Harmony and Chords
Harmony can be thought of as notes that support and add character to a melody. The basic building blocks of harmony are chords. A chord is a group of notes played simultaneously (e.g. strumming on a guitar). Like scales, there are many different types of chords, the most common being the major chord. All major chords contain three notes, taken from the major scale of the same letter name. These three notes are the 1(first), 3(third) and 5(fifth) notes of the major scale, so the chord formula for the major chord is: 1 3 5. If these notes were taken from the G major scale the chord would be a G major chord, usually just called a G chord. As mentioned in lesson 4, chords are represented by symbols usually written above the vocal melody on sheet music. The symbol for a G chord is the letter G, as shown below. The symbol for a D (major) chord is the letter D. The symbol for an F chord would be F, etc.
