Page 61 - Year 8 Knowledge Organiser

Music: 3 of 5 Music: 4 of 5

How to read chord charts: A chord is any time that an instrument plays more than one note. On

fretted instruments, chord charts (sometimes called chord boxes) are a common way of notating The piano has groups of black notes. They come in groups of three or groups of two.

how to play chords. A chord chart is basically a map of one part of the fretboard. The vertical lines If we find any group of two black notes on the piano and play the note in the middle, that note is a D.
(up and down) represent the strings, and the horizontal (left to right) represent the frets. The top If we know this note, we can use it to work out the rest. They notes of the keyboard follow the

line on the chart is the plastic nut at the end of the fretboard. The dots on the chart tell you where alphabet, the note after D is E. The note after E is F. This pattern keeps going until we get to G. After

you need to place your fingers. Once you have placed all of your fingers, you strum across all G, we go back to the start of the alphabet, so the note that comes after G is A.
strings at once with your picking hand.

In this diagram, the blue arrows

show where the frets are on the

chord chart. The red arrows
show where the strings are. The

orange arrows show where you

place your fingers to make the
chord.