Chord
The short version
Three or more notes played together.
Chords are usually built by stacking every other note of a scale: C-E-G, D-F-A and so on. That skipping pattern is what makes them sound like a unit rather than a smudge.
Chord flavours from the same root
Only the inner notes move.
C majorbright
C minordark
C diminishedanxious
C augmenteddreamlike
Cmaj7dreamy, warm
Cm7smooth, soulful
C7bluesy, restless
Why you'd careChords carry the mood. Change the chord under an unchanged melody and the melody's meaning changes.
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