You only have to put your finger somewhere in between two frets to get a particular note, so you can play more than the tiny handful of chords that can be played on something like a violin.
There are non-fretted guitars but they are rare, and I think early banjos were not fretted.
I can play chords on a violin or viola and strum them. Keeping a four-finger chord perfectly in tune in rapid changes is really hard (near impossible) without frets.
There are those who say it isn't a chord until you have 3 notes. I'm going to skip the complex music theory behind the arguments (I haven't studied them enough to understand much less form an opinion).
Of course in most music contexts there is more than one instrument playing and so the others can fill in the missing note making a full chord. Only a "one-man-band" really feels the loss.
Every jazz player knows you can drop the fifth, and the root too if the bass is filling it in. That gives your fingers room to add even crazier extensions
If not, stop and watch it. But make a cup of tea to enjoy with it first, and maybe put a cloth over your keyboard for when you inevitably splutter tea all over it.
in college a good friend was a very good Oud player (plucked, some number of strings.... more than 8? I forget), and it definitely sounds different from guitar due to less sustain. Clearer notes and chords, but they don't linger as long or loud.
For plucked instruments, besides ease of use, it adds clarity and sustain. Orchestra AFAIK only has Pizzicato where that would matter.
Frets make chords possible.
You only have to put your finger somewhere in between two frets to get a particular note, so you can play more than the tiny handful of chords that can be played on something like a violin.
There are non-fretted guitars but they are rare, and I think early banjos were not fretted.
Frets make chords easier
It makes hard chords easy, and impossible chords possible (if not easy). Most barre chords, for example.
Isn't it the curvature of the fretboard (to allow for bowing individual strings) that prevents chords on a violin rather than lack of frets?
Chords can be rolled. Here's an all time favorite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngjEVKxQCWs&list=RDngjEVKxQC...
I can play chords on a violin or viola and strum them. Keeping a four-finger chord perfectly in tune in rapid changes is really hard (near impossible) without frets.
> Frets make chords possible.
What do you think double-stops are?
There are those who say it isn't a chord until you have 3 notes. I'm going to skip the complex music theory behind the arguments (I haven't studied them enough to understand much less form an opinion).
Of course in most music contexts there is more than one instrument playing and so the others can fill in the missing note making a full chord. Only a "one-man-band" really feels the loss.
Power chords only have two notes (although more than two octaves, I don't know if you count that)
It's self-consistent: those who say that a chord must have at least 3 notes also say that power chords are not technically chords
What do you mean about more than two octaves? The basic power chord is 3 notes, for example E2 + B2 + E3. One of those is an octave.
"Power chord" sounds cooler than "power dyad".
Whimpy-ass chords. You need three or more notes for a serious(tm) chord.
Five for the Hendrix Chord, E7♯9 ;-)
That's E, G♯, B, D, F
Every jazz player knows you can drop the fifth, and the root too if the bass is filling it in. That gives your fingers room to add even crazier extensions
Oh man have you seen the Adam Neely video "Seven Level of Jazz Harmony"?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz3WR-F_pnM
If not, stop and watch it. But make a cup of tea to enjoy with it first, and maybe put a cloth over your keyboard for when you inevitably splutter tea all over it.
I read a pretty good argument once that this chord should really be called a b10 (no one does though...)
Sustain
in college a good friend was a very good Oud player (plucked, some number of strings.... more than 8? I forget), and it definitely sounds different from guitar due to less sustain. Clearer notes and chords, but they don't linger as long or loud.
Edit: apparently it's 11 strings? ok.
What's the difference in sustain time between a cello played pizzicato and a plucked guitar string?
On fingered strings the guitar sustains for about 10 seconds until the note is very quiet, but still ringing.
On a Cello a fingered string is gone in 2 seconds.