How do I recognize a chord ?

PG Music Home

Dear all,

in order to insert a chord on BiaB, I have to know which chord (C, Dm, etc) do I want. Fair enough.

Fact is, sometime I get a nice chord on my piano keyboard, but I don't have any clue about what for a chord is it - so, I can't enter it in BiaB.

The question: how can I recognize a chord ? For instance, I *know* that the keys C,E,G forms a C major chord. But how can I figure that out, if I didn't knew ?

In other words, is there any (simple) method I can use, to recognize a chord on a keyboard ?

Why C,E,G is a C Major chord, and not a sort of E or G chord ? Why E,G,C an G,C,E are still a C Major chord, and not something else ?

Regards,
Sergio.

You are going to get far more educated answers than this, but to get you started the chord name depends on which note is considered the root and the intervals between the notes above that. You are correct in that based on that criterion a triad can have more than one name. This is made more, ah, interesting by inversions.

I'm going to stop here. If these concepts are new to you you should invest in a book on basic music theory. I have seen good pocket references for as little as $6 new in music stores.

I mean no disrespect. It is possible that I misunderstood your question completely. If that is the case I'll delete this later.

No problem Ryszard, thanks for your answer.

I'm aware of some chords, like major, minor and some 7th chords, but as I wrote above, I don't really know the process to find it out.

Hi Sergio

You might find this link helpful-

http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/piano/

In the long term, you could use some theory lessons. It's a complex subject and there's never going to be enough room to deal with fully on the forum.

ROG.

Thanks ROG, yes that link is helpful. However, it does not allow to build the chord on the virtual keyboard, that would do the trick !

Anyway, indeed useful.

Sergio.

Band in a Box has a feature in which you can enter a chord into the chord grid by merely playing it on a MIDI keyboard that is hooked up and on the BB Thru channel.

Quote:

MIDI Chord Recognition

Play any chord on your MIDI keyboard and the program will recognize it instantly and insert it onto the chord sheet. Just press Ctrl+Enter at any time to insert the last chord that you've played on your MIDI keyboard onto the chord sheet, even if you aren't holding the notes down anymore! This allows you to enter an entire song without having to type in any of the chords!

There's also a dedicated window that displays the chord names as you play them, suggesting any alternative chord names for the ones entered.

What you are asking is answered in music theory books. If you really want to learn about chords and how chords are structured then music theory is the only way.

If not couldn’t you create a new midi file and record the chord(s) you don’t know. You should be able to do this in BiaB, I don’t know for sure as I do not record in BiaB, or any DAW that you are using then save that recording as a midi file. Open BiaB and under file there is an option that states something like ‘get midi chords from file’, I don’t have my music computer on right now and I don’t remember the exact wording of that option, and have BiaB name the chord for you. Let us know how this works out for you.

OOPS - I see that Mac was saying the same thing at the same time.

... here's another "chord builder link" -- it will give you the potential names of the chord based on what you type in. In order to put into BIAB, you might have to tell it the bass note (like C/G).

http://www.scales-chords.com/chordid.php

Find the lead sheet for some songs you know and play around with it. Lead sheets usually have the chords and the melody. At some point (hopefully), your ear will start to recognize a major, minor, etc chord.

There are plenty of sites that have BIAB arrangements of popular songs. This would be very helpful. Also BIAB comes with a bunch of demos but they won't be songs you recognize.

R

Whoa, thanks for the top info !

@Mac, that is a fantastic feature - I didn't know that ! Only the part "MIDI keyboard that is hooked up and on the BB Thru channel" scares me a little bit..

@Kemmrich, what an useful link - thanks a bunch !

@all, thanks for the kind replies.

Cheers,
Sergio.

Sergio, as others have stated - this 'recognition' of chords is at the heart of chord theory. Many resources abound. You've been given several helpful links. I'll add a few more:

http://www.scotthouston.com/store/home.php

In watching this gentleman's videos on Public Television here in the US, I think that his methodology is one of the most effective at helping to learn theory without it seeming overwhelming. His course mainly focuses on teaching keyboard for enjoyment purposes. I recognize many methods from my past teachers and self-taught chord theory in his method.

The other link that may become helpful to you after you learn some chord theory basics is this site:

http://chordmaps.com/

This will take you gently through how chords fit together in sequences for western music.

-Scott

Sergio, just select your keyboard as the MIDI Input Device in BIAB. You will then be on the BIAB Thru Channel.

@rockstar_not - fantastic, thanks

@Matt & @Mac - fine, but how do I invoke that feature ? Ok ok, it's time to figure it out myself I guess

I learned WAY back before internet and I was taught by "formula".

Major = 0 - 2 - 1 1/2
Minor = 0 - 1 1/2 - 2
Dominant 7th = 0 - 2 - 1 1/2 - 1 1/2
Minor 7th = 0 - 1 1/2 - 2 - 1 1/2
Diminished = 0 - 1 1/2 - 1 1/2 - 1 1/2
Augmented = 0 - 2 - 2 - 2

Where your start note is "0", you count up by half steps.

So G major would be

G (zero note) up 2 steps (or 4 half steps) to B, then up 1 1/2 steps (or 3 half steps) to D.

You music teachers in the room, do you still teach chord structure that way? Lessons ended in like 1965 for me. Fortunately my first teacher at just before 5 years of age was a FANATIC about theory.

