POLYCHORDS
Polychords are everywhere in music – all kinds of music. And yet polychords are often not fully understood, or even worse, are viewed as “scary” and “difficult,” leaving students to dismiss them as too advanced for their own understanding. Well, polychords are not too scary, difficult, or advanced. In fact, they are sometimes used to make advanced chords easier to understand and play
Polychords: How To Define Them
Let’s break this down into “poly”-“chords.” We know what “chords” are, of course. Chords are two or more notes played simultaneously. Major and minor triads are some of the first chords we learn at the piano. “Poly” simply means “more than one” – as in, “two or more.” So a polychord is simply a single chord that incorporates two different chords.
Polychords: Examples
Let’s first review slash chords before we look at some polychord examples. Slash chords are very closely related to polychords. Remember that slash chords are written using a slash, with a chord indicated on the left of the slash and a note indicated to the right of the slash,
In the example above we first see a Dmaj/C. This slash chord tells us to play a D major triad with a ‘C’ in the bass. The second example tells us to play a C min7 chord with an ‘F’ in the bass.
Now let’s look at some polychord examples.👆
What are some obvious differences that we see in the writing of polychord symbols? Firstly, the “slash” is now rewritten as a dividing line. Secondly, we see a chord symbol on both the chord above and below the dividing line. This tells us that we have two chords to consider, not simply a chord and a bass note as is the case in slash chords.
So to recap: Slash chords use a “slash” and consist of a chord to the left of the slash, and a bass note to the right. Polychords use a “dividing line” and consist of a chord on top (which is played in the higher register) and a chord on bottom (which is played in the lower register).
Polychords are a simple yet effective way to enrich your harmonic vocabulary and access extended or altered tones. In a basic sense, a polychord is superimposing a chord over a chord.
In notation, a polychord may be used to:
#simplify the construction of chords
#clarify applications when improvising and composing
#imply a specific voicing
As a sight-reader, you should be comfort able reading complex altered/extended chords in standard notation (ex: C7b9#11) as well as polychord notation (ex: “Gb over C7”).
Polychords: How To Define Them
Let’s break this down into “poly”-“chords.” We know what “chords” are, of course. Chords are two or more notes played simultaneously. Major and minor triads are some of the first chords we learn at the piano. “Poly” simply means “more than one” – as in, “two or more.” So a polychord is simply a single chord that incorporates two different chords.
Polychords: Examples
Let’s first review slash chords before we look at some polychord examples. Slash chords are very closely related to polychords. Remember that slash chords are written using a slash, with a chord indicated on the left of the slash and a note indicated to the right of the slash,
In the example above we first see a Dmaj/C. This slash chord tells us to play a D major triad with a ‘C’ in the bass. The second example tells us to play a C min7 chord with an ‘F’ in the bass.
Now let’s look at some polychord examples.👆
What are some obvious differences that we see in the writing of polychord symbols? Firstly, the “slash” is now rewritten as a dividing line. Secondly, we see a chord symbol on both the chord above and below the dividing line. This tells us that we have two chords to consider, not simply a chord and a bass note as is the case in slash chords.
So to recap: Slash chords use a “slash” and consist of a chord to the left of the slash, and a bass note to the right. Polychords use a “dividing line” and consist of a chord on top (which is played in the higher register) and a chord on bottom (which is played in the lower register).
Polychords are a simple yet effective way to enrich your harmonic vocabulary and access extended or altered tones. In a basic sense, a polychord is superimposing a chord over a chord.
In notation, a polychord may be used to:
#simplify the construction of chords
#clarify applications when improvising and composing
#imply a specific voicing
As a sight-reader, you should be comfort able reading complex altered/extended chords in standard notation (ex: C7b9#11) as well as polychord notation (ex: “Gb over C7”).
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