Instrumentality
  • Labwerks
  • Instrumming
  • Sparks
  • Alchemy
Instrumentality

A mad musical adventure

Instrumentality
  • Labwerks
  • Instrumming
  • Sparks
  • Alchemy
  • Harmony
  • Magic
  • Theory

In search of the lost chord

  • July 5, 2021
  • admin
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

In 1877, Arthur Sullivan composed one of the most successful songs of the 19th Century. It was based on a poem by Adelaide Anne Procter, from 1858 and it was called The Lost Chord:

Seated one day at the organ,
I was weary and ill at ease,
And my fingers wandered idly
Over the noisy keys.

I know not what I was playing,
Or what I was dreaming then;
But I struck one chord of music,
Like the sound of a great Amen.

The search for that lost perfect chord which will melt us on the spot has been going on some time. So, what have people come up with?

The Mystic Chord

Let’s start with the Mystic Chord, used by Russian composer Alexander Scriabin. It contains the notes C F# Bb E A D:

The Mystic Chord

Scribian describes the chord as ‘designed to afford instant apprehension of what was in essence beyond the mind of man to conceptualise. Its preternatural stillness was a gnostic intimation of a hidden otherness.’ I’m glad he’s clarified things!

I’m afraid I don’t get the mystic chord at all. Onwards …

The Heaven Chord

Jonny May suggests Cmaj9/E as the Heaven Chord – ‘the most beautiful piano chord’. Not only does Jonny regard this as a beautiful chord but a useful one too in that it can be used in place of a simple major triad. The left hand of the piano plays E G C and the right hand plays D G B. So that’s a C major triad with the E note as bass plus a major seventh, plus a ninth.

The Heaven Chord
The most beautiful chords on guitar

Marco Cirillo suggests the following chord as his favourite. It’s an A major with an added 9th and with a C# bass, played on the seventh fret but with open 5th and 2nd strings.

Marco Cirillo’s Most Beautiful Chord on Guitar

Michael Dunkley has another chord in mind. What he calls ‘the most beautiful chord that you’ve ever heard.’ It’s an Emaj7 with an added 6th and added 9th:

Michael Dunkley’s Most Beautiful Chord
Why have one chord when you can have 12?

Derik Nelson goes further and suggests 12 beautiful chords. That’s Cadd4, Dbsus2, Dmaj9, Ebmaj9, Em9, Fmaj7, F#m11, Gadd9, Abm9, Aadd9, Bb6/9, Bm7add11. Download his PDF to see how to play these on guitar or piano. This really is a lovely sequence, with the root note of the chord rising up a semitone each time.

Derik Nelson’s 12 Beautiful Chords on guitar

Extended chords can sound great when sung by a choir. Here are Derik Nelson’s 12 chords in vocal form:

Derik Nelson’s 12 Beautiful Chords sung by a choir
The Hendrix chord

So far, we’ve concentrated on beautiful harmonies but what if the lost chord was actually rather discordant?

The so-called Hendrix chord is a 7th with a sharpened 9th. You’ll recognise it:

The Hendrix Chord
Right under our noses

Talking of Hendrix, it’s said that Jimi was able to spend hours just playing around on a guitar with an open E major chord – just the simple triad of E, G# and B. On a guitar, it’s particularly nice as you get to play an open 6th string as the root with a simple shape on top. Perhaps, the lost chord has been under our noses all along!

Just an E major
Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
admin

Previous Article
  • Magic
  • Melody
  • Theory

Suspended delights

  • June 28, 2021
  • admin
View Post
Next Article
  • Sparks

Sometimes you just need a riff

  • July 12, 2021
  • admin
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Progressions

Are two chords really enough?

  • admin
  • March 16, 2022
View Post
  • Magic

The big build: anthemic choruses that stir the soul

  • admin
  • February 16, 2022
View Post
  • Harmony

Walking with Pythagoras

  • admin
  • January 11, 2022
View Post
  • Magic

Melodic phrases that give you goosebumps

  • admin
  • December 6, 2021
View Post
  • Progressions

The Chorale is OK by me

  • admin
  • November 5, 2021
View Post
  • Ensembles
  • Melody
  • Theory

Amanecer – a Phrygian dawn

  • admin
  • August 30, 2021
View Post
  • Rhythm
  • Sparks

Playing with time

  • admin
  • July 19, 2021
View Post
  • Magic
  • Melody
  • Theory

Suspended delights

  • admin
  • June 28, 2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Instrumentality
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
A mad musical adventure

Input your search keywords and press Enter.