{"id":1089,"date":"2011-01-27T12:54:42","date_gmt":"2011-01-27T19:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hearandplay.com\/main\/?p=1089"},"modified":"2024-12-25T16:49:01","modified_gmt":"2024-12-26T00:49:01","slug":"quartal-chords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hearplaymain.wpenginepowered.com\/quartal-chords\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret Chords That Work Almost Anywhere… Quartal Chords"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most people haven’t heard of quartal chords<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That’s because they are chords built off fourth intervals<\/a>, whereas the most familiar chords (like major, minor, dominant, diminished, augmented) are built of thirds — aka “tertian chords.”<\/p>\n

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How to Form Quartal Chords<\/h1>\n

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First, you gotta know your intervals. Here’s a quick way to learn fourth intervals (and subsequently fifth intervals because fourths and fifths are like the opposite of each other. If you go down a fourth, you’ll get the same note an octave higher by going up a fifth… and vise versa).<\/p>\n

\"circleoffifths\"<\/center><\/p>\n

This chart will help you learn fourths. Just follow it counter clockwise.<\/p>\n

C to F to Bb to Eb to Ab to Db to Gb to B to E to A to D to G<\/div>\n

If there is anything in music to commit to memory as fast as you can, it’s this chain of notes organized in fourths. It just so happens this is the way most songs progress, too. Think about all the songs you already know how to play. Compare them to this circle and I’d bet entire chunks will be consistent. Music moves in fourths!<\/p>\n

In other words, F is a fourth up from C.<\/p>\n

Bb is a fourth up from F.<\/p>\n

(Others take the “fifth” route — C is the fifth of F… F is the fifth of Bb… and so on. But for the purposes of learning Quartal chords<\/a>