CHORD, in music, is the simultaneous and harmonious union of different sounds, at first intuitively recognized by the car, and afterwards reduced to a science by the inven tion of the laws or rules of harmony. See lImixioNy. Chords may consist of from two to five parts. Absolute chords of two parts are produced only by thirds or sevenths. Chords of more than two parts are either fundamental chords or inversions of them, and are divided into concords and discords. The union of sounds in all chords will be found, on analyzing their component parts, to be an admixture of major and minor thirds. The common chord, or Was harmonica perfecta, is the basis of all harmony, and con .
sists of a bass note, or prime, with its third and fifth above, thus: E- , . These ____ --a — -.
three sounds are at the distance of a third from each other. When the lowest third is the greater third, as above, the C. is a major chord; but when the lowest third is the lesser, thus:_;7:4, the C. is called a minor chord. A chord of two minor thirds com _,_ bined is called diminished, as the interval from the lowest note to the highest is less than .
. •— a perfect fifth, thus: f„. —:. The common C. admits of two inversions, accord ing as one or other of its notes is made the bass, or note of the C., thus: : 1 • • ', Fundamental Chord. 1st inversion. :Id inversion.
By adding another third above the common C., a C. of four parts is produced, which is called the chord of the seventh, because the highest note is a seventh above the bass. When the C. of the seventh is produced on the fifth of the scale, it is then called the dominant seventh, which is the most perfect species of the C. It then consists of a major third, perfect fifth, and seventh, the minor, which is the next harmonic produced by nature above the fifth. The C. of the seventh may also be formed on any of the notes of the major or minor scale taken as a bass note, which produces the varieties of major, minor, and diminished sevenths, thus: • L • 7th. Major 7th. Minor 7th. Diminished 7th.
The C. of the seventh admits of three inversions, according as the notes above the funda mental note are used as bass notes. From its nature, it requires a resolution, and is therefore always followed by a common C. whose fundamental bass is a fifth below that of the seventh. For the C. of the ninth, see Flamm:iv. The first proper arranged sys tem of chords is by Rameau, in 1720, which has from time to time been extended and improved by Marpurg, Kirenberger, G. Weber, F. Schneider, Marx, and the late pro fessor S. W. Helm of Berlin.