A question about chords

[Gill the Piano]

You can get picture chord books which have photos of hands in the apposite positions for various chords - is that any help? For me chords are too much like maths for comfort and I go all of a doo-dah if I have to work 'em out, so a book like that would be useful for me in your situation. However, it sounds as though you're fairly clued up already!

[Geminoz]

Hi there
You can also get a very different and softer and more mellow sound if you open the chords ie: play each note seperately....it allows a lot of improvisation depending on the music you are playing.

[slofinger]

Sounds like you need to start either learning by ear harmony from your favourite music and apply that or buy yourself a god theoretical harmony book. One excellent one based around choral harmony as practised by Bach et al is 'Elementary Harmony' by C.H. Kitson - Oxford University Press. It explains and gives examples of all chord forms from simple diatonic inversions to more complex 'added note ' chords such as you mentioned.

[slofinger]

Sounds like you need to start either learning by ear harmony from your favourite music and apply that or buy yourself a good theoretical harmony book. One excellent one based around choral harmony as practised by Bach et al is 'Elementary Harmony' by C.H. Kitson - Oxford University Press. It explains and gives examples of all chord forms from simple diatonic inversions to more complex 'added note ' chords such as you mentioned.

[Bill Kibby]

A "chord" is often defined as two or more notes played together" but, in practice, it is really THREE notes or more, and the vast majority of the seven hundred or so that I use do not fit into the very basic system of chord notation which you have learnt so diligently, because pieces do not always stay in a single scale. You need to look at them differently, and learn to locate the notes of a major scale in any key. Then, don't just think in terms of melody and chord, experiment with adding a simple harmony, such as a third below the melody, or a sixth, or both together. If you are in East Anglia, you can contact me for lessons, at
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/index.html