Chording

[kawrd] /kɔrd/

noun
1.
a combination of usually three or more musical tones sounded simultaneously.
verb (used with object)
2.
to establish or play a chord or chords for (a particular harmony or song); harmonize or voice:
How would you chord that in B flat?
/ˈkɔːdɪŋ/
noun (music)
1.
the distribution of chords throughout a piece of harmony
2.
the intonation of a group of instruments or voices
/kɔːd/
noun
1.
(maths)

2.
(engineering) one of the principal members of a truss, esp one that lies along the top or the bottom
3.
(anatomy) a variant spelling of cord
4.
an emotional response, esp one of sympathy: the story struck the right chord
5.
an imaginary straight line joining the leading edge and the trailing edge of an aerofoil
6.
(archaic) the string of a musical instrument
/kɔːd/
noun
1.
the simultaneous sounding of a group of musical notes, usually three or more in number See concord (sense 4), discord (sense 3)
verb
2.
(transitive) to provide (a melodic line) with chords
n.

“related notes in music,” 1590s, ultimately a shortening of accord (or borrowed from a similar development in French) and influenced by Latin chorda “catgut, a string” of a musical instrument (see cord (n.)). Spelling with an -h- first recorded c.1600, from confusion with chord (n.2). Originally two notes; of three or more from 18c.

“structure in animals resembling a string,” 1540s, alteration of cord (n.), by influence of Greek khorde “gut-string, string of a lyre, tripe,” from PIE *ghere- “gut, entrail” (see yarn). The geometry sense is from 1550s; meaning “feeling, emotion” first attested 1784.

chord (kôrd)
n.
Variant of cord.
chord
(kôrd)

In music, the sound of three or more notes played at the same time. The history of Western music is marked by an increase in complexity of the chords composers use.

Related Terms

pink chord
see: strike a chord