Major chords can convey joy, lightness and hope – whether that is evident in your music depends on its cultural associations with Western music.
Minor chords feature a unique sound that evokes sadness or melancholy feelings, making them ideal for creating melancholic or tragic emotions. Gain more knowledge on both types of chords as you learn how to switch between them seamlessly.
1. C Major Triad
No matter if you play bass, piano or saxophone – major triads will always serve as the building blocks of any key you find yourself playing in. They provide the easiest notes to play and are essential components to creating chord progressions on any instrument.
Every major scale note can form the basis of a triad, though do, re, and sol (1, 4, and 5) are considered major while mi, fa, la and o are minor and diminished respectively.
Triads come in all sorts of configurations. When one or both third and fifth are in the bass, it’s known as first inversion triad; when both appear simultaneously it is known as second inversion. You can invert any triad by moving its root up an octave until it sounds similar to its original form; Roman numerals make this process even simpler!
2. C Minor Triad
Minor chords create an eerie, mysterious or sad sound to songs, making them popularly used in popular music and often interspersed with major chords. P!nk’s Get the Party Started and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Run Through the Jungle are two popular examples that feature only minor chords while Adele’s Turning Tables and Jolene by Dolly Parton use both combinations together for added complexity.
Minor triads consist of the root, third, and fifth notes from the minor scale; also known as C minor chords or minor triads in fifth position.
Minor triads in C are comprised of C, Eb, and G; their chord symbol can either be an uppercase’m’ or sometimes roman numeral with a circle around it. If the lowest note in a chord does not correspond with scale root then an additional symbol for pitch class (diminished, major, perfect) needs to be added, as 1b35 can be written as their chord formula for such chords.
3. D Major Triad
A chord (or harmony) is any group of notes that play simultaneously, often three notes at once. Triads are the most frequently formed three-note chord, featuring specific interval qualities across all major keys.
Minor triads differ from major triads in that they use lowercase letters for this same purpose, which is more typical as they often act as inversions of chord forms.
To create a minor triad from the D major scale, we need to replace the third note with a flatted note and create an less stable chord by inserting dissonance between third and fifth notes of chord; this produces its characteristic sorrowful sound. You’ll often hear this type of chord at the end of musical phrases known as an ending or falling-over chord; its unfinished sound alerting listeners that this particular phrase will soon end and thus giving off that unfinished feeling.
4. D Minor Triad
D Minor is often associated with feelings of melancholy, darkness, and sorrow. Its usage spans various songs and genres – for instance Get the Party Started by P!nk uses only minor chords while Run Through the Jungle by Creedence Clearwater Revival and Jolene by Dolly Parton feature an array of major and minor chords in their compositions.
Diminished chords such as the D minor triad are known by their symbol, Ddim or Ddeg.
Just as with major triads, the D minor can also be inverted using inversions – this consists of shifting its root note up or down an octave – creating two new chords called Dm/F and Dm/A which you can play using the CAGED method.
Major chords generally sound brighter and happier than minor ones, though why that should be is up for debate. Perception may play a large role here.
Musically speaking, a major chord can be defined as a three note triad that builds off of each degree of a major scale. The distance between its root note and major third is known as an perfect interval.
Inversions
Inversions refer to the order of lowest notes within a chord; for instance, in C minor chord inversions involve stacking the fifth note under its root and third notes; this inversion type can produce powerful sounding chords.
A major chord contains a major third, while minor chords contain minor thirds – this explains why major chords sound brighter and happier than minor ones.
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Scales
Intervals–the distance between notes–are key when playing chords. Therefore, it’s essential that one understands both major and minor scales as well as their keys for proper chord playing.
Cm6 is a minor major chord which contains both an 8th and ninth note resulting in CmMa9. Jazz music composers prefer writing it as Cm9(Ma7) because its nine-note counterpart sounds more melodic.
Understanding the difference between major and minor chords is an excellent starting point when creating songs. Even simple combinations of notes can convey some sort of identifiable emotion due to how major and minor chords stimulate different areas of your brain’s emotional centres; sad speech usually associates itself with minor chords while happy dialogue usually favors major ones.
Intervals
Intervals are fundamental components of music and understanding them is integral for playing by ear, reading sheet music and building chords. Intervals also help facilitate understanding major chords for minor chords.
