Page 57 - Year 9 Knowledge Organiser

Music: 4 of 9 Music: 5 of 9

How to read chord charts: A chord is any time that an instrument plays more than one note. On
The piano has groups of black notes. They come in groups of three or groups of two. fretted instruments, chord charts (sometimes called chord boxes) are a common way of notating

If we find any group of two black notes on the piano and play the note in the middle, that note is a D. how to play chords. A chord chart is basically a map of one part of the fretboard. The vertical lines

If we know this note, we can use it to work out the rest. They notes of the keyboard follow the (up and down) represent the strings, and the horizontal (left to right) represent the frets. The top
alphabet, the note after D is E. The note after E is F. This pattern keeps going until we get to G. After line on the chart is the plastic nut at the end of the fretboard. The dots on the chart tell you where

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

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.