Yamaha YPT-200 Owner's Manual - Page 47

Playing Auto Accompaniment Chords ■ About chords Playing two or more notes together simultaneously creates a "chord." Playing a note together with two other notes spaced three notes (steps) apart-such as the notes C, E and G-creates a harmonious sound. Chords like these are called "triads" and they play an important role in most music. 3rd Root 3rd Taking the chord above as an example, the lowest note of this triad is called the "root note." This is the central note sound, and it supports or anchors the rest of the notes chord. You'll notice that the middle note of the chord above (E) is the third step in the succession of scale notes-C, D, then E. There are two types of "thirds" in chords: major thirds and minor thirds. Major third-four half steps from the root Minor third-three half steps from the root We'll also alter the top note of our original chord and make three additional chords, as shown below. (The captions indicate the intervals between each of the notes.) ◆ Major chord CM ◆ Minor chord Cm ◆ Augmented chord Caug ◆ Diminished chord Cdim Minor 3rd Major 3rd Major 3rd Minor 3rd Major 3rd Major 3rd Minor 3rd Minor 3rd The basic characteristics of the chord sound are same, no matter if we change the order of the notes from bottom to top, or if we add other same name notes in different octaves. Beautiful sounding harmonies can be built in this manner, and emotional music can be created by playing different chords one after the other according to commonly accepted rules. Harmony determines the nature of chords, and music is created based on harmony. ● Chord names From the chord name, you can tell at a glance what type of chord it is and which notes make up the chord. Understanding the basic structure of chords is very useful-once you're familiar with this, you'll be quickly and easily play chords by looking at the names that appear above the notation. Cm Root note Chord type ● Chord types (These chords are among those that can be recognized by the Fingered method.) Suspended 4 th Csus4 7 th C7 Minor 7 th Cm7 Major 7 th CM7 Perfect 5th Perfect 4th Minor/major 7 th CmM7 Flatted 7th Major chord 7 th, flatted 5 th C(7b5) Flatted 7th Minor chord Major 7 th Major chord Minor 7 th, flatted 5 th C(mb57) 7 th, suspended 4 th C7sus4 Major 7th Minor chord Flatted 5th 7th chord Flatted 5th Minor 7th chord Flatted 7th Suspended 4th chord PSR-E203/YPT-200 Owner's Manual 47