I've been thinking about this recently. When I didn't know anything (not too long ago) I incorrectly assumed that chords -at least in relation to guitar music- are to be used just as a way to add rhythm to a melody part. I also assumed that it was an easier way to play a tune, like if you can't properly fingerpick Hotel California, play the chords instead and magically, while it's not the same thing, it will be recognizable.
However, recently I've started thinking. If things were such, why would professional bands still keep somebody around to essentially just play the chords. Also, why would piano pieces have chord accompaniments written, to support their melodies.
Another thing is something I read about bass lines. I think I read that piece on this site. This article essentially listed one use of bass lines as a way to mark chord changes.
Finally, if I am not mistaken, the key of a song is determined by what chords you're playing and in which order. Assuming this is correct, then chords must have a more fundamental and required quality to them when writing music.
I guess my question is, I do know what chords are, how they are formed, that they have certain shapes, and varieties (open/barre etc), but why do we need chords in the first place? Can't a melody alone drive a song?
I hope this is not too confusing. I lack the proper knowledge to ask this in any simpler way. Thanks for taking the time to read my question.
oktay
Chords add harmony to music. When we hear combinations of notes (which is what chords are) we can hear an effect that is greater than the sum of the parts. Apart from the individual notes, we can also hear their harmonic effect, i.e., a unique sound caused by the interaction of the notes within a chord. Such combinations can produce a huge variety of sounds.
And chord progressions can produce an even greater variety of effects. Songwriters and composers exploit these natural properties of chords in order to engage the emotions of the listener.
But chords can be played in many ways. For example, they can be played as block chords - and strummed to give an added rhythmic effect. or they can be played spread out in separated notes as in the fingerpicking of Hotel California, that you mentioned. Those are still chords, just presented differently.
Well, first of all. Those are great questions Oktay.
You actually dont need chords at all. They are just seen as a norm in modern western music.
A melody alone can most certainly drive a song. That just isnt the standard for most of the western cultures though.
Why are chords the norm in western culture? 'beats me.
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why do we need chords in the first place? Can't a melody alone drive a song?
Sure it can.
There's a ton of music out there that is purely melodic. Folk melodies and even some fairly famous single-note instrument pieces that are all about melody and nothing else.
That was pretty much the end-all and be-all of music for a long time, at least in the west.
Then someone had the cool idea of either adding a second melody to the song, or of singing the same melody over the song at a different starting point (it's not clear which came first, but the effect was the same).
So now we had songs with two melodies going on, and they provided counter-point to one another.
Then someone got really clever and added a third voice, and all hell broke loose!
But then something odd happened, now, composers would start adding notes into voices that weren't part of the melody. They were there SIMPLY for counter-point to one of the other melody lines. This big transition was around the 8th or 9th century.
And that was the powerfull idea that led to the development of harmony as seperate from melody.
Now you had notes there that acted as a support for the melody but served no melodic function. And that ment that there was a whole new world opened up for compossers to play in.
Now harmonic structures developed that served all kind of neat ideas -- suspensions, retardations, double suspensions, cadences and turn-arounds, and by th e17th century you had the real maturation of harmonic theory. What Bach understood is still pretty much the basic instruction on harmony you'll get in music school.
Now, with guitars and modern music, a lot of people have started to confuse harmony (chords) with Rhythm (how the notes are played in time). But they are very very different things. You can change them quite independently of one another.
The purpose of the chord is to create consonance or dissonance with the melody to support the melody and give it direction as appropriate.
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Thanks a lot for the responses. There's some very good info in here and I'm sure this material will help me do some research on my own as well. I was especially not aware of the harmony versus melody distinction.
Thanks again.
oktay
