"Bichord" redirects here. For a one string instrument, see Monochord. For an instrument with two or more strings per note, see Course (music).
Bitonal polychord: F major on top of C major. Play(help·info)
In music and music theory, a polychord consists of two or more chords, one on top of the other.[2][3][4] In shorthand they are written with the top chord above a line and the bottom chord below,[5] for example F upon C: F/C.
Polychords: E minor, E♭ major, E♭ major, and D major over D minor. Play(help·info)
In the polychords in the image above, the first might suggest a thirteenth chord, the second may suggest a D minor ninth chord with upper extensions, but the octave separation of the 3rd makes the suggestion of two independent triads a minor ninth apart even more likely, and the fourth is a split-third chord.[7]
Extended chords contain more than one triad, and so can be regarded as a type of polychord:
When one or both of the chords in a polychord are not "chords" in some exclusive sense according to some preferred chord theory or other, polychords devolves into chordioid technique.
↑ Haerle, Dan (1982). The Jazz Language: A Theory Text for Jazz Composition and Improvisation, p. 30. ISBN978-0-7604-0014-2. "The term polychord literally means many (poly) chords. In actual practice, a polychord is usually a combination of only two chords which creates a more complex sound."
↑ Guy Capuzzo, Tom Dempsey (2006). Theory for the Contemporary Guitarist, p. 76. ISBN978-0-7390-3838-3. "A bichord (other-wise known as a polychord) consists of two triads played together."
↑ Edward Shanaphy, Joseph Knowlton (1990). The Do It Yourself Handbook for Keyboard Playing, p. 62. ISBN978-0-943748-00-9. "A polychord is nothing more than the playing of two chords at the same time."
1 2 Policastro, Michael A. (1999). Understanding How to Build Guitar Chords and Arpeggios, p. 168. ISBN978-0-7866-4443-8.
↑ Reisberg, Horace (1975). "The Vertical Dimension in Twentieth Century Music", Aspects of Twentieth-Century Music, p. 336. Wittlich, Gary (ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. ISBN0-13-049346-5.
↑ Walter Everett (Autumn, 2004). "A Royal Scam: The Abstruse and Ironic Bop-Rock Harmony of Steely Dan", pp. 208–09, Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 201–35.
Polytonality is the musical use of more than one key simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence is the use of more than one harmonic function, from the same key, at the same time.
A chord, in music, is any harmonic set of pitches/frequencies consisting of multiple notes that are heard as if sounding simultaneously. For many practical and theoretical purposes, arpeggios and broken chords, or sequences of chord tones, may also be considered as chords in the right musical context.
A secondary chord is an analytical label for a specific harmonic device that is prevalent in the tonal idiom of Western music beginning in the common practice period: the use of diatonic functions for tonicization.
In music theory, the concept of root is the idea that a chord can be represented and named by one of its notes. It is linked to harmonic thinking— the idea that vertical aggregates of notes can form a single unit, a chord. It is in this sense that one speaks of a "C chord" or a "chord on C"—a chord built from C and of which the note C is the root. When a chord is referred to in Classical music or popular music without a reference to what type of chord it is, it is assumed a major triad, which for C contains the notes C, E and G. The root need not be the bass note, the lowest note of the chord: the concept of root is linked to that of the inversion of chords, which is derived from the notion of invertible counterpoint. In this concept, chords can be inverted while still retaining their root.
In music theory, an augmented sixth chord contains the interval of an augmented sixth, usually above its bass tone. This chord has its origins in the Renaissance, was further developed in the Baroque, and became a distinctive part of the musical style of the Classical and Romantic periods.
An added tone chord, or added note chord, is a non-tertian chord composed of a tertian triad and an extra "added" note. The added note is not a seventh, but typically a non-tertian note, which cannot be defined by a sequence of thirds from the root, such as the added sixth or fourth. This includes chords with an added thirteenth and farther "extensions", but that do not include the intervening tertian notes as in an extended chord. The concept of added tones is further convenient in that all notes may be related to familiar chords.
