Thursday, April 9, 2009

Quick Music Fact...Figuring Out Chords To Songs


Here is a jump start or quick music fact,on figuring out chords in songs.Usually the bass guitar note being played will be your first clue.Not all of the time but,most of the time the bass is playing the root note of the chord.From there you determine what type chord it is.Or,which one of the four chord families it comes from,the Major,the minor,diminished or augmented family.For pop music the diminished and augmented families are not used or played that often.This technique can be applied to a section of music in the song,say the Chorus or verse.First figure out the primary bass note being played for each chord,then go back and listen to the rhythm instrument(guitar,keyboard,etc.).Is the chord a Major chord,a minor chord,diminished or augmented?Put the bass note(lowest note) in the root of the chord and voila,you have figured it out!
I hope this jump starts your figuring out chords.And as you do this you will be developing your ear to hear and become familiar with the sounds of different chords,making it easier each time you sit down and figure the chord(s) out.

2 comments:

Andy Rogers Song said...

Thank you so much for sharing this topic/post to us! God Bless!

Anonymous said...

You're welcome Andy.It's such a simple process to some but can be a difficult one for beginners!
Greg

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