Q. I'm trying to learn how to play piano, and I saw something called a piano chord. What exactly does that mean?
A. A piano chord is no different from a regular chord except that it's played...on the piano. By simplest definition, a chord is a group of at least three tones. This could be, for example, A C# E, which is the A major chord. Any less than that would be a single tone or interval, which doesn't really establish key. Any more than three notes would produce seventh chords (for example, A #C E G, which is the A 7th chord) ninth chords (A C# E G B), and so on, usually up to thirteenths in jazz music.
There are entire courses built on the study of chords, or tonality. If you're interested in pop or jazz chords, you might want to look into this lightweight guide:
http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Chord-Dictionary-Handy-Guide/dp/0882841548/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272218959&sr=8-1
Note that it takes an entire lifetime to learn about all the possible chords and their functions in music, to really get to know what role each chord plays and which chord falls in place most naturally and meaningfully in a piece of music. Chord identification and other purely theory-related exercises won't take all too long, though.
Good luck with your studies, and I hope you keep it up. :)
What does D-7 mean in jazz piano chords?
Q. I know what D7 is, but I have no idea about D-7. Does that mean the same as Dm7? I just came across this in "The Real Book," 6th edition.
A. Yes, it is a Dm7! There is no standardization in this. You have to learn which style a particular arranger or copyist uses and go with the flow. Sometimes you will see major and minor indicated with upper-case "M" and lower-case "m'. Other times you will see the aforementioned minus sign "-" to indicate a minor chord and a delta symbol (small triangle) to indicate a major chord. Frequently you will see major indicated by "Maj" and minor by "min". Unfortunately there is no standardization. Sometimes you have to figure it out from the arrangement: What works best?
An arranger or copyist (usually) always employs the same indicators in all their manuscripts. Usually a publisher will use the same naming convention throughout a book. However, THE REAL BOOK(s) arrangements are mixed because they are the actual working arrangements from many different artists representing many different arrangers and copyists!
In re-reading this I noticed that there may be a question on the "7" in a chord symbol. It is usually understood that the chord will be a dominant-seven with the 7th tone in the scale of the chord name lowered a half-step. Thus the answer that said "D-7" (your original question) is D-F-A-C is correct. The "-" sign denotes an F-natural (minor third) rather than the normal F# in a D scale. The "C" is natural because it is a dominant-7 chord. A Dmaj7 would have the "C#" which is the normal 7th tone in a D scale. What about a Dmin7 with a "C#"? In other words, D-Fnatural-A-C#. How is this written? There is no standardization! I have seen it as Dm-maj7 and Dm-add C# but there are other ways.
Jazz piano chords.......?
Q. I just started taking jazz piano lessons.
When it says "C7" on a piece of music, does it mean I can only play C,E,G,and B in a measure or can I also play other notes? (when improvising)
A. Well first off C7 means it's a dominant Chord and it would be C,E,G,Bb not C,E,G,B, that's a C major 7th. You can use any notes in a C7th scale, C,D,E,F(although you generally don't want play the 4th unless it's a passing tone),G,A,Bb,C. That is what a beginner should start off fooling around with but you can use any note outside of the scale as a passing tone, don't limit yourself.
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
Title : What is a piano chord?
Description : Q. I'm trying to learn how to play piano, and I saw something called a piano chord. What exactly does that mean? A. A piano chord is n...