View source for Block chord

{{Short description|Musical chord with rhythmic unison}}
{{for|block harmony|Close and open harmony}}

A '''block chord''' is a [[chord (music)|chord]] or [[voicing (music)|voicing]] built directly below the [[melody]] either on the strong beats or to create a four-part [[harmony|harmonized]] melody line in "[[Locked hands style|locked-hands]]"<ref name="Sudhalter">{{harvnb|Sudhalter|2001|p=404}}</ref> rhythmic unison with the melody, as opposed to [[broken chord]]s. This latter style, known as '''shearing voicing''', was popularized by [[George Shearing]], but originated with [[Phil Moore (jazz musician)|Phil Moore]].<ref name="Sudhalter"/>

Block chord style (also known as '''chorale style''') uses simple chordal [[harmony]] in which "the notes of each chord may be played all at once" as opposed to being "played one at a time (broken or [[arpeggio|arpeggiated]] chords). For example, a guitarist can strum the chord (this would be a "block" chord) or use a picking style to play "broken" chords".{{sfn|Schmidt-Jones|n.d.}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Schmidt-Jones|n.d.}}|reference=Schmidt-Jones, Catherine. "[http://cnx.org/content/m11875/latest/ Simple Chordal Harmony]". openstax.cnx (accessed 7 November 2016).}}
* {{cite book|first=Richard M. |last=Sudhalter|title=Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915–1945|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=YraQ6R4wdGsC}}|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-514838-1 }}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|author1=Carl Humphries|author2=Robin Meloy Goldsby|title=The Piano Handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w1srGMohAZoC|year=2002|location=San Francisco|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=978-0-87930-727-1 }}


{{Chords}}

{{Jazz theory}}

{{Voicing (music)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Block Chord}}
[[Category:Chords]]
[[Category:Jazz techniques]]
[[Category:Voicing (music)]]
[[Category:Jazz terminology]]
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