How to Read Chords

How to Read Chords Reading musical chords and notes is not that difficult a task. However if you are planning to expertise in reading notes and chords in some advanced form of music such as jazz, then you need to rely on persistent practice. Let us know first how to read single notes of music.

Whenever you are attempting to sight read the notes it is very important to identify the written notes fast enough. E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F is the G clef from the bottom line to up. There is an interesting way to memorize this progression which can help you in recalling it immediately. It is- Every Farm Girl Acts Bad Cuz Ducks Evaporate Fast. Although this sentence is of little meaning, it is a great way of remembering the progression.
For the F clef, the first line is a G. The progression goes like this- G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G. There is also a way for memorizing this progression. It is- Good Alligator Babies Create Dead Edibles From God. This sentence will come to your rescue whenever you are in need of reference points.
After learning how to read single notes, you can shift your attention to practice a book of melodies. You shall have to get a firm grip over reading a single note before handling chords.

How to read simple chords

Major and minor are the two kinds of chords which are played constantly. Identifying them is not a difficult task. Root notes, the major third and the perfect fifth make up the Major chord. The notes C (root), E (major third) and G (perfect fifth) build up the C-Major chord. However you have to learn to identify chords based on the notes and not by their arrangement on the music sheet. This has a important reason behind it- inversions use same notes of a major chord but are in different octaves, which in turn creates a varied effect in music.
In the similar fashion, a Minor chord consists of Root, the Minor third and the perfect fifth A. C (root), E flat (minor third) and G (perfect fifth) make up the C-Minor chord. Even these have inversions. Therefore it is advised to always identify chords by the notes therein and not by the look of the relation of the notes with each other.
Minor or Major chords with certain note additions make up the Augmented chords. Augmented chords can also be inverted for different musical effects.
Similar to augmented chords, there are diminished chords. A root, a minor third and a diminished fifth make up the diminished chords. You can write these notes as- (root note) dim or (root note) followed by a small circle which is used as the symbol of temperature degrees.

Watch a video instruction on how to read chords