chordal
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or resembling a chord.
-
of or relating to music that is marked principally by vertical harmonic movement rather than by linear polyphony.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of chordal
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Probably because at the time many of the time signatures and chordal progressions that Miles used were over the head of a young guitar player still functioning in the blues and folk idioms.
From Los Angeles Times • May 25, 2026
His chordal shapes are different than mine but I’m following the rhythm to make sure I’m staying in the pocket.
From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026
On its 1990s albums, Matthews’s guitar — often acoustic — was the band’s only chordal instrument, joined in light-fingered counterpoint by saxophone, violin, bass and drums for staccato grooves that blended folk, funk and jazz.
From New York Times • May 22, 2023
The piece “hushing,” by inti figgis-vizueta, played out over archival video of Tender as a child; the intense chordal pounding of the piece had the feel of eerie, silent-film piano accompaniment.
From New York Times • Mar. 12, 2023
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