The term sixth chord refers to two different kinds of chord, the first in classical music and the second in modern popular music.
In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the interval between the sixth and first scale degrees when the sixth is transposed up an octave, creating a compound sixth, or thirteenth. The thirteenth is most commonly major Play (help·info) or minor Play (help·info).
In music theory, a ninth chord is a chord that encompasses the interval of a ninth when arranged in close position with the root in the bass.
The ninth chord and its inversions exist today, or at least they can exist. The pupil will easily find examples in the literature [such as Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht and Strauss's opera Salome]. It is not necessary to set up special laws for its treatment. If one wants to be careful, one will be able to use the laws that pertain to the seventh chords: that is, dissonances resolve by step downward, the root leaps a fourth upward.
In jazz, the term upper structure or "upper structure triad" refers to a voicing approach developed by jazz pianists and arrangers defined by the sounding of a major or minor triad in the uppermost pitches of a more complex harmony.
In music theory, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord, is a seventh chord, usually built on the fifth degree of the major scale, and composed of a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh. Thus it is a major triad together with a minor seventh, denoted by the letter name of the chord root and a superscript "7". An example is the dominant seventh chord built on G, written as G7, having pitches G–B–D–F:
In music, quartal harmony is the building of harmonic structures built from the intervals of the perfect fourth, the augmented fourth and the diminished fourth. For instance, a three-note quartal chord on C can be built by stacking perfect fourths, C–F–B♭.
In music, a guitar chord is a set of notes played on a guitar. A chord's notes are often played simultaneously, but they can be played sequentially in an arpeggio. The implementation of guitar chords depends on the guitar tuning. Most guitars used in popular music have six strings with the "standard" tuning of the Spanish classical guitar, namely E-A-D-G-B-E' ; in standard tuning, the intervals present among adjacent strings are perfect fourths except for the major third (G,B). Standard tuning requires four chord-shapes for the major triads.
In music, especially modern popular music a slash chord or slashed chord, also compound chord, is a chord whose bass note or inversion is indicated by the addition of a slash and the letter of the bass note after the root note letter. It does not indicate "or". For example, a C major chord (C) in second inversion is written C/G or C/G bass, which reads "C slash G", "C over G" or "C over a G bass". If E were the bass it would be written C/E or C/E bass, which is read "C slash E", "C over E" or C/E bass. Some chords may not otherwise be notated, such as A♭/A. Thus, a slash chord may also indicate the chord form or shape and an additional bass note.
The Petrushka chord is a recurring polytonal device used in Igor Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka and in later music. These two major triads, C major and F♯ major – a tritone apart – clash, "horribly with each other", when sounded together and create a dissonant chord.
In music theory, the half-diminished seventh chord is a seventh chord composed of a root note, together with a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a minor seventh. For example, the half-diminished seventh chord built on C, commonly written as Cø7, has pitches C–E♭–G♭–B♭:
In music theory, the word inversion has distinct, but related, meanings when applied to intervals, chords, voices, and melodies. The concept of inversion also plays an important role in musical set theory.
Musicians use various kinds of chord names and symbols in different contexts to represent musical chords. In most genres of popular music, including jazz, pop, and rock, a chord name and its corresponding symbol typically indicate one or more of the following:
the root note,
the chord quality,
whether the chord is a triad, seventh chord, or an extended chord,
any altered notes,
any added tones, and
the bass note if it is not the root.
Musicology commonly classifies scales as either hemitonic or anhemitonic. Hemitonic scales contain one or more semitones, while anhemitonic scales do not contain semitones. For example, in traditional Japanese music, the anhemitonic yo scale is contrasted with the hemitonic in scale. The simplest and most commonly used scale in the world is the atritonic anhemitonic "major" pentatonic scale. The whole tone scale is also anhemitonic.
A chordioid, also called chord fragment or fragmentary voicing or partial voicing, is a group of musical notes which does not qualify as a chord under some preferred chord theory or other, but still useful to name and reify for other reasons.
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