just a quick question... when you have a chord of two notes... do you strum them as a chord or pluck them with two fingers? I know it probably sounds really silly... but I'm a newbie with the guitar when it comes to reading notes!

joy

QUOTE (joyjoy @ Aug 18 2004, 07:51 PM)

just a quick question... when you have a chord of two notes... do you strum them as a chord or pluck them with two fingers? I know it probably sounds really silly... but I'm a newbie with the guitar when it comes to reading notes! joy

If the two notes are on strings next to each other you can strum or pluck at the same time.

If the two notes are have a string or 2 between them then you will struggle to strum them.

thanks... the chords i were talking about were the ones next to each other... will get to chords more than two strings apart soon!

joy

Um, you can't have a chord of two notes! A chord contains three notes minimum.

Violinia

Hmmm? Actually 'power chords' contain root and 5th.

I have to agree with Tenor Clef - aside from power chords of course, a chord can actually be defined very prominently by it's 3rd and 7th degrees - assuming you consider an extension beyond the basic triad! So I would consider a perfect 4th interval of B+E equivalent to a Cmajor chord, in certain situations. Really it depends on the underlying harmony - what was in the previous bar and what's in the next bar! Also, depending on the key signature of course. B+E could also be the 3rd and 7th degrees of a Dbminor7 chord - harmony can very quickly become very ambiguous. Furthermore, even without the 3rd and 7ths, if the harmony implies a particular chord in a progression, it can be viewed thus. So contrary to some beliefs, a chord can consist of just two notes!

Marvellous!

Forgive me if I'm wrong but, can't you call a "chord" of two notes a diad, then triad etc...?

No i don't believe so, i've never come across that one before. Diad? You may be confusing the word with diatonic, which is the name given to scales consisting of 7 notes as opposed to Pentatonics, scales with five notes.

I've definately heard it before...

I'll look it up.

well i too looked it up, not strictly a musical term but yes it is another word more commonly reffered to as dyad, '2 bits that share a common goal'. So i guess you could make a reference to a diad chord but a little obscure. Personally i prefer power chord. Can't claim to know everything though.

Hey have you heard of a 'double harmonic major scale'???