---
title: "Chords and Harmony"
description: "Notes sounded together make a chord, and a run of chords underneath a tune is what most songs are built on. A few chords, repeated in an order, carry a whole song."
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/arts-and-music/chords-and-harmony-mt_SWhLE91u-E
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/arts-and-music/chords-and-harmony-mt_SWhLE91u-E.md
retrieved: 2026-09-12
---

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# Chords and Harmony

Notes sounded together make a chord, and a run of chords underneath a tune is what most songs are built on. A few chords, repeated in an order, carry a whole song.

Subject: Arts & Music · Area: Music · Ages 12 to 14
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/arts-and-music/chords-and-harmony-mt_SWhLE91u-E

## Ready when they can

- Say what a chord is and how it differs from a melody
- Hear when the chord under a song changes, even without naming it
- Explain that many songs run on three or four chords in a repeating order
- Give one example of a chord change that sounds like an ending and one that sounds unfinished

## Lesson: Three notes that carry a song

A chord is three or more notes played at the same time. That sets it apart from a melody, which is notes played one after another. The simplest chords hold three notes: a root, a third and a fifth. The root is the note the chord is named after.

**Example.** Build C major on a keyboard. Start on C, skip one white key and play E, skip one more and play G, then press all three together. From C this shape makes a major chord. From D it sounds darker, so the start matters.

A run of chords under a tune is what most songs are built on. Learn three or four chords and you can play thousands of songs, since most repeat the same small set in the same order over and over. That repeating order is the chord progression, the frame the whole song hangs on.

Listen under the tune for the shifts. Sing Happy Birthday and mark where the chord changes: each change tilts the feeling though the melody rolls on. The last chord sounds settled, like an ending, while earlier ones sound still on the way.

**Recap.** Chords stack notes together, a few in repeating order carry whole songs, and the last one sounds like home.

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Scales, Keys and Why a Tune Sounds Happy or Sad](https://lightmysky.com/learn/arts-and-music/scales-keys-and-why-a-tune-sounds-happy-or-sad-mt_9XMu4MF7_t)

## Opens up

- [The Shape of a Piece](https://lightmysky.com/learn/arts-and-music/the-shape-of-a-piece-mt_sSoi-W_vs-)