Lesson 5: Chords

In this lesson, you are learning about: Major chords and inversions Minor chords Scores Practice Opportunity Wrap-up Practice Opportunity

Scores Chords oftentimes span more than one clef. To show all of the notes, staffs can be grouped together. For example, piano music typically includes 2 staffs, one for treble clef and the other for bass clef. Music with staffs grouped together in this way is called a score. An example of a piano score appears below. How many staffs can be used at one time? It depends on the music. Choral music may have 6 staffs (one each for the soprano, alto, tenor and bass parts, plus 2 for the piano). A conductor's score may have more than a dozen staffs for all of the different parts in the orchestra. Are multiple staffs always used? No. For example, in popular guitar music, one staff in treble clef may be used for the melody with chord notations added above the staff (for example, A_min7 for an A minor 7 chord). This works because the guitar player previously memorized how to play commonly used chords. This technique also works for some kinds of piano music. Musicians in an orchestra or band typically also see only one staff in their parts because that is all they need to play the music.

Example. Here is a brief excerpt from The Entertainer, by Scott Joplin. Blue lines have been imposed over the score to help you see which notes are played on each beat. Can you tell the name of the first chord shown? Answer. The entire score, along with other music in the public domain, is available in Acrobat® ReaderTM (.pdf) format at the Mutopia Project.

Listen Up! Play excerpt.