Introduction to Chord Theory—a handout

Here’s a document I recently gave out to my songwriting class at City Lit. It’s aimed at people with no previous knowledge of chords, taking them through all the basics in a visual way with plenty of diagrams. There’s no music notation. If you think your students would benefit from it, please feel free to download and distribute. I’m fairly sure that on it’s own it’s a bit useless, but with the guidance of a teacher it could be quite useful. The contents of this follow the linear approach of the six-session evening class.

If you have suggestions for improving the content or the way it’s set out, I’d love to hear from you!