Chords
A chord is a group of 3 or more notes played simultaneously. Different chords can be formed by using different combinations of notes. The most common chord is the major chord.
Chords are learned with the help of a chord diagram. This is a grid of horizontal and vertical lines representing the strings and frets of the mandolin. A chord diagram will show you exactly where to place your left hand fingers in order to play a particular chord. The first diagram shows the most common fingering for a C major chord.
C Major Chord
If you look at the second diagram you can see that the C major chord contains the notes C, E and G. The chord takes its name from the first note of the chord. This note is called the root note of the chord. Any major chord is usually described by its letter name only, so a C major chord would usually be called a C chord. Although this chord contains four notes, there are still only three different notes, because the note E occurs twice in this fingering.
Chord Symbols
As mentioned in Lesson 1, chords are indicated by a chord symbol above the music notation. In the case of major chords, the symbol consists only of the letter name of the chord. E.g., a C chord is indicated by the letter C, an A chord is indicated by the letter A, a Bb chord is indicated by the symbol Bb, etc.
Rhythm notation
As well as traditional music notation and tablature, mandolin music sometimes uses rhythm notation. This is similar to traditional notation, except that the notes have a diagonal line instead of a note head. This tells you that instead of playing individual notes, you will be strumming chords. The names of the chords to be played are written above the notation, as shown in the following example.
