Building Chords

Learn to create chord progressions and harmonic structures.

Basic Chords

A chord is multiple notes played simultaneously. Define them with the chord keyword:

; Major triad
chord MajorTriad = [ R, M3, P5 ]

; Minor triad
chord MinorTriad = [ R, m3, P5 ]

MajorTriad

Chord Definitions

Define reusable chord structures:

; Major triad
chord MajorTriad = [ R, M3, P5 ]

; Minor triad
chord MinorTriad = [ R, m3, P5 ]

; Dominant 7th
chord Dom7 = [ R, M3, P5, m7 ]

; Major 7th
chord Maj7 = [ R, M3, P5, M7 ]

; Minor 7th
chord Min7 = [ R, m3, P5, m7 ]

Chord Progressions

Create progressions using scale degrees:

scale Major = { R, M2, M3, P4, P5, M6, M7 }

; I-IV-V-I (the classic progression)
let progression = | <1> <4> <5> <1> |

progression

Arpeggios

Play chord notes sequentially:

scale Major = { R, M2, M3, P4, P5, M6, M7 }

; Chord as arpeggio
let arpeggio = | <1> <3> <5> <8> |

; Descending arpeggio
let descArp = arpeggio |> reverse

arpeggio

Common Progressions

I-V-vi-IV (Pop progression)

scale Major = { R, M2, M3, P4, P5, M6, M7 }

let popProgression = | <1> <5> <6> <4> |

popProgression

ii-V-I (Jazz progression)

scale Major = { R, M2, M3, P4, P5, M6, M7 }

let jazzProgression = | <2> <5> <1> |

jazzProgression

12-Bar Blues

scale Blues = { R, m3, P4, A4, P5, m7 }

; Simplified 12-bar blues
let bluesProgression = | <1> <1> <1> <1> <4> <4> <1> <1> <5> <4> <1> <5> |

bluesProgression

Exercise

Create your own chord progression:

scale Major = { R, M2, M3, P4, P5, M6, M7 }

; Try: vi-IV-I-V (another popular progression)
let myProgression = | <6> <4> <1> <5> |

myProgression

Next Steps

Now let's put it all together in Creating a Song.