Chords and harmony: why the song works

A chord is several notes at once: major sounds bright (C-E-G), minor sad (C-E♭-G). Songs build on 4 chords: C-G-Am-F — thousands of hits stand on them. Harmony is the chords\u2019 relationship: tonic (home) → subdominant → dominant (tension) → return home. Music = a journey with return.

• ●Major = joy, minor = sadness — the mood rule
• ●The 4 hit chords: C-G-Am-F — try them in a piano app
• ●Bass holds the bottom, melody rides on top — teamwork