Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

accord plaqué

English translation:

block chord

Added to glossary by Lorna Coing
Sep 10, 2013 19:30
10 yrs ago
3 viewers *
French term

accord plaqué

French to English Art/Literary Music
Bonjour!

Help! I can't figure out how to express 'accord plaqué', as used below, in English. I understand that it means a chord in which each note is given the same emphasis, but I'm not aware of any way to say that nice and neatly. Do we just say 'chord', or is there some way to qualify it?

Thanks in advance for any ideas you may have!

Le trio joue avec énergie dans un style proche du stride piano, un peu à la manière de Earl Hines et surtout de Teddy Wilson. Cependant, leur swing s’éloigne un peu de celui des ténors du stride pour la raison que le rôle de la main gauche, son martèlement rythmique, y est plus discret afin d’accentuer la prégnance de la ligne mélodique que Nat développe avec imagination et agilité, l’entrecoupant de brefs *accords plaqués* avec l’autre main.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +1 block chords

Discussion

Lorna Coing (asker) Sep 15, 2013:
Merci! Thank you, All, for your contributions!
kashew Sep 12, 2013:
Nat Cole playing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCEcDhF2LSo
He does the block chording at 1.15.
David Vaughn Sep 12, 2013:
block chords This term does not have a single definition, it is quite context-sensitive and ambiguous. Here I understand the meaning to be simply saying that the chord is not an arpeggio.
kashew Sep 12, 2013:
kashew Sep 11, 2013:
Definition: BLOCK CHORDS : Litt. "bloc d'accords", jouer en block chords consiste pour le pianiste à plaquer simultanément des accords des deux mains. Il s'agit d'une transposition au piano de ce qui pourrait être écrit pour une section de cuivres ou d'anches. Outre Earl Hines et Milt Buckner (qui dit-on, en est l'inventeur), ***Nat King Cole***, Erroll Garner, Lennie Tristano et Oscar Peterson ont recouru au jeu puissamment rythmique des block chords.
NB: It's BOTH hands!
David Vaughn Sep 11, 2013:
son It reads mistakeless to me, saying the left hand hammering is more discrete...
Alison Sabedoria (X) Sep 11, 2013:
Son = sans ? A spelling mistake, possibly? Maybe the coffee hasn't kicked in yet, but it would make more sense to me if the left hand was "not hammering out the rhythm". The idea being that the block chords in the left hand (the "other hand") are placed discreetly here and there to complement the melody in the right hand.

Proposed translations

+1
43 mins
Selected

block chords

I'd probably say block chords in the right hand (instead of "other hand") for clarity
Peer comment(s):

agree Alison Sabedoria (X) : But I think these are in the LEFT hand against the melody played by the right hand (see my discussion entry).
10 hrs
Something went wrong...
2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you for this term! And I think Wordeffect is correct - the block chords in question are being played by the left hand."

Reference comments

37 mins
Reference:

Previous KudoZ question Spanish to English

Peer comments on this reference comment:

agree philgoddard
53 mins
agree Simon Chiassai
2 hrs
agree Alison Sabedoria (X)
11 hrs
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