A chord chart is a simplified text document that typically represents lyrics with ASCII chord (music) placed above the appropriate syllables of the lyrics to associate the relative timing of the chord changes to the words of a song. Musically speaking, chord charts really represent an arrangement (albeit with many elements lacking) of a song, rather than a true song in complete content. This is because a complete representation of a song is a musical composition made for the human voice, which will always include notation for pitch and timing. Fingering for a first position C major chord on a guitar. ... A song is a relatively short musical composition for the human voice (possibly accompanied by other musical instruments), which features words (lyrics). ... Musical composition is: an original piece of music the structure of a musical piece the process of creating a new piece of music // A musical composition A piece of music exists in the form of a written composition in musical notation or as a single acoustic event (a live performance...

Chord charts are a colloquialism of musicians who simply wish to notate chord and (usually) lyric changes. Since chord charts are textual in format, musical notes are typically never represented on a chord chart. Timing can be found on chord charts via the use of timing marks which appear as pipe symbols "|" to indicate each musical bar, and forward slashes to represent "/" individual "hits" of the appropriate chord.

History

Likely the result of an ongoing minimalist trend amongst folk, jazz, blues, rock musicians, the chord chart was a direct descendant of the fake book which had percolated the fully notated musical score into loose leaf collections of lead sheets. Folk can refer to a number of different things: It can be short for folk music, or, for folksong, or, for folklore; it may be a word for a specific people, tribe, or nation, especially one of the Germanic peoples; it might even be a calque on the related German... Jazz is an original American musical art form that originated around the start of the 20th century in New Orleans, rooted in African American musical styles blended with Western music technique and theory. ... Blues music redirects here. ... Rock is a form of popular music from the mid 20th century which typically features a vocal melody (often with vocal harmony) that is supported by accompaniment of electric guitars, a bass guitar, and drums, often with a strong back beat. ... A fake book is a collection of simplified sheet music (sometimes called fake music or lead sheets), either transcribed manually or copied from some other source. ... Sheet music is written represenation of music. ...

External links