Major chords can add a substantial impact and enhance the mood of any song you compose, including longer sequences and inverted progressions. There are various techniques you can employ when it comes to using major chords in composition.
Major chords typically consist of three notes: the root, major third and perfect fifth. To find these notes you must be familiar with the major scale.
Root
Root Note of a Chord | JF& Co. The lowest note in any chord is known as its root note; whether flat or sharp, this note serves as the foundation on which to build. This applies equally for all triads including those containing sevenths and extended chords.
Chords consisting of more than three notes can still be analyzed using this approach, with an important distinction: sometimes the root does not reside in the bass region of each chord (for instance F minor has G in its bass section, while D is its root note).
Notable too is that although chord notes appear to form harmonic series, their frequencies differing by an overtone from an underlying harmony, so any given chord can be voiced various ways without changing its identity – as demonstrated in the table below.
Major Third
In chord theory, a major third is an interval spanning four half steps (two whole steps). It’s the most frequently found interval within triads and determines their major or minor qualities; diminished and augmented intervals use different numbers of semitones to differentiate themselves from each other.
Mistaking the position of a chord for its sound can be easy, but this misconception should not hold. The only significant distinction among G chords played in their root, seventh and dominant forms lies in the size of gaps between its notes.
The major third is an essential element in many progressions, so mastering it on guitar is essential. To play one easily and smoothly, simply move your index finger up a fret over your second string until it touches it and play! It’s that simple!
Perfect Fifth
The perfect fifth is an interval spanning seven semitones (three whole steps and a half step) between two notes, creating one of the more consonant intervals, found frequently in major chords with “tall tertian” harmonies; its presence helps reduce dissonance created by layering other three tones on top. You might also hear it on its own in chords such as medieval music using C-G chords or rock music where it may be known as a power chord.
An effective way to train one’s ears to recognize perfect fifth intervals is by singing through all five notes of a major scale using solfege: do re mi fa sol. Other examples of perfect fifths can be seen in Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra, Harold Arlen’s The Wizard of Oz Soldiers March and Game of Thrones theme song as examples of perfect fifths.
Major Seventh
The major seventh chord is an unforgettable chord to use when crafting major scale music, able to add tension and drama in its soundscape.
It can also be found in modern jazz, blues, rock, R&B and pop. This chord often stands out in these genres and should become familiar to players of most instruments.
To create a major seventh chord, take the first three notes of a major scale and add a diminished 7th above them, finishing off with a root note. This formula can also be used for creating dominant seventh chords by simply lowering the third note by half step.
Major seventh chords are typically labeled on music sheets using roman numerals, with “m” for major and “d” for diminished. Unfortunately, these symbols often don’t come with any additional explanation of what these chords actually signify – making it hard for you to comprehend their significance.