chordal

American  

[kawr-dl] / ˈkɔr dl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling a chord.

2. of or relating to music that is marked principally by vertical harmonic movement rather than by linear polyphony.

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Other Word Forms

• prechordal adjective

Etymology

Origin of chordal

First recorded in 1610–20; chord ² + -al ¹

Example Sentences

Not a lot, just some tweaking to make it a little more interesting in a chordal sense.

From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2022

But Walker’s signature feel for contrast — including alternations between motifs that ring out and peremptory chordal bursts — is still evident.

From New York Times • Jan. 27, 2022

“I’ve always just been drawn to melodies and chordal structures that were unexpected,” she said.

From New York Times • Jan. 19, 2022

This was observable in his inhabitation of the arrangement from the stage: a full-body and full-bodied understanding of Ravel’s rolling dreamscape, its colorful flights of fancy, its spellbinding chordal luminescence, its assorted cataclysms.

From Washington Post • Oct. 29, 2021

Typically, a batch of four might have been commissioned, with two or even three of the four calibrated to a lower pitch to make a fuller, self-contained chordal sound.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall