Major chords evoke memories of songs like “Hey Jude” or classical pieces with upbeat and joyful music, like Bach’s Suite No. 6, for which they provided inspiration. Major chords consist of three parts: root, major third and perfect fifth.
Minor scales consist of whole and half steps; minor chords containing specific notes from this scale form a minor triad, often known by its acronym.
Major Scales
Major scales emit an uplifting tone that fills you with hope and optimism, while minor chords tend to produce darker and melancholy sounds that give off an altogether more serious vibe.
Understanding the relationship between major and minor is one of the cornerstones of music, as it’s essential for crafting sounding scales and chords.
To create a major scale, start on any note and gradually ascend by whole steps and half steps–similar to C Major above. It is this sequence of intervals which gives a major scale its unique sound.
Minor scales follow a similar pattern to their major counterparts; however, with minor tweaks. For instance, in C minor, for instance, notes would move up by natural (flat) and harmonic (sharp) half steps instead of whole steps – creating a unique sound in comparison.
Major Third
The major third is an interval that spans four half steps. It gives chords with major qualities their bright, cheerful sound.
To identify a major third, count the number of sharps and flats between any two contiguous notes; this method also helps determine whether a chord or scale is minor or major.
Major intervals differ from perfect intervals by having one extra half step than desired, which enables second, third, sixths, and sevenths to become major while firsts, fourths, fifths and eighths cannot.
Major scales and chords typically sound happier and lighter than their minor counterparts due to a minor difference of one note: the third. Just shifting this one note can change everything about how a song sounds – so learning this concept early in your playing journey is vitally important!
Minor Third
Major and minor chords differ due to one interval – the third. This interval gives major scales and chords their brighter sound while making minor scales and chords sound darker and sadder.
Example of minor chords would include Cm6 which features a minor third, while CmMa7 features a major seventh (though some players refer to it as Cm9).
Remember that major/minor distinction refers only to chord’s major/minor status and not whether or not it contains a ninth (which will usually be present). So Cmaj9 would actually qualify as a major chord since its major seventh and minor third are both part of the major scale; although some jazz musicians use shorter notation such as Cm9 which works fine too.
Minor Triad
Minor chords are essential when creating the overall sound of sadness or hope in any music piece, whether that means playing sad ballads or rock anthems. Their sounds differ greatly from major chords, necessitating slight adjustments in finger placement.
First and foremost, notice how the third note (second in a triad) has been flattened; this makes a significant impactful difference to how a chord sounds!
Once familiar with this concept, constructing a minor triad becomes quite straightforward by simply lowering the third note. After practicing this pattern for some time, you should soon be able to distinguish major and minor chords independently.