What are the main functions of chords and harmonies?

Simply put, a chord is an acoustic effect formed by the superposition of three or more sounds. It can be divided into three chords, seven chords, plus chords, etc ... Chords can also be simply divided into major chords, minor chords, increasing chords and decreasing chords, etc. ....

1。 Major triad: The root sound and the third sound are big three degrees, and the third sound and the fifth sound are small three degrees, which are represented by the capital English letter names of the root sound.

2。 Minor chord: the root sound and the third sound are minor, and the third sound and the fifth sound are magnanimous, which are represented by the capital English letter name of the root sound plus the lowercase m,

3。 Add a triad: the root and the third note, and the third and fifth notes are all major degrees. Add aug or a "+"to the first letter of the root sound.

4。 Subtraction triad: the root sound and the third sound, the third sound and the fifth sound are minor degrees, and the capital English letter name of the root sound is added with dim or a "-".

5。 Major and minor chords: A minor chord is added on the basis of major triad, which is represented by the capitalized English letter name of the root sound plus "7".

6。 Major Seventh Chord: The third degree is added on the basis of major triad, which is represented by the capital English letter name of the root sound plus Maj7 7.

7。 Minor seventh chord: based on minor third chord, minor three is added, which is represented by the capital English letter name of the root sound plus "m7".

8。 Minor seventh chord: On the basis of minor third chord, the third degree is added, which is represented by the capital English letter name of the root sound plus mM7.

9。 Minus seventh chord: add three degrees on the basis of MINUS third chord, which is expressed by adding dim7 to the capital English letter name of the root.

10。 Semi-minus seventh chord: on the basis of minus third chord, add third degree, which is represented by the capital English letter name of the root plus m7-5.

1 1。 Chord addition: refers to adding other sounds to a chord on the basis of the three-degree relationship, such as adding six degrees, nine degrees, four degrees and so on. The notation is to write the degree of this addition on the right side of the original chord. For example, the DO, MI, SOL and LA chords can be marked as C6 (LA is the addition based on the c chord), and the FA, LA, DO and SOL chords can be marked as F9. However, it should be noted that the writing method of adding four-tone chords is stipulated. To write sus4, the three tones of the original chord are omitted, otherwise the three tones and four tones will be pointed together. For example, the DO, FA and SOL chords are labeled Csus4. C chord omits three notes and four notes. Most accents are 6, 9 and 4 degrees. In addition, there are more complicated theories to distinguish between additive chords and chords. For example, the chords of FA, LA, DO and SOL should be marked as Fadd9, while the chords marked as F9 will be considered as FA, LA, DO, MI and SOL.

12。 Specify the root sound of the chord: that is, when playing the chord, play according to the mark instead of playing your own root sound. For example, C/E means to put the e note at the lowest pitch when playing chords. Dm/F means to put the F note in the lowest note when playing Dm. ....

About harmony!

Compared with rhythm and melody, the concept of harmony may be farther away from our appreciators, because it is not easy to be noticed and cannot be hummed by us alone. But in fact, the role of harmony in music can not be ignored. In pop music, people often use the word "harmony" to describe the accompaniment of the lead singer. For example, three or four singers stand behind or on one side of the lead singer and gently set off the main theme with very harmonious voices. Their voices form a wonderful background for the main theme. Now that I mention it, you may have an intuitive understanding of the word "harmony". However, the meaning of harmony is far from this, so I won't say more.

First of all, I want to talk about the definition of "harmony" in western traditional theory: it is composed of a series of chords that are organically related to each other. Please note that there are two key words, one is chord and the other is organic connection. Let's talk about chords first. It is the smallest unit in the whole harmony organization, and each chord consists of at least three sounds, such as do, mi, sol, or fa, la and do. It's a little difficult for me to talk about this problem here, because these three sounds should not be sung one after another, but at the same time. My voice is weak, so I can only ask you to imagine that these three sounds are sounding at the same time. The relationship between do and mi is three degrees, mi and sol are also three degrees, and the interval relationship between fa, la and do is three degrees, which is the traditional three-degree superposition harmony in the west. By the way, when the concept of harmony first appeared in western music, people thought that the superposition of four degrees and five degrees was the most harmonious (which was related to the aesthetic and legal system of music at that time), and then gradually recognized and appreciated the acoustic effect of the superposition of three degrees, and formed a perfect harmony theory on the basis of the superposition of three degrees.

A chord itself is meaningless, and it takes a series of chords to form music. Let's talk about the second key word first: organic connection.

Organic connection refers to the logical relationship between the smallest units of harmony, that is, one chord after another. Of course, this is not an abstract dogma, but is determined according to the aesthetic feeling of hearing. It's interesting which chord is connected to which chord. Different connection methods will produce different sound effects. Let's make an analogy. In our life, the smallest unit is the individual. These people form various relationships. Some relationships are harmonious, so they become friends or form families. Some relationships are not harmonious, and they become enemies or opponents. Please note that the enemy and the opposite are also a relationship, but it doesn't matter. For everyone, there are dozens to hundreds of people in the world who are related to themselves, which constitutes a small social relationship. Conversely, using harmony as a metaphor, this small social relationship is a series of organically connected chords, which constitute music. Therefore, you may know a little about the concept of "organic connection", but there are still many technical and artistic problems in the real realization of music, which requires strict study and time to skillfully use the element of harmony. As our appreciators, we don't have to go too far.

Harmony is colored, and its melody adds color, light and shadow, and three-dimensional sense.

As we said before, chords are composed of at least three tones, and the overlapping relationship between them is a third interval. There are several kinds of chords composed of these three tones, because the third degree itself has three magnanimity, three minor degrees, three positive degrees and three negative degrees, and they will form various chords, such as major triad, three minor chords, three positive chords and three negative chords, and their acoustic effects are different. Chords can also be composed of more notes, such as four notes, five notes and so on. In addition, chords can overlap four or two times instead of three times (like impressionist composer Debussy, who often uses three non-overlapping chords), so we hear different harmony colors. If all kinds of chords are divided into major categories, there are harmonious and dissonant ones. In classical music, harmony plays a major role, while disharmony appears as a "process" of movement. Because disharmony means instability, it must become stable, so the movement from disharmony to harmony, like constant contradiction and unity, appears alternately. In the hands of many composers in the 20th century, discordant chords became more and more important. They don't pursue the stability of music, but pursue a strong conflict and contradiction, or a novel and unusual effect, which makes people who are used to listening to classical music disagree. But it also has its own beauty,

How do you feel about works with discordant chords as the main component? I think this work has a fresh and transparent effect. Of course, it is related to the setting of rhythm and timbre. If it is replaced by sharp timbre and urgent rhythm, it will not be fresh and transparent, but will stimulate depression.

The examples we just cited are all vocal works, and instrumental music is an introduction. It is the alternation of harmony and disharmony, forming a tension and a sad mood. Please pay special attention to the background below the main theme, that is, harmony:

It is dominated by harmonious chords, giving people a sense of stability and serenity.

If a piece of music is not harmonious and harmonious from beginning to end, it will make people feel nervous, while if it is harmonious from beginning to end, it will feel lack of motivation and color, just like the calm water without waves, no birds flying over and no fish scratching. Therefore, composers will make harmony unstable and discordant at the right time. We may not realize this subtle change when we appreciate it, but you should know that the sudden shadow in your heart, the melancholy you feel or the throb in your heart may all be due to this harmonious function.