Major chords consist of three notes stacked upon each other: the root, third and fifth notes.
To play a major chord, start by placing your thumb on its root note and counting four keys away to its right.
Major Triads
Major chords consist of three consecutive notes stacked one upon another. The distance between the bottom note (known as the root or tonic) and middle note is known as a third; between middle note and top note it’s called fifth.
Each major triad has its own individual sound, making practice across the keyboard essential. Major triads tend to sound open and lively while minor ones often possess a more mournful quality.
A diminished triad is created by taking a major triad and lowering both middle and top notes by one half step each – this can be represented with either a circle symbol, or sometimes just “dim” for short. A diminished triad has its own special sound; therefore it’s essential that practice time be spent both up and down the keyboard to perfect its unique sound.
Minor Triads
To create a minor chord, take the root note from a major scale and reduce it by half step (one key including black keys) until it forms the minor scale. Add two notes above it as minor third and fifth to complete your chord.
These chords emit a poignant, melancholic tone. To play them, use your thumb, middle finger and pinky to play chords like these.
One difference between major and minor triads lies in their 3rd (middle) note being one semitone lower on a minor scale triad compared to three semitones between root and 5th in major scale. To remember this easily, just think of 1b3 5 as 1 +b3 =5.
Dominant Triads
A dominant chord helps define the key. As its home-chord, it gives listeners a clear indication of where they are in terms of key. For instance, without this element a C major chord could sound discordant as it could belong in multiple keys; while with one present like dominant 7th chord in C major it gives the listener an immediate sense of key.
Dominant chords can be found throughout all tonal music from Mozart symphonies to Top 40 pop and jazz solos, making them an effective tool for creating interesting and memorable chord sequences.
A dominant triad is composed of three notes–major third, perfect fifth and minor seventh above its root–representing five chords above it in sheet music. Sometimes known as a five chord or five chord progression.
Sustained Triads
Sustained chords are stacked triads that feature an additional note above their top two notes, indicated by an augmented ninth or diminished seventh (such as C9 for C major triad being voiced above it). To indicate this fact, an augmented ninth (9) or diminished seventh (+7) symbol can be written into their chord symbol to denote this feature – for instance C9 would mean that an C major triad has an additional D voiced above it to signify this fact.
One common way of adding notes to a triad is to raise its third by half-step and create a suspended chord known as sus2 or sus4. This type of suspended chord can be played with any major triad and often serves to add tension in music pieces.
Different triad qualities sound distinctively and can elicit different emotional states: happy, sad or fearful. Additionally, some of these triad qualities also serve as good replacements for dominant and minor chords.
Diminished Triads
Diminished chords produce a very unbalanced sound and should only be played for short durations, usually as transition chords or on top of other chords. Essentially, they’re simply the original triad with a flattened 7th. Although playing diminished chords may initially seem complicated or unfamiliar to newcomers, once you understand their concept it becomes very simple indeed!
Major chords are represented with capital letters; minor triads have lowercase “mi”, diminished triads are denoted with an empty circle or superscript “o”, and augmented triads contain a plus sign (+). Take some time to familiarize yourself with each triad’s sound by playing up and down the keyboard; each has its own individual characteristics: majors sound open and happy while minors have moody overtones and diminisheds have dissonant qualities that provide contrasts in moodiness or dissonance.