Learning major and minor chords will give you an excellent foundation for playing songs you enjoy listening to. Chords consist of groups of two or three notes played at any rhythm you prefer.
All major chords contain three components – the root note, major third and fifth. Since these intervals always sound the same regardless of what root note it’s located on, each chord can sound the same regardless of what root note is used to construct them.
Root
All major chords consist of three tones or intervals stacked together – known as intervals. The root note is known as the root, with three half steps between third and fifth notes making up each major or minor triad, depending on its arrangement.
Root notes of chords give them their names. For instance, C major chords always begin on C regardless of how it’s played (C, E, G or G A C).
Most basic piano chords feature only three tones: root, third and fifth. However, to create more complex chords you may add additional tones like sixths or sevenths to create more complex harmonies – usually represented by numbers written above the musical staff counting from root as 1; for instance a C major seventh chord would include one additional tone in addition to its third tone: one seventh tone is added.
Third
Basic chords typically consist of at least three notes and often contain as few as two. Triads contain three notes – root, major third and perfect fifth – whose intervals define its quality (known as its “voicing”).
Major thirds and perfect fifths are two distinct elements within any major chord; their top is always four half-steps up from its root while their bottoms always three steps below fifth, creating two perfect forms.
Chords can add depth and dimension to their sound by adding an added sixth, written as Cadd6 or C5add6. Suspended chords allow one tone from each chord to be replaced with another tone for example Csus2 or Csus4. Moreover, more advanced versions such as augmented or diminished chords can add texture to your music compositions.
Fifth
A perfect fifth is a musical interval composed of seven semi-steps that is very consonant, thus earning its name: this “perfect fifth.” Many major chords feature this note as their fifth note; practicing moving between perfect fifth chords to develop your piano chord progression skills can be useful; chord symbols will often include C/G as its symbol while the pinky finger will typically rest on its root note, middle on third note and thumb on top note respectively.
All major chords can be identified using the same formula – root, major third and perfect fifth. This is how most music you hear is composed. To build one in any key, just count from your root octave up until you get all three notes needed – it’s an engaging way of working out chords while learning about the circle of fifths! Additionally, making minor chords using this method simply swap out third note for minor and remove middle note altogether.
Added Tones
A chord is any combination of three notes played together that produce an harmonious sound, and learning different types can help you play all your favorite songs!
Basic major chords consist of three notes that combine to create a triad – the root note, third interval note and fifth interval note – while adding another tone – such as adding sevenths – creates C major chords or other variations with additional tones added.
Addition of a sixth or ninth will alter the harmony of a chord slightly while keeping its other tones unchanged. When written out on sheet music these chords are indicated by adding either “add” or the number followed by letter e.g. Cadd9 is an C major triad with an added minor seventh chord: C-E-G-D
When seeing numbers followed by letters, this indicates how many steps upward or downward from the root note to the tonic chord the tone represents; each half step in either direction equals two piano notes.
As an absolute beginner or advanced piano student, learning chords is vital to deciphering music and expanding creative potential. Major chords should be your starting point since they are the easiest chords to play.
Major chords consist of three notes – the root note, major third and perfect fifth. Their intervals remain constant no matter which note is chosen for rooting purposes.
Major Triads
Major chords consist of triads with three notes; this may include the root note, third interval note and fifth interval note in any given key; however, only the root note remains consistent across keys while its two neighboring notes can move up or down an octave; major chords always sound the same regardless of which roots they contain or whether there is doubled spacing (two notes separated by a distance that has only one black key on a piano keyboard).
Other piano chords simply adjust the intervals within these basic triads to produce different feelings. For example, an augmented chord is simply a major triad with an additional tone added on top, and usually written out with numbers such as C maj 7 to indicate its spelling. Furthermore, this same triad can also be voiced vertically using inversions.
Minor Triads
Minor triads, similar to major chords, consist of three notes that are stacked upon one another – including the root note, minor third and perfect fifth – but differ by having their intervals adjusted one semitone closer together (for instance from C to E).
As a beginner in piano lessons, these are the first types of chords you should learn. They create an upbeat ambiance and can be used across genres of music; more complex chords such as seventh chords also use these foundational chords as building blocks. To gain more knowledge about chord construction I recommend my course Piano Chords Made Easy.
Major Third
A major chord is a triad that contains the first, third and fifth intervals from any scale; it is the cornerstone of every key’s chord progressions.
A major third and perfect fifth can be distinguished from each other by examining how many half steps (or semitones) there are between their notes: A major third spans four, while seven can be found between notes in a perfect fifth.
The difference in half steps between major and minor intervals determines their sonic characteristics: consonant or dissonant intervals can sound pleasing and agreeable while dissonant ones sound unpleasant and harsh.
Minor Third
If you have experience in major triads, then any piano chord should be identifiable by looking at its root note – for instance a C major chord contains C, E and G as its components.
Minor chords offer a distinct sound; its lowest note being lower than its top note and creating a flatter sound quality.
Add dimension and vibrato to a basic major or minor triad by extending it by one tone above its root note – indicated by writing “+1” after its chord symbol.
Extended chords refer to chords that extend past the 7th tone of either Major or Minor scales and include half diminished and major/minor 7th chords.
Perfect Fifth
A major chord is comprised of the first, third and fifth notes in its respective major scale. By adding in its seventh note as part of a triad, a major 7th chord can be created.
Addition of additional tones can alter the sound and hue of a chord stack, altering its color and style. Augmented and Diminished chords are two examples of such chords.
Chords can be divided into several different categories depending on their interval between their root and fourth or fifth note, but a more commonly-used way is their sound. Major chords typically sound brighter and happier while minor chords often feel darker and melancholic – although this depends greatly on context of music piece being performed or written about. Chords may also be broken apart into parts to alter overall sound as well.
Major chords can be found in many genres of music ranging from rock to classical, with their characteristic sound setting them apart from minor and diminished chords.
To construct a major chord, start with its root note. Next, count four piano keys right (including any black ones) until you find the third note; two more keys should take you directly to the fifth tone.
Triads
Triads consist of three notes stacked one upon another and can either be major or minor in pitch. There are four triad qualities-major, minor, diminished and augmented–determined by the quality of interval between root and third and between third and fifth notes.
The initial note in a chord is known as its root and counts in half steps, including white and black keys. From there, each additional note ascends through four semitones before becoming part of its respective major third or perfect fifth series – representing their distance from its origin point.
Root note changes of a major chord have an enormous effect on its tonal center and mood, and are used across many music genres – for instance a G major triad can sound very different to a C major triad.
Inversions
Chord inversions are an excellent way to minimize hand movement when switching chords, especially when performing complex chord progressions such as I-vi-IV-V that may require shifting between various root positions.
To create a chord inversion, all it takes is switching up the order of notes in a triad. For instance, C major triad is typically played with C on bottom, E in middle and G on top; by switching this around you create a first inversion of this chord.
When learning inversions, the easiest place to start is with the root position of a chord – once comfortable playing this inversion you can move onto more challenging inversions of its melody.
Major Third
Major chords tend to sound brighter and happier than minor ones because all three intervals (root, third, fifth) are equal in length (for lack of a better term).
A major third is composed of four half steps or semitones, so starting on C and moving three intervals higher will bring you to E before increasing them further until reaching a perfect fifth (C-D-G).
Add an added sixth tone and you have created the major seventh (maj7) scale pattern, or for less common versions, the Major ninth (6add9) variation.
Perfect Fifth
The perfect fifth is an interval found in major chords. Intervals like fourths and fifths are considered “perfect”, while seconds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths use “major”.
An important distinction is made by major intervals being one half step larger than perfect intervals; therefore, C to G represents a perfect fifth, while C to F# represents an augmented fifth as it has one less half step than C to G.
Training your ear to recognize intervals can help your musical appreciation. Listening to popular pieces such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star or Richard Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra (used in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey) may help. Furthermore, rock songs often showcase major chords.
Minor Third
A minor chord is the opposite of its major counterpart and follows its formula closely but with altered intervals between notes. For example, between root note (also known as root tone ) and middle tone is four half steps (minor third) while fifth tone (5th tone) can range anywhere between one half step to four half steps (major third or two half steps).
Understanding major and minor piano chords will allow you to compose more intricate songs. A song rarely uses only one type of chord; rather, they typically switch back and forth between major and minor piano chords in order to convey different emotions in the lyrics – for instance a C major chord would create happy or upbeat feelings while an A minor could add tension and sadness.