Major chords form the basis of most contemporary popular music and evoke feelings of serenity and warmth for listeners.
Each major chord consists of three tones stacked upon one another: its root is always consistent; its third note, one tone higher, is one semitone up from it, while its fifth tone stands seven half steps higher from it.
Root
Major chords consist of three tones: the root, third, and fifth tones. Chords can be broken down as stacks of intervals of a third; their lowest note always being considered the root note. Most major chords are named for this root tone such as G chord or Bb chord.
An inversion is any arrangement in which a major chord is played with its root note in one position instead of its usual spot; also, its notes can be changed, for instance C – E – G becoming C E G.
This chart depicts the root position of major chords for C major. Once you understand how these basic triads function in the key of your choice, you can move on to learning other major chords with more tones added for fuller or varied sound effects.
Third
A major triad is defined by its third chord as being two half steps above its root note and signifies whether or not it is minor or major in nature. Chords with numbers written after them indicate tones added above its roots based on scale degrees starting with 1 as the root tone.
Once you have the fundamentals down pat, it is time to add color. You can do this by including tones one, two, or three half steps above the root; look at your piano chord chart for this information by looking at notes listed next to each root, a, b and c.
Cmaj7 chord is formed by three notes C, E and G and can be played using your left hand’s middle finger and thumb or your right hand’s second and little fingers.
Fifth
Piano chords are essential components of a pianist’s arsenal, providing melody and harmony through practiced practice. As more songs and melodies emerge from your practice sessions, you will become better at developing piano chords into melodic compositions.
Master the art of playing major triad chords by starting at the root note and proceeding up the scale until reaching the third. From there, play your fifth and you have yourself a major chord!
When looking at chord symbols with two capital letters separated by a slash (e.g. C/G), it indicates that you must play it using both hands; your right hand must play the note before the slash and your left hand must play what follows it lower down in bass register.
Major chords tend to connote joy and happiness in Western music; on the contrary, minor chords often evoke more melancholic feelings and depth.
Triad
A triad is comprised of a root, third, and fifth note that can be combined in various ways – this process is known as inversions.
To create an inversion, reordering the chord’s notes is enough. For example, when using C major chords as an example, beginning with C and moving E up towards the top can create the first inversion: E-G-C is what results.
Build augmented triads using the circle symbol next to each chord; these may also be noted with the notation ‘aug’.
diminished triads are another option to add into your repertoire; these consist of a minor third and diminished fifth notated with dim. Their sad sound can be achieved by counting three half steps from the root for the minor third and four half steps more for the diminished fifth, then building chords based on these intervals as per usual with or without octave doublings.