Major chords are musical chords composed of tones from a major scale – in this instance the first, third and fifth notes as well as their associated octave notes.
These three notes can be arranged in various configurations known as voicings to create a major chord. No matter their order or arrangement they all form part of one major chord.
Root note
Root notes are the initial tones in any chord and usually appear in its title. In practice, when playing chords by pressing each string with your hands they represent this root note.
Major chords generally sound brighter and happier than minor ones, and can incorporate other chord tones, like seventh or ninth tones, but the two key characteristics of any major chord are its root and third tones.
The quality of a chord is measured by its distance between its root and third notes; thus the term “major” comes from this interval; yet its quality can also be impacted by other factors; for instance, major seventh chords may sound dissonant than major fifth chords due to differences in how people perceive music and perceive chord tones; that’s why learning to use your ears correctly is so essential!
Major third
A major third is an interval that separates two consecutive notes. Used to build chords, major thirds are an essential element to understanding when learning how to play guitar – also known as tritones.
C-E-G is the standard major chord and its constituent notes form the core of all major triads, so any vertical arrangement will still produce the same sound. You may also add an additional sixth note called a Major seventh or Maj9.
A major chord consists of the first, third and fifth notes of its scale arranged a perfect fifth apart. Remembering this helps identify key of a song easily. Also important is understanding how minor chords work – just a minor half step change can dramatically change its mood!
Perfect fifth
The perfect fifth is a musical interval composed of seven semitones. This highly stable interval can be found above root notes in major and minor chords as well as being used to construct triads.
The concept of the perfect interval dates back to medieval times when these intervals were considered the most consonant and harmonically pleasing intervals. They’re also frequently found as part of triadic compositions with three tones stacked one above the root note.
Perfect intervals are easy to recognize by ear, and many songs start off with them – for example “Twinkle, twinkle little star” starts off with an A-D perfect interval.
Noting the fact that intervals can be altered to change along a vertical line can also help confirm your understanding of intervals. A minor 3rd can become major 3 or vice versa. Also useful is knowing how major 6ths and minor 6ths can be reversed to further develop this knowledge of intervals.
Major triad
The major triad is an extremely prevalent chord found throughout Western music, comprising of three notes drawn from any scale’s first, third and fifth notes – making this form the foundation for melodies and harmonies in all musical genres.
Major triads can be voiced in various ways; the intervals between third and fifth notes can be moved up or down to form other triads, as can chord inversions which are indicated with roman numerals being either lowercased or capitalized depending on the type of chord being inverted.
An C major triad can be altered into a G major chord by moving its seventh note down one semitone (from C major triad in its original state to B). This form is known as its first inversion while its second form, known as minor triad, requires flatting its third degree note – creating two C major inversions in total.