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

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

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 for a beguiling four-note theme in the first movement and a handful of charitable segues into fleeting chordal consensus, there was plenty of current but not a lot of raft.

From Washington Post • Nov. 12, 2021

Midway through, Corea slips into gentle chordal comping while Di Meola ascends and descends the scales.

From New York Times • Feb. 12, 2021

Triads are the chords around which every harmonic, or chordal, journey is structured, in virtually all the Western music written between the early fifteenth century and our own time.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall