Skip to main content

Browse Mode

Turning a chord into a chord sequence

A single chord on its own is relatively uninteresting and meaningless, until it's put into a context with other chords -- a sequence of chords.

These three clips all use the same sequence of three chords: C major -- G major -- C major.

play button

You can make this sequence yourself on the Note Canvas tool below. Click play to hear the music. The first chord (C major) is already there. You just need to finish off the other two chords to make up the sequence.

/
suggest a chord button

It's easiest to start with the last chord because the notes are the same as the first chord. Use the drop down menus in the Suggest a chord tool to suggest the chord 'C maj' (C major).

Image of chord suggestion arrows

The little arrows on the left point to the notes of the C major chord.

draw note button

If you click Change tool bank, you can select the Draw note tool. Try drawing in the two notes, that the arrows are pointing to, directly above the original C note (the new notes are E and G) to make the last chord.

Now do the same thing for the middle chord: use Suggest a chord to point to the notes of 'G maj' (G major) and then use Draw note to draw in the two notes above the middle note -- G. The new notes are B and D.

Click play to hear your three chords. You should end up with something like this:

 

multi-select button

The next thing is to group the notes of each chord together. For each of the three chords, use the Multi-select tool to select the three notes of each chord.

group button

Then use Group to group them together. When you group notes together, they're joined by a grey line. (You'll need to use Deselect between each grouping.)

shift group button

Finally, you might notice that there is a big leap up for the middle chord, which breaks the flow of the three chords. Click Change tool bank and then select Shift group. With the Shift group tool selected, click two times on the lowest note of the middle chord and see what happens.

Once you've shifted the middle chord down one step, you should end up with this:

What the Shift group tool does is to shift the position, or 'inversion', of the chord. Different inversions have different sounds and effects. In this case, it means you can create three chords that flow together more, without a big jump in the middle.