A block chord is a chord or voicing built directly below the

melody A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...

either on the strong beats or to create a four-part harmonized melody line in " locked-hands" rhythmic unison with the melody, as opposed to

broken chord In Western music theory, a chord is a group of notes played together for their harmonic consonance or dissonance. The most basic type of chord is a triad, so called because it consists of three distinct notes: the root note along with interv ...

s. This latter style, known as shearing voicing, was popularized by George Shearing, but originated with Phil Moore. Block chord style (also known as chorale style) uses simple chordal

harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

in which "the notes of each chord may be played all at once" as opposed to being "played one at a time (broken or arpeggiated chords). For example, a guitarist can strum the chord (this would be a "block" chord) or use a picking style to play "broken" chords".

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