• Triad

  A three‑note chord built from stacked thirds (root, third, fifth).

• Seventh Chord

  A four‑note chord adding the seventh to a triad (e.g., major 7, dominant 7, minor 7).

• Inversion

  A chord voicing where a note other than the root is in the bass (e.g., first inversion).

• Voice Leading

  Smooth movement between chords by minimizing motion of individual voices.

• Borrowed Chord

  A chord borrowed from the parallel key or mode to add color (modal interchange).

• Modal Interchange

  Using chords from parallel modes (e.g., borrowing bVII from Mixolydian in a major key).

• CAGED

  A system organizing chord/scale shapes around five open‑chord forms: C, A, G, E, D.

• Nashville Number System

  A number‑based notation (1–7) that maps chords to scale degrees, enabling easy transposition.

• Roman Numerals

  Analytical notation of chords by scale degree (uppercase = major, lowercase = minor, ° = diminished).