Chord ID Assignment
Up until this point, we have looked at building chords theoretically and now, through this assignment, you will learn how chords work in "real" music.
Take a look at the example below.
Take a look at the example below.
This piece is titled Hawaii Ponoi and is our State song. I have written the chords over each of the measures. You should notice the following things:
1) For the most part, the chords change by measure. This is a good thing. We call this Harmonic Rhythm (a.k.a. the rate at which chords change.
2) To find the chords, we take the first note, which occurs on the first beat of the first measure. Notice, from bottom to top, the notes are F, C, F, and A. I then took those notes and stacked them all on lines or all on spaces of the staff. This came to look like F, A, C.
3) I then took F, A, and C and figured out the half steps and in this case it was 3, 4 and that means major so the first chord was F major.
4) I then looked at the next beat and saw the notes A, C, F, A. I stacked those up and it came out to F, A, C. These are essentially the same notes as the first chord and so I moved on to the last beat of the first measure. Those notes are F, C, F, A and again, when I stack them, they come out to F, A, C and so I know the last chord is also an F chord. I then checked to see if the next measure contained different or same notes. The first beat of the second measure has the notes C, C, F, A. When you stack these notes, it spells F, A, C. I then knew that the first four beats of the song are in an F chord and so I labeled it as so.
5) The second measure, second beat, has the notes C, C, E, G. When you stack the notes (line or space), it comes out to C, E, G. this spells a C chord. Technically, the chord is C however, if you look at measure 3, there is a Bb written in the measure. This gives the 7th to the C chord AND since C is the 5th scale degree, I know I can legally add a 7th chord so I labelled the measure C7.
On your own, go through the rest of the chords and check my answers.
1) Do you understand how I got the answers I placed above the given notes? If not, please ask someone who knows chords like Brooks or Makua.
2) Did you find any mistakes? There are some. Please catch them and be ready to talk about them when I return.
1) For the most part, the chords change by measure. This is a good thing. We call this Harmonic Rhythm (a.k.a. the rate at which chords change.
2) To find the chords, we take the first note, which occurs on the first beat of the first measure. Notice, from bottom to top, the notes are F, C, F, and A. I then took those notes and stacked them all on lines or all on spaces of the staff. This came to look like F, A, C.
3) I then took F, A, and C and figured out the half steps and in this case it was 3, 4 and that means major so the first chord was F major.
4) I then looked at the next beat and saw the notes A, C, F, A. I stacked those up and it came out to F, A, C. These are essentially the same notes as the first chord and so I moved on to the last beat of the first measure. Those notes are F, C, F, A and again, when I stack them, they come out to F, A, C and so I know the last chord is also an F chord. I then checked to see if the next measure contained different or same notes. The first beat of the second measure has the notes C, C, F, A. When you stack these notes, it spells F, A, C. I then knew that the first four beats of the song are in an F chord and so I labeled it as so.
5) The second measure, second beat, has the notes C, C, E, G. When you stack the notes (line or space), it comes out to C, E, G. this spells a C chord. Technically, the chord is C however, if you look at measure 3, there is a Bb written in the measure. This gives the 7th to the C chord AND since C is the 5th scale degree, I know I can legally add a 7th chord so I labelled the measure C7.
On your own, go through the rest of the chords and check my answers.
1) Do you understand how I got the answers I placed above the given notes? If not, please ask someone who knows chords like Brooks or Makua.
2) Did you find any mistakes? There are some. Please catch them and be ready to talk about them when I return.
Your Assignment
On your own or in a group look at the following pieces of music:
Morning Has Broken (Easy)
No Woman No Cry (Medium)
Piano Man (Medium)
Thank You (Hard)
Morning Has Broken (Easy)
No Woman No Cry (Medium)
Piano Man (Medium)
Thank You (Hard)
chord_id_assignment.pdf | |
File Size: | 591 kb |
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You assignment is to apply the following rules to teach of the pieces.
1) Identify the Key Signature, write out the scale, and find all the chords within that scale.
2) Look at the piece. See if you can identify the harmonic rhythm. If not, that is ok, you will soon enough.
3) Look at the first measure. See if you can stack all of the notes notes to make a chord. If you can, figure out the chord.
4) Identify all of the chords in the music. Once you have done this, you are done for the day.
Hint: MOST pieces use only a certain number of chords. Too many chords makes it harder to listen to. The most common chords are: I, IV, and V.
GOOD LUCK!
We will talk about this lesson when I get back.
1) Identify the Key Signature, write out the scale, and find all the chords within that scale.
2) Look at the piece. See if you can identify the harmonic rhythm. If not, that is ok, you will soon enough.
3) Look at the first measure. See if you can stack all of the notes notes to make a chord. If you can, figure out the chord.
4) Identify all of the chords in the music. Once you have done this, you are done for the day.
Hint: MOST pieces use only a certain number of chords. Too many chords makes it harder to listen to. The most common chords are: I, IV, and V.
GOOD LUCK!
We will talk about this lesson when I get back.