Originally a term derived from the low notes of an organ played with a pedal, the name ‘pedal tone’ is now more commonly used to describe a static bass note played under changing chords. In fact, I’m ...

An altered chord is one that contains notes from outside its scale of origin – chords such as b9 or #5 are frequently seen examples of this. What the example chords are designed to demonstrate is how ...

This post is in partnership with NME. Perhaps nothing epitomized the accessible DIY nature of punk more than what iconic fanzine Sideburns quipped in its first issue back in 1977: ‘This is a chord.