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Chords are essential for every musician to know and understand. In the following article, let's explore what chords are and how to search for song chords.
What are Chords?
Chords are combinations of musical notes that create a harmonious background with a specific melody, following certain rules. Chords are typically composed of 2-4 musical notes (in some special cases, chords may have more than 4 notes). A complete chord sounds when the musician plays all the notes simultaneously or uses a slow tempo to play each note in the chord.
Understanding Musical Notes and Chords
Classifying Chords and Reading Chord Names
There are various types of chords (major, minor, 7th, etc.), and we can determine them based on the letters and small characters following them.
Among them, chords without characters following the main letter, only with C/D/E/F/G/B/A, are major chords. The small characters following are typically:
m: minor
#: sharp
b: flat
5,7: 5th chord, 7th chord
sus: Suspended chord
add: Added chord, Color chord
Example:
- C is read as C major chord, E is read as E major chord…
- Cm is read as C minor chord, Dm is read as D minor chord…
- C# is read as C sharp chord, C#m is read as C sharp minor chord…
- Bb is read as B flat chord, Bbm is read as B flat minor chord…
- G7 is read as G seventh chord, Cm7 is read as C minor seventh chord…
- Gsus2 is read as G suspended 2 chord, Asus2 is read as A suspended 2 chord, Cadd9 is read as C added 9 chord…
3. How to look up chord of a song
For guitar or piano players, searching for the chords of a song helps identify its melody and allows for a more accurate pitch matching with the singer. To look up chords, we often use the following methods:
3.1. Searching for chords on the Standard Chord website
Standard Chord is the favorite website of guitar, ukulele, and piano players because it gathers many hot, latest songs with chords ranging from basic to advanced.
To look up chords, you can search or click on the song title you choose. Then, you will see the lyrics with chords alongside. Other functions such as raising tone, lowering tone, or converting guitar chords to piano, ukulele chords are also integrated on the website to help you easily find chords for the instrument you use.
Access the website here: https://hopamchuan.com/
3.2. Looking up song chords with Standard Chords
Vietnamese Chord is the preferred website for those seeking simple and lightweight chord lookup. The interface on the website is simple and uncluttered, allowing users to focus on finding what they need.
In each song chord lookup, Vietnamese Chord will list functions such as tone adjustment, font size, printing, and duplicating lyrics. The chord fingerings lookup section (for guitar) in the song is not integrated when you click on the chord to view but is listed at the end of the song (a drawback when compared to Standard Chords).
Access the website here: https://hopamviet.vn/
3.3. Using Google search results to look up chords
For some lesser-known English songs not available on the aforementioned websites, you can utilize Google to search. The chord search formula will be:
song title (artist name) + chord
song title (artist name) + guitar chord
song title (artist name) + piano chord
After conducting your search, prioritize the initial results. The website https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/explore is a reputable source for chord lookup in English, boasting millions of songs in its database. You can easily and swiftly search for chord transitions between guitar, piano, and ukulele.
With the insights shared in this article about chords, you'll find it easier to understand and look up chords for your favorite songs. Wishing you all success!
