Playing Style (Accompaniment) Chords
47
PSR-450 Owner’s Manual
■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.
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.
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.)
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 man-
ner, 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.
●Chord types (These chords are among those that can be recognized by the Fingered method.)
3rd
Root 3rd
Minor third — three half steps from the rootMajor third — four half steps from the root
◆ Major chord ◆ Minor chord ◆ Augmented chord ◆ Diminished chord
Minor 3rd Major 3rd Major 3rd Minor 3rd Major 3rd Major 3rd Minor 3rd Minor 3rd
CMCmCaug Cdim
Root note
Cm
Chord type
Suspended 4 th
Perfect 5th Perfect 4th
7 th
Flatted 7 th Major chord
Minor 7 th
Flatted 7 th Minor chord
Major 7 th
Major 7 th Major chord
Minor/major 7 th
Major 7th Minor chord
7 th, flatted 5 th
Flatted 5 th 7 th chord
Minor 7 th, flatted 5 th
Flatted 5 th
7 th, suspended 4 th
Flatted 7 th Suspended 4 th chordMinor 7 th chord
Csus4 C7Cm7 CM7
CmM7
(bb
bb5)
C7
(bb
bb5)
Cm7 C7sus4