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Chords, what is so
special?
Let us examine the
basics of chords and let us understand as to how it serves as a major factor
in western music. In simple words, Chords are just different notes played
together at the same time. These are mere note combinations based on rules.
These rules decide the type of chords. You can call it a structured
combination of notes played together. Chords are identified by the root key
in the combination. Majority of the chords are called Triads, meaning they
are made up of 3 notes; it is like arranging 1/3 note on the top of
another. The lowest note in the chord
is called as the root, followed by 3rd (note above root) and 5th
(note above root) There are 4 types of popular triads called Major, Minor,
Augmented and Diminished. Major Chord: As the name denotes a major chord is
often associated with a major scale. We shall compute a simple formula to
calculate a major chord for a given root note.
anjali anjali | D | % | % | % | (the % sign denote repeat the chord) However,
something more interesting happens in the prelude of this song. Though
the key is D, for the chorus lines Ammamma
pillaikani chords are quite different, A
major and a D minor (just hold till we
get to minor) is played, this is just to get some kind
of tension in the music. You see how it clearly reflects in the video.
But the mood is changed in the Pon
mani chinna mani lines, which takes you to a major progression
creating a happy mood in the song. The way in which Ilayaraja
comes back to the key is quite appealing
A Bm G A - he hits D in the word konjida which is a happy word by all means to highlight
the key note
in the score, this is done by playing the major chord (D) over it. Simply
wonderful. One more song
that I will discuss is A trade mark in MSV-MGR combo songs. Try to identify major chords in the songs. Take manguyile, see where major
chords hit the song. Quite interesting. Exercise: Form major chords
for all the keys. Write it down and then start playing it slowly, I am sure
you will get the hang of it. Endnote: There is some confusion
on pitch for a few who have emailed me. Sruthi and
scales. Let me keep it simple, In Carnatic music, traditionally, the basic
reference is the Tambura. Vocals and
accompaniments are tuned based on the sa pa sa notes from Tambura. Tambura plays the
major role to get all of them in one single frequency. Thanks to the
monophony, things are easy. But how
does it work for polyphonic music? In western music
middle C is the key, it is about 440khz, there are
automatic tuners, which will help you to tune your string instruments. Often
in light music shows middle C is referenced from a keyboard. You can often
spot a singer signaling a 2 or 4 meaning the current key is D or F. (2nd note
from middle C or 4th note from middle C) What is
Transposing? In simple terms it is the
method of changing the key of a song. Like we might have rehearsed a song in
E major but singers range might be in D. Chords are not same now, they are
transposed to a lower key, a keyboard player can use the transpose button to
shift the frequency, he still plays in E but the output will sound in D.
Thanks to electronics. However, guitarist or a violinist cannot sit and
retune, they are trained to play the progression based on the key. Still, there are attachments (bridges etc)
for a guitar, which will transpose for you. I have played with people who
just use it. Transposing is just
moving keys relatively, and as mentioned a VB or Java script can do the
relative mapping. The following
website will help to find the transposed chords -- http://autotransposer.shapebyforce.com/sbf/docs/index.html I also noticed
few people referring to Scales as Ragas (in Carnatic) in DF. Once again, I
insist, they are not the same. A doughnut might look like a medhu vada, but the taste is
quite different. J
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