Chords are formed by connecting intervals – the spaces between notes. Every chord has a distinctive sound due to the presence or absence of specific key intervals that determine its sound.
Major chords are well known for their bright, upbeat tone that forms the backbone of many upbeat genres of music. Additionally, these chords carry great emotional significance, often symbolizing melancholy or introspection in one form or another.
Major Triad
Major triads are perhaps the most recognizable form of chord, consisting of three notes stacked vertically into thirds. There are four triad qualities – major, minor, diminished and augmented — each determined by how far above third from root they lie as shown in Example 4.
Major chords are widely considered consonant and harmonious, often creating a happy sound. Additionally, these chords work well in various genres and songs–you’ll find them everywhere from Get the Party Started by P!nk to Run Through the Jungle by Creedence Clearwater Revival!
Step one in learning a major triad is finding its root note on your scale. We do this using an approach known as enharmonic equivalence: start at the root note, count up to its fifth, then move up an octave from that same point – in this case we end up with E for our C Major triad.
Major Seventh
Major seventh chords refer to an interval that spans eleven staff positions as opposed to ten (minor sevenths are generally limited to 10 positions). Their larger size earns it the name “major,” making this one of two common intervals found within western music.
The major seventh is an extremely distinctive sounding interval, often used in melodies and chord progressions alike. Additionally, its frequency can be modified with various effects (augmented or diminished ) for different sounds – as is detailed further below.
To create a major seventh chord, first play a major triad and add the note a half step below its root note; for instance a Cmaj7 would consist of C, E and G; raising the fifth tone up one semitone produces Cmaj7#5. Alternatively this process can be applied to other notes to form other major 7th chords.
Minor Triad
Minor chords can be found across many genres, with jazz and other contemporary music styles in particular favouring them as they have their unique sound described as sad or dark and can create tension within harmonic progressions.
To recognize a minor triad, start by identifying its root note on the music staff. Next, draw notes three and five octaves above it (i.e. draw a snowperson). If the key signature of your minor scale contains sharp(#) or flat(b) accidentals, use them to respell it according to its quality (major, diminished, augmented).
Remember that any triad can be inverted by changing its root note to become its lowest note; this process is known as first inversion and results in the Cm chord of standard chord notation. First inversion also lowers its fifth chord by one half step from its original position (i.e. from E to G).
Minor Seventh
A minor seventh is a musical interval consisting of two notes with an interval distance of 10 semitones between them, one half step narrower than major seventh, and one semitone smaller than an augmented sixth.
A chord that contains a minor seventh is a four-note chord composed of a minor triad with an extra minor seventh above its root note. While such chords can be built using any note in a minor scale, those built using do and fa (1 and 4) tend to contain dominant seventh chords as well.
To change an A major 7th chord into an A minor 7th, simply lower both its third and seventh tones by one half step each; see diagram for reference.