And a great story. In 1973, I was just out of the Army and needed clothes. I went to a popular men's store in Cleveland and happened to wander up to the checkout at the same time as an older gentleman walking with a cane. He was in line ahead of me. The clerk asked "Can I have your name sir?" And before he could speak I said "His name is George Schulte, and this blazer he is buying is on me. And is not nearly enough to thank him for everything he taught me about music 15 years ago." And he looked over and finally recognized me. We walked across the street to a little coffee shop and had lunch and caught up on those last 15-ish years. He would be something like 118 now if he were still alive, but what he gave to so many young music students is alive and well.

Well, *that* is really a nice great story Eddie, thanks for sharing this !

Oh, and thanks for that "formula" !

Quote:

@Matt & @Mac - fine, but how do I invoke that feature ? Ok ok, it's time to figure it out myself I guess

Opt., MIDI/Audio Drivers Setup. Select your keyboard in the MIDI Input Driver pulldown.

or if you prefer to see an overview of all chords so you can pick your chord out of a lineup, here's another link that may be useful:

http://pianofast.com/pdf/PianoChordChart.pdf

(I keep a chart very much like this one in a picture frame that hangs on the wall above my keyboard)

Quote:

or if you prefer to see an overview of all chords so you can pick your chord out of a lineup, here's another link that may be useful:

http://pianofast.com/pdf/PianoChordChart.pdf

That chart is beautiful. It will be hanging in my studio soon! I work at a place with plotters and I may get it printed BIG on a plotter and build a big frame for it.

NOW, take those chord formulas and look at where the red dots are. Start at "zero" and count the half steps and you see how it works.

Quote:

NOW, take those chord formulas and look at where the red dots are. Start at "zero" and count the half steps and you see how it works.

I see.. the light

Many thanks Eddie. I'm going to print out this post thread for further reference.

That pdf is also really useful - thanks Pat !

Happy chord-ing to all !

Sergio.

try this one.

http://valuesearch.info/chordfind/Default.aspx

Great, thanks sinbad.

Quote:

Quote:

or if you prefer to see an overview of all chords so you can pick your chord out of a lineup, here's another link that may be useful:

http://pianofast.com/pdf/PianoChordChart.pdf

That chart is beautiful. It will be hanging in my studio soon! I work at a place with plotters and I may get it printed BIG on a plotter and build a big frame for it.

NOW, take those chord formulas and look at where the red dots are. Start at "zero" and count the half steps and you see how it works.

Eddie,
if you reproduced that chart in large poster size by using a plotter, I bet there's a market for such posters. In fact, there are similar charts online for guitar chords, bass chords etc.

I'd like a large chart of all the key features I use in BIAB. That would replace all those dang sticky notes on the wall beside the computer

Make sure that you don't violate use of someone else's work first...

Quote:

or if you prefer to see an overview of all chords so you can pick your chord out of a lineup, here's another link that may be useful:

http://pianofast.com/pdf/PianoChordChart.pdf

(I keep a chart very much like this one in a picture frame that hangs on the wall above my keyboard)

If this is the type of chord format you like then pick up the paperback book “Chords for Keyboard and Guitar” by Hal Leonard, ISBN 0-7935-4536-6, http://www.amazon.com/Chords-Keyboard-Guitar-Paperback-Songs/dp/0793545366#_

It’s only $8.99 USD and has over 1800 pictured chords for guitar and keyboard.

Just remember, on this one from Sinbad: http://valuesearch.info/chordfind/Default.aspx

it doesn't know 11th or 13th chords or their variants like 7#11. It will tell you whether a 4th (same note as 11th) or 6th (same note as 13th) is in the lower octave or upper by the order, but it doesn't have the intelligence to spell the chord correctly with an 11th or 13th. It's only mostly acceptable up to a 9th. And if you have a m7 and add a 9th, for example, it should know to drop the 7. Too bad they couldn't finish it correctly, because this utility has a lot of promise. BIAB has the MIDI chord recognition feature that does not make these mistakes.

The chordfind utility link also has no protection about too many notes to make a 'useable' chord, since if you 'drop a book on the keyboard' it tells you every note.

here's an EXCEL based chord finder I created in collaboration with another guy. It can be downloaded from the files section of the Yahoo BIAB group files 2. (Side note: you must be a member of the Yahoo BIABgroup and also be logged in to yahoo groups in order for these links to work)

----------------------
(view whole directory)
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Band-in-a-Box-Files/files/Misc%20Files%20%26%20Utilities/

(download file)
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Band-...ies/chords3.xls

----------------------
It uses macros so you'll need to enable them in order for this to work.

In a nutshell, you pick an instrument and a chord and it will show you all the notes in the chord on the instrument neck (you can see more than one position at once... so you can get a birds eye view of which position to use for the current song.

It also lets you add new instruments or different tunings, then see the chords for thos tunings. Currently supports many guitar tunings, banjo, mandolin, lute, ukelele, keyboard, fiddle, and more.

The sppreadsheet has 4 tabs:
1=guitar
2=the engine aka spreadsheet logic (all editable if you want to improve it)
3=keyboard
4=a place where you can enter up to 5 notes, and chords containing those notes will be displayed.

If you are an EXCEL or Visual Basic enthusiast, it is an interesting project to study.. and it's all editable... nothing is locked out or hidden

Quote:

Make sure that you don't violate use of someone else's work first...

Good point Mac. When I said that I was thinking of my chart which was made personally in Excel by coloring cells. I do think theres a market for poster sized chord sheets, but you would want to sell your own version of the idea.

Thanks a lot

Now I have some cute tools at my fingertips - without to mention the great midi chord recognizer that BiaB hat at our disposal - and I didn't even know about it !!!

Sergio.