As soon as you look at a piano, its many black and white keys will become apparent, each producing its own sound when struck together to form what is known as a chord.
Every chord consists of three notes that start on one note (or chord root note), for instance the C major chord includes C, E and G as its constituent notes.
Major Triads
Piano chords are essential components of most musical composition, so knowing how to form them properly is an integral skill for any pianist who wishes to improvise or compose their own melodies and harmonic frameworks.
There are various kinds of piano chords, but the basic one is known as a major triad. Triads consist of three notes stacked together in an ordered way to form its shape; its lowest note (called the root ) serves as its basis while its third note determines its major or minor nature and adds fullness.
Formulating a major chord begins by counting seven half steps from its root note. One half-step corresponds to two adjacent keys on either white or black keys of a keyboard – so, for instance, C and E are separated by four half-steps.
Minor Triads
Minor chords consist of three notes stacked atop each other and are said to create a somber mood, unlike major chords which create more optimistic vibes.
Minor triads begin with a root note, then proceed through to the minor third and perfect fifth notes – located three half steps apart – with each note increasing by half steps until reaching their peak point – the perfect fifth being four half steps higher up from this root note.
To transform a major chord into a minor one, simply lower its middle note (third interval). For instance, to change from C major (C – E – G) into C minor, simply lower its third interval to an Eb note.
Minor chord symbols typically use capital letters followed by lower case “m”. Rarely it may also use other symbols, such as min or even the “minus sign”, though this form is less prevalent.
Major Scales
Before embarking on more complex chord types, it’s crucial to develop an understanding of all major scales. Major chords have an upbeat, joyful sound which makes them ideal for creating upbeat melodies or strong piano riffs.
Major chords consist of three notes–a root note, third interval note and fifth interval note–with one difference from its minor cousins: their third interval note is flattened by half step for a darker, more melancholy sound.
Finding the relative minor of any key is easy with the “circle of fifths” technique: simply start from its tonic (first letter), count down three half steps until you arrive at a note and subtract it by five half steps to get its relative minor. This technique will help you understand interval patterns among major scales and their chords as well as help when learning how to add tones to chords later.
Minor Scales
Minor chords, like their major counterparts, consist of three elements – the root note, third interval and fifth interval – arranged as triads. Since different notes make up minor scales, their triads tend to be more intricate than the major key equivalent.
One major distinction between major and minor chords lies in their 7th intervals: minor scales contain an unflattened seventh note while major ones feature a raised seventh tone, making a minor key chord sound slightly darker than its respective major key chord.
Add additional tones to a minor triad to form more complex chords, like a Major Sixth chord (maj6) or adding major ninth to an already minor chord (maj11) for even more complexity. Another popular variation is mM, or minmaj, which blends minor and major chords into one sound.