place the chords where you think they must be. To do that, follow these instructions below:
a. Listen to the music
b. Write a mark in those places you think there is an harmonic change, that means, a change of chord.
c. Decide which chord must be in each mark.
SCOTLAND THE BRAVE
Activity 11
Do the same than in activity 10 using Amazing Grace as an example:
G Major
I (G) IV (C) V (D)
Amazing Grace
Activity 12
Now write down all new words you have learnt. Classify them into music words and non music words.