As part of your research into chord interval structure, the initial step should be identifying its root. With odd-numbered intervals this would be the lowest note; with even-numbered ones it’s usually higher up on the scale. Once you know this information about a particular chord’s roots you can determine its quality.
Generalizing, major intervals are thought to sound lighter and brighter while minor ones sound darker or somber; this, of course, is entirely subjective aesthetic judgment and heavily affected by musical context. Furthermore, contracting an interval by half-steps can alter its quality significantly; for instance, in Schubert’s first measure in which F-C turns into an imperfect fifth when G is moved lower to C, making the quality diminish by one half step and narrower by half step resulting in diminished six.
Chord Progression
As musicians, it’s vital to comprehend how chord progressions impact the emotional impact of your music. Major chords often exude joy and optimism while minor chords evoke sadness or noir imagery.
Chord progressions serve to establish tonality – or key signature – of your song. A chord chart will enable you to identify which notes belong in which key, but understanding how intervals affect their shapes is even more useful.
Example of C minor IIV-IV progression using Cm7 Major and Gmaj7 Minor chords to create tension that eventually resolves into C minor’s tonic chord (I): Creep by Radiohead can demonstrate this progression perfectly.
Major chords produce an upbeat, joyful sound while minor chords create a sadder, darker melody. There is an easy way to distinguish major and minor chords – just count how many piano keys (black and white) lie between their root note and third.
Major Triads
Major and minor chords refer to two distinct things. First is how the chord is built; secondly is what kind of seventh it contains – for instance: major chords include major thirds and perfect fifths while minor chords simply contain 1 (the root note), flattened 3rd, and fifth of their named major scale.
Triads can be constructed at any degree of a musical scale, with identical properties no matter whether it be major or minor keys. Their roots notes are drawn on a staff, while third and fifth notes above them are depicted with snowperson symbols (see Chord Symbols for more).
When creating a major triad, keep in mind that there are three piano keys between the root and middle note and two between middle and fifth note – this explains why major chords sound so full and satisfying to our ears.
Major Sevenths
Major seventh chords provide a straightforward method for adding some brightness and vibrancy to any song, and can be found both major and minor key progressions. They’re an invaluable addition that should not be ignored!
Major sevenths tend to be perceived as romantic and soothing when compared to the dissonant dissonance of dominant sevenths, which may also be used to increase tension.
To create a major seventh chord, first create a major triad and add one note that is half step below its root – in other words, to play Cmaj7 simply play C, E and G and add B (which sits a half step beneath your chord’s root).
The major seventh is one of only a few intervals that can be utilized across both minor and major keys, so understanding its pattern is invaluable when writing songs and playing melodies yourself. Maj7 chords also add great accompaniment for many melodies and can be found in some of history’s greatest musical compositions.
Minor Triads
Major chords generally sound brighter and happier than minor ones in music, due to the way tonality is determined by root note and interval content; for instance, C minor contains three notes; these are A, minor third C and perfect fifth E – an interval considered universally consonant which gives stability to its form.
As such, changing the first note from C minor chord to B changes it into C minor. This applies to all minor triads as well. To write one on guitar simply switch out third for flat three; thus why Cm6 and CmMa7 chords are often written with 9s (Cm9, Cm9) so as to be easier for people reading on fretboard; additionally the brightness provided by adding bright 9s provides contrast with darkness from minor 3 chords and can really add life and brightness in songs!
Minor Sevenths
Minor seventh chord progressions can elicit many emotions ranging from sadness to fear, yet still bring hope and strength.
As its name implies, a minor seventh chord consists of the 1st, flattened (lowered), 3rd and 5th notes from its major scale’s major scale as defined by major chords. Like major chords, they’re known as triads because each note composes three separate triads.
Minor chords differ from major ones in that they do not feature the fifth to add tension and produce melancholic emotions; instead they feature a diminished seventh that creates an anchoring force at their root chord.
Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” made use of this chord. The descending arpeggio starts out in A-minor before abruptly shifting into A-major for guitarist John Paul Jones’ solo. This dramatic shift from minor to major adds an emotional resolution that helps connect lyrics with emotions expressed within songs.