Chord Basics

A chord is a harmonic combination of three or more notes. Three note chords are referred to as triads. Four notes or more are referred to as chords. Chords can be heard harmonically (if the notes sound simultaneously) or melodically (if the notes sound successively). Although two notes can imply a chord or harmony, they are referred to as an interval or dyad, not a chord.

The most common types of chords include Major, minor, diminished, half-diminished, augmented and sus. chords. There are many ways of describing these chord qualities. Whereas Classical music uses roman numerals and figured bass, Jazz music uses a short-hand chord symbol notation of letter names to establish the root of the chord, followed by signs and numbers which further describe their quality.

It is important to know exactly what these symbols represent if you want to read or write jazz music. For more detailed information on this topic see Chord Nomenclature